Walkable cities with good arts scene but lower COL than DC

[Anonymous]

Usually, college towns have arts and walkability.

[Anonymous]

Ann arbor but the best school zones and most walkable areas are expensive. Decent bus system though. Maybe Chicago?

[Anonymous]

Milwaukee. One of the best performing arts scenes in the country. And an amazing city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good suggestions PP. Pittsburgh will be a tough sell for DH because he won't like the proximity to some extended family he doesn't like to see, but you are right that the Deep South is probably not for us.

How pricy is Chicago? Anyone know anything about Providence?

As for the Baltimore suggestion, we have looked at this a ton because it would allow us to stay in current jobs, but the biggest issue is that real estate there is atrocious -- does not hold value and real property taxes are really high. So even though housing is much cheaper than DC, it feels like a bad financial decision to move there. We'd probably be better off staying in a condo in DC (which is presently all we can afford) in terms of longterm investment.

I don’t know why you’re downplaying Baltimore real estate. The arts centered neighborhoods in North Baltimore like Hampden and Remington have seen tremendous growth in the past 10-15 years. You could get a house in Hampden for $200,000 10 years ago. Now nothing that isn’t condemned sells for less than $350,000. Remington used to be dirt cheap around 2010-2015 but is almost as expensive as Hampden now.

[Anonymous]

Minneapolis
Traverse City

[Anonymous]

^^^

Case in point. This appreciated almost $90,000 in 2 years. You could have bought it for $175,000 in 2019 and been sitting on a cash cow if you fixed it up yourself.

https://www.redfin.com/MD/Baltimore/3736-Elm-Ave-21211/home/10856160

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ann arbor but the best school zones and most walkable areas are expensive. Decent bus system though. Maybe Chicago? [/quote
]

Too cold to walk anywhere 8 months a year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^^

Case in point. This appreciated almost $90,000 in 2 years. You could have bought it for $175,000 in 2019 and been sitting on a cash cow if you fixed it up yourself.

https://www.redfin.com/MD/Baltimore/3736-Elm-Ave-21211/home/10856160

OP wants to walk and not die. How many dead people in Driud Park?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Minneapolis
Traverse City

Soo cold, no walking.

[Anonymous]

Providence

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Minneapolis
Traverse City

OP said she wants a city - despite the name, Traverse city is not. Ann Arbor is an interesting suggestion - I personally think it would be a really lovely place to live and raise kids, and it’s not tiny by any stretch…but not sure if it would fit the bill sizewise

[Anonymous]

Richmond

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^

Case in point. This appreciated almost $90,000 in 2 years. You could have bought it for $175,000 in 2019 and been sitting on a cash cow if you fixed it up yourself.

https://www.redfin.com/MD/Baltimore/3736-Elm-Ave-21211/home/10856160

OP wants to walk and not die. How many dead people in Driud Park?

This house is in Hampden--I grew up in Hampden and spent very little time in Druid Hill Park. Other than an annual trip to the zoo, maybe.

[Anonymous]

Prague. Kidding but not really.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^

Case in point. This appreciated almost $90,000 in 2 years. You could have bought it for $175,000 in 2019 and been sitting on a cash cow if you fixed it up yourself.

https://www.redfin.com/MD/Baltimore/3736-Elm-Ave-21211/home/10856160

OP wants to walk and not die. How many dead people in Driud Park?

This house is in Hampden--I grew up in Hampden and spent very little time in Druid Hill Park. Other than an annual trip to the zoo, maybe.

+1. Maybe there’s a lot of zoo crime in “Driud Park” that we haven’t heard about?