Vienna is a bit out of the ordinary in that regard because it has been a stronghold of leftist government. The 2nd and 3rd biggest cities in Austria are Graz a

Vienna is a bit out of the ordinary in that regard because it has been a stronghold of leftist government. The 2nd and 3rd biggest cities in Austria are Graz and Linz which don't have that kind of left-leaning policy. You can rent flats there for rates similar to Vienna public housing. But those are much smaller cities. Vienna is more comparable to Munich for instance where rents are much higher and which is a city that, arguably, has less to offer along many dimensions of quality-of-life.