Anonymous
Post 08/24/2022 16:58     Subject: Walkable cities with good arts scene but lower COL than DC
Buffalo
Richmond
Charleston
Anonymous
Post 08/24/2022 16:30     Subject: Walkable cities with good arts scene but lower COL than DC
Anonymous wrote:Parts of Downtown Orlando for year-round walkability and local arts scenes. There are amazing annual and weekly local arts festivals in the area, but you'll need to bike or drive to get to some of them. Check out Delaney Park, Thornton Park, and the Milk District. Audubon Park has excellent schools and a small business district with a weekly art market. You'll need to bike or drive a short distance to get to many of the other art festivals though. But you'll find super cool MCM homes that families are buying and fixing up.

Orlando is so much cooler and vibrant than DC, and has a much better local arts scene. People focus more on fun than work. I think it's due to the lower COL. You can afford to be an artist or open a cool new restaurant when you can buy a home in a good school district for $350K.

I can barely walk around in DC area in the summer. I wouldn't try walking around in the summer in Orlando.
Anonymous
Post 08/24/2022 16:24     Subject: Walkable cities with good arts scene but lower COL than DC
Raleigh, NC
Baltimore
Anonymous
Post 08/24/2022 16:16     Subject: Re:Walkable cities with good arts scene but lower COL than DC
+1 for Richmond, VA - free museums being the state capitol and a home for many artists.
Anonymous
Post 08/24/2022 16:16     Subject: Walkable cities with good arts scene but lower COL than DC
Des Moines, Iowa

several cities in Iowa are college towns
Anonymous
Post 08/24/2022 16:15     Subject: Re:Walkable cities with good arts scene but lower COL than DC
^ woops, was trying to respond to the poster who said Ann Arbor is too cold to walk 8 months out of the year, in case not obvious
Anonymous
Post 08/24/2022 16:14     Subject: Walkable cities with good arts scene but lower COL than DC
Athens, GA

Greenville, SC

Portland, ME

Philly is a current $hithole with the highest homicide rate ever recorded and trending worse. I know Center City Philly well and there's undeniably a lot of "arts scene" there but I would not move there now so I could walk around.
Anonymous
Post 08/24/2022 16:14     Subject: Walkable cities with good arts scene but lower COL than DC
Anonymous wrote:
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.


I dunno, that’s not really true unless you’re from Florida and incapable of adjusting (…and even then, 8 months would be a dramatic exaggeration). I went to grad school there and walked 2 miles to and from school every day, year round - it was lovely, and I agree it’s very walkable. Walking in the snow is awesome (…just get boots and a good coat!). I’m not the poster who you quoted but Ann Arbor is lovely and it does get cold but not in a can’t-go-outside way. I think the concern, based on OP’s prompt, would more be if it was enough of a “city” (it does have a downtown area / Main Street and plenty of cultural opportunities, but I’m not sure how big of a metropolitan area you’re looking for)
Anonymous
Post 08/24/2022 16:12     Subject: Walkable cities with good arts scene but lower COL than DC
Burlington VT
Anonymous
Post 08/24/2022 16:09     Subject: Walkable cities with good arts scene but lower COL than DC
Anonymous wrote:OP, try Pittsburgh or Baltimore if you do not want to move to the south.


Why do you suggest that they are eliminating the South as an option? Did the OP say that?
Anonymous
Post 08/24/2022 15:56     Subject: Walkable cities with good arts scene but lower COL than DC
Parts of Downtown Orlando for year-round walkability and local arts scenes. There are amazing annual and weekly local arts festivals in the area, but you'll need to bike or drive to get to some of them. Check out Delaney Park, Thornton Park, and the Milk District. Audubon Park has excellent schools and a small business district with a weekly art market. You'll need to bike or drive a short distance to get to many of the other art festivals though. But you'll find super cool MCM homes that families are buying and fixing up.

Orlando is so much cooler and vibrant than DC, and has a much better local arts scene. People focus more on fun than work. I think it's due to the lower COL. You can afford to be an artist or open a cool new restaurant when you can buy a home in a good school district for $350K.
Anonymous
Post 08/24/2022 15:41     Subject: Walkable cities with good arts scene but lower COL than DC
Anonymous wrote:New Paltz, NY


Ugh, no!! Good place to pull over for a burrito while on a road trip tho.
Anonymous
Post 08/24/2022 15:40     Subject: Re:Walkable cities with good arts scene but lower COL than DC
Anonymous wrote:
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?


Yes, they're like animals there.
Anonymous
Post 08/24/2022 15:39     Subject: Re:Walkable cities with good arts scene but lower COL than DC
Anonymous wrote:
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.


You could get a house at the inner harbor for $1 when I was a kid. Literally $1. The city could hardly give them away.
Anonymous
Post 08/24/2022 15:30     Subject: Walkable cities with good arts scene but lower COL than DC
New Paltz, NY