4 ms·

I could not agree with the author's main point more. Do you know where genuine bohemian living is to be found today? Certainly not in NYC or any other major urb

by jaspax 6y ago

I could not agree with the author's main point more. Do you know where genuine bohemian living is to be found today? Certainly not in NYC or any other major urban centre. Instead, you need to run off to a dying rust-best town in Ohio and buy out an empty storefront where your neighbours will be a liquor store and a Pentecostal church. There are places where you can pay $200/month in rent, or buy a house for under $50k. Go to one of those and build yourself an artistic utopia. Of course my interests are not neutral here. I'm from a place like this, and after a decade of urban living I decided to move back. It's not trendy or sexy, but I encourage people to give it a try.

blaser-waffle 6y ago
> Instead, you need to run off to a dying rust-best town in Ohio Not Ohio, but most of my serious bo-ho hipster friends went to Pittsburg or Detroit. Aging and rust-belty, but with enough actual city to also satisfy.
- randomopining 6y ago
  Problem is, isn't the rent in Detroit and Pittsburg actually pretty high? Esp given the downsides.
  - pjc50 6y ago
    Is it? I thought there were opportunities in Detroit to buy a (terrible) house for almost nothing: https://patch.com/michigan/detroit/5-houses-you-can-pick-little-1 https://patch.com/michigan/detroit/5-houses-you-can-pick-lit...
  - anemoiac 6y ago
    Not particularly, especially for the Hacker News set - Pittsburgh has one of the lowest cost of living to earnings ratios in the US for tech workers. Detroit doesn’t have as big of a tech scene, but the cost of living is lower than the national average.
danaris 6y ago
You don't need to go nearly that far from NYC to find a dying rust-belt town. There are plenty in upstate NY. (Well, maybe not technically rust-belt, depending on how you prefer to define that, but they have all the meaningful properties of it.)
mwest 6y ago
Or you could buy a whole town... https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEjBDKfrqQI4TgzT9YLNT8g https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEjBDKfrqQI4TgzT9YLNT8g The idea is quite appealing, but I think I prefer to experience Brent's journey vicariously through his Cerro Gordo videos!

by jaspax 6y ago

blaser-waffle 6y ago

> Instead, you need to run off to a dying rust-best town in Ohio Not Ohio, but most of my serious bo-ho hipster friends went to Pittsburg or Detroit. Aging and rust-belty, but with enough actual city to also satisfy.

randomopining 6y ago
Problem is, isn't the rent in Detroit and Pittsburg actually pretty high? Esp given the downsides.
- pjc50 6y ago
  Is it? I thought there were opportunities in Detroit to buy a (terrible) house for almost nothing: https://patch.com/michigan/detroit/5-houses-you-can-pick-little-1 https://patch.com/michigan/detroit/5-houses-you-can-pick-lit...
- anemoiac 6y ago
  Not particularly, especially for the Hacker News set - Pittsburgh has one of the lowest cost of living to earnings ratios in the US for tech workers. Detroit doesn’t have as big of a tech scene, but the cost of living is lower than the national average.

danaris 6y ago

You don't need to go nearly that far from NYC to find a dying rust-belt town. There are plenty in upstate NY. (Well, maybe not technically rust-belt, depending on how you prefer to define that, but they have all the meaningful properties of it.)

mwest 6y ago

Or you could buy a whole town... https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEjBDKfrqQI4TgzT9YLNT8g https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEjBDKfrqQI4TgzT9YLNT8g The idea is quite appealing, but I think I prefer to experience Brent's journey vicariously through his Cerro Gordo videos!