Reply to Where to live in America or the world that's cheap with excellent schools?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]To have good public schools you have to have high taxes and an educated population. Those places are attractive to those that want that and are not cheap by definition. [/quote]

There are balances to be had though. At a certain size, all cities have an educated class of lawyers, doctors, academics, etc. They will tend to cluster in certain neighborhoods and usually the public schools in those neighborhoods will be better because these families will invest in them. Often it will wind up being a close-in suburb, which gets you out of the urban school district and allows people to vote for higher taxes for local schools.

But the cost of living for such a place is going to be wildly different between cities like San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, or Indianapolis. Especially if you are coming to a city like St. Louis or Indianapolis from NYC, the cost of housing is going to feel like a huge discount. Plus OP currently has all kids in NYC privates -- shifting to the very best public schools in Indianapolis might get them a comparable education while eliminating private school tuition as a line item in their budget.

So you are correct that good schools always cost more money, but if you are willing to get out of the most expensive, competitive urban areas in the country, you can still find strong schools in areas that are a significant discount over NYC cost of living. The main thing you will give up is NYC itself -- the museums, restaurants, shopping, center-of-everything vibe, walkability, excitement, etc. Those are worth a lot! But if your top priority in life right now is educating your children and not feeling super stressed, giving up MoMa, the subway, and theater might not feel like a huge loss.[/quote]

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