44 ms·

Ask HN: What's your ideal city in a 100% remote world?

92 points by alecbcs 5y ago

In the last year many jobs in computing/software development have gone fully remote. If given the opportunity to work remotely from anywhere in the world where would you go? Or if you've recently transitioned to a remote work environment where are you thinking of moving?

dielll 5y ago
A Town in Kenyan coast called Malindi. It literally has the beat beach in the world, at Watamu
vmurthy 5y ago
Serious consideration : Much of the discussion is conditional on remote being the norm in the future, no? What if very few companies support remote 3-5 years from now?
- zepolen 5y ago
  The cat's out of the bag, ain't no one putting it back in.
  - tluyben2 5y ago
    Well, hopefully. A lot of cats are getting put back already here. And what will happen when the big next financial crisis hits? It is a sellers market now, but that will turn around; wondering what companies are going to do then.
- chrismartin 5y ago
  This feels unlikely, particularly in software and skilled tech knowledge work. First, "What if very few companies support X 3-5 years from now?", where X could be health insurance, paid vacation, or a 5-day work week. Yes, Remote-by-default was not demanded/bargained for, but it's still a historic concession toward labor. These genies are hard to put back in their bottles, even though companies try. Second, if you're not leasing office and parking space for each employee or requiring them to commute every day, you're definitely saving money and possibly increasing their productivity (depending on which studies you believe). Third, if you set aside the short-term labor shortage across all economic sectors, there is still a long-term labor shortage of software engineers and similar people. It's really hard to recruit and retain them, but it's easier if you build a remote-friendly workplace, which gets you access to a much larger candidate pool. To pre-empt someone offering a FAANG as a counter-example, those are all weird outliers.
netfortius 5y ago
Montpellier, France. Moved here from Chicago, and can't believe I missed doing so many, many years ago. Amazing weather, extremely friendly people, fantastic public transportation (local, regional, country-wide (e.g. TGV), and all across Europe), *and* unparalleled delicious food and inexpensive great wine.
maxharris 5y ago
I want a place with narrow streets (fifteen feet wide at most). There should also be a lot of restaurants and tiny parks and cafes and the like. I want to live in an old flat a few stories above all that.
monkzero 5y ago
My city Toronto, Summer is awesome everyone parties, Winter except snowy days is great, I do ice skating , which is one of the best activities I learnt, Taxes are high in Toronto, but good healthcare for all and free schools and visa free life is a blessing. Real estate is another bad thing but o already got a house, so I stopped worrying
- asdfsd234234444 5y ago
  Same! Moved back to my hometown after a 8 year stint in SF.
lordkrandel 5y ago
Why does NOBODY mention Italy?
rullopat 5y ago
I'd work from a village on the sea in Sicily (Italy)
stickinote 5y ago
I've always thought Vancouver, BC would be a nice spot but, it's quite expensive.
- api_or_ipa 5y ago
  Vancouver BC is magical and (IMO) one of the most beautiful cities in the world. In July & August, hands down the most beautiful place in the world, but still, 8 months of the year it's dark, wet and cold. If you're passionate about getting into the mountains or on the water and you can tolerate the rain, it's a wonderful place. Lots of wealthy people in Vancouver own boats to go sailing in the summer and a condo in Whistler to ski in the winter and their quality of life unbeatable. On the other hand, I know a couple people who moved from Vancouver to Canmore, Alberta because they still got their fill of mountains, but they traded a bit colder of climate for significantly more days of sunshine. It's all a trade-off in the end. Regarding affordability: Vancouver is expensive if you're working for a local company & paid in CAD, but if you're earning a US salary (esp Bay Area), Vancouver feels substantially more affordable than most large US cities (again, IMO, it's very hard to compare cost-of-living between countries).
  - 908B64B197 5y ago
    > Vancouver is expensive if you're working for a local company & paid in CAD What explains such depressed wages for local developers? Aren't local companies interested in competing?
    - Texaner 5y ago
      I want to know this too
- neilk 5y ago
  Remote worker and Vancouver resident here. Vancouver is the second most expensive city in the world, measured by cost of living to prevailing wage. Only Hong Kong scores higher. If, like me, you work in tech with American funding, it's conceivable to have a "normal" life in the downtown core, including buying property. But everyone else is fleeing the downtown core, the Greater Vancouver Area, or even the entire province. Anecdote: I know an arts administrator who moved to semi-rural Nova Scotia. She went from barely being able to afford a basement apartment to buying a pretty large house. It's pretty weird to imagine arts administration even being possible from a town in nowheresville... but the pandemic has created strange situations. She just flies into cities when she has an actual event or performance to manage.
GDC7 5y ago
Lagos, Nigeria. That's where young people are. Looking at history exciting stuff (both positive and negative) happen where there is a huge concentration of young people interacting with each other. English proficiency is quite good as well.
- thorin 5y ago
  Are you originally from Africa? I'd put Lagos very near the bottom of places to live from what I've heard, but I'm sure it would be "exciting". If I was single I'd probably pick something like Pucon, Chile ( a beautiful town with great kayaking / outdoors ), Beachburg, Ottawa in the summer for kayaking, NZ for the beautiful environment and low population density. As I'm not single and have a family to attend to I'd probably stay where I am or move to a village in the Peak District (UK).
culopatin 5y ago
Buenos Aires
- bwb 5y ago
  tax system etc is insane though... but agreed, if they could build a working gov/economy it is one of my all time fav places. Patagonia and amazing coastline not "far" too.
  - culopatin 5y ago
    Just get paid in an account abroad and avoid all that.
    - bwb 5y ago
      Well, one that is illegal and unethical... and if you are caught you will probably serve jail time in Argentina. And, that might work when you are young, but once you have a family/kids that doesn't work.
      - culopatin 5y ago
        I’m Argentinian and I can tell you no one goes to jail over taxes. It’s not the US. First of all because no one has to file a tax return every year, and second well… because it’s Argentina. For non residents you’re only taxed on your Argentinian income, so you wouldn’t be breaking any laws by staying in the country and working remotely and getting paid in a US account. You do have to pay US taxes though. After 90 days renew your stay and that’s it
ralmidani 5y ago
In almost every respect (with the weather being the only thing I might wish to see improved), Dublin, Ohio (and Columbus in General) has exceeded my wildest dreams since we moved here in June. https://wallethub.com/edu/best-worst-small-cities-to-live-in/16581 https://wallethub.com/edu/best-worst-small-cities-to-live-in...
jstx1 5y ago
London is great. So are many other large and diverse multinational cities. Many of them also happen to be great for in-office tech job opportunities.
- shetill 5y ago
  you are completely out of context here. if you were working fully remote why would you live in one of the most expensive cities in the world where only way to travel around is overcrowded tube and housing is overpriced for the lowest quality in Europe?
  - jstx1 5y ago
    Oh I understood the context and I stand by my answer. It's okay if it isn't for you, people make decisions in different ways and have different priorities.
- crossroadsguy 5y ago
  Isn’t weather too gloomy? It’s very difficult for people who can’t thrive in non-sunny often weather.
  - meh2frdf 5y ago
    Well it’s not as cold as it used to be for some reason ...
  - jstx1 5y ago
    It's true that daylight is limited in the winter months but I really like the weather in London because it doesn't get extremely hot in the summer or extremely cold and snowy in the winter.
  - isbvhodnvemrwvn 5y ago
    And access to nature is pretty much non-existent when you compare it to cities like Munich.
- bob229 5y ago
baybal2 5y ago
I will still want to live in a big city, and I will still likely rent a place in a coworking fitted as I wish.
Luuseens 5y ago
Somewhere in Croatia. Good weather, good food, good internet.
- telesilla 5y ago
  If you can get line of sight, from a hill-top chalet on one of the many islands, to a cell tower: Croatia is fantastic. Fishing, sailing, people with a big sense of humour.
emernic 5y ago
Toluca, Mexico. It's extremely cheap, cool/temperate all year, and some of the suburbs (e.g. Metepec) are quite safe. Reasonable proximity to the US (geographically, temporally, and to some extent culturally) would make it a practical option for Americans. It's a profoundly "not hip" city, but as someone who just wants to be left alone in my apartment all day, I consider that a plus. The main downsides are extremely high elevation and sub-par internet speeds (likely requiring some careful apartment hunting).
- felgueres 5y ago
  You are setting the bar extremely low. Besides nevado de toluca (ridiculously beautiful mountain) there's little to no incentives for this place
1270018080 5y ago
Small, dense, walkable. Does it exist in America? I don't think so.
- kaesar14 5y ago
  I'd plug New Haven here!
- gwill 5y ago
  mid sized cities like Milwaukee could make the list. Not sure if that's dense enough though.
- endisneigh 5y ago
  Somerville, MA. Manhattan, NYC, etc.
- thatfrenchguy 5y ago
  San Francisco obviously. Perfect density, access to nature, perfect climate. You just have to pay for it.
  - ngokevin 5y ago
    Wouldn't say walkable though. Public transit doesn't feel super well-connected. If you have the cash to Uber everywhere, it's good though it's a lot of traffic to go through to go a few miles. The time of the slow sparse public transit or the costly Uber ended up having me still just drive everywhere, and then worry about parking everywhere I went.
    - wholien 5y ago
      I found walking + biking + buses + muni trains to do pretty well in San Francisco. Figure out the major muni train or bus stop I'm trying to get to, and then either walk to it or walk to a shared bike dock and bike to it. Same thing on the other side, if necessary. Often I just bike the whole way to get some exercise and see the city: "it's about the journey, not the destination", right? The hills make it less walkable than other cities, but if you are healthy you should get used to the hills pretty quickly. I loved walking back to Nob Hill or biking back to NoPa after work. The hills are daunting at first. Sometimes you'd need to get off your bike and walk up parts. But once you get used to it it's not a huge issue. The cool weather also helps cooling down after you get to your destination. Compare that to somewhere like Austin, TX, where you start sweating the minute you get out of the AC and into the year-round humid weather...
browningstreet 5y ago
Budapest, with a side spot in Spain, and my ski pass in the Alps
- oliv__ 5y ago
  Great taste, Budapest is amazing, just leave for Spain or Greece in the winter and you're set!
Snoozle 5y ago
I think about this a lot as I have been fully remote since 2019, but have yet to execute on a family move. If I didn't have a dog, I would definitely spend a few years in places like Portugal, Thailand, Vietnam, and other countries in which I could have a nice experience relatively cheaply. The time zone is a bit of a challenge though, as work starting at midnight makes it hard to enjoy. For settling down, though, I would have a hard time living too far from a big city. I've tried to live the quieter life, but I just need the energy that comes with those large communities. Boston, NYC, London, Toronto, Chicago. Preferably a small town house near public transportation.
jifii3 5y ago
Iceland, some AirBnB's have amazing internet access while still being in the middle of nowhere. Was there for a ~week and it was super cool, made huge progress on a project during work hours, and enjoyed every minute of it. I still prefer the 'city' life long-term.
Mikeb85 5y ago
Somewhere in the middle of nowhere. I currently live in a small town in the mountains. Love the mountain aspect of it. The townspeople are progressive in some ways (they try to be 'woke'), but extremely regressive when it comes to development (NIMBYism on steroids). Housing is a major problem, all the restaurants are shit, nothing gets built pretty much ever, most of the tax burden is on the few businesses there are, etc... But it is one of the most beautiful places in the world, objectively (at least outside the town). Also, lots of the replies so far in this thread mention big cities. I'm wondering what the appeal of cities would be in a 100% remote world without restaurants as, presumably, restaurant workers would be moving to jobs that are remote, no? Or are they just the new serf class?
- j_walter 5y ago
  OP is most certainly talking about software development jobs being 100% remote...not all jobs being 100% remote.
  - Mikeb85 5y ago
    Ah gotcha. Saw the title and thought more philosophically about it. Missed that line. I mean, for me, 100% remote is more or less reality (choose not to take a job that restricts me geographically, have some side hustles).
- tapan_jk 5y ago
  Off topic but [maybe] relevant... > Somewhere in the middle of nowhere. A part of me too desires this. For a software engineer, what you need most is good network connectivity, which is now possible in many places. The other part of me is convinced that would not be a good move in the long run. If I move away from the city, my kids' education will suffer, my mother (who also lives with me) will lose the social connect that keeps her in good spirits. Growing up in a small place, I always longed to move to a city. Now that I have "been there done that" in terms of living a city life, I do not want my children to go through the same cycle. It would be nice to have the best of both worlds. Have a second home someplace remote, and go live there for short duration as circumstances permit.
dixie_land 5y ago
If starlink/rural fiber is more broadly available, I’d see many people forgo cities altogether. Why live in 500sqft when you can have 500 acres all to yourself.
- kaesar14 5y ago
  Other people?
  - QuercusMax 5y ago
    And amenities like restaurants, grocery stores, orchestras....
  - giantg2 5y ago
    This could support either side depending on one's view of people.
dial8nowplz 5y ago
Preferably one that manages to keep the progressive policies that have ruined most major coastal cities far away but at the same time, having some semblance of infrastructure so I can make great use of the geo arbitrage available to me thanks to living in said rural area. This is one of the reasons why I am highly optimistic about starlink. Once the tech is mature and fully deployed I'll be able to develop and live on my 100 acres where I will not be subject to any sort of virtue signaling by individuals whose ancestors are the cause of most problems we see today in our current societal climate.
tuckerpo 5y ago
Some totally rural fjord town in north east Iceland. I like being left alone.
rococode 5y ago
Tokyo! Pros: - Safe almost everywhere even at night and generally very clean - Infinite amount of things to do, you'll never finish exploring new restaurants (with delicious food) and stores - International events happen there: conferences, concerts, etc. - Very walkable (including the metro), especially around city center - Reasonable housing prices - high, but comparable to cities in the US - Politeness is baked into society and unpleasant interactions with strangers are very rare - Rest of the country is fairly accessible by train for a weekend trip, and there's plenty of beautiful nature if you get out of the city Cons: - Difficult language and few people speak any English - Fairly closed society/culture, you'll always be an outsider (but there are plenty of expats) - Toilets in restaurants often suck and public trash cans are rare - Bureaucracy is quite bad and inaccessible if you aren't fluent in Japanese - Work culture is bad, though being remote could make that a non-issue Some runner ups: - Lisbon (excellent weather, low prices) - Copenhagen (super safe, great quality of life) For me though, the top 3 criteria by far are 1) a lot to do, 2) very safe, and 3) don't need a car, and Tokyo is pretty much the only major city that meets those.
- VirusNewbie 5y ago
  >Reasonable housing prices - high, but comparable to cities in the US If you count number of bedrooms, but if you look at sq.footage isn't it much much higher than almost anywhere in the US?
  - brailsafe 5y ago
    The U.S is probably uniquely excessive when it comes to McMansions and overall bigness of everything. You don't get affordable giant places in either country though if you live in a dense urban centre.
- flakiness 5y ago
  Cons: It's very humid in summer and very chilly on winter. The traffic is less than ideal if you are a car person (although this doesn't matter to you). Coming from Tokyo to Bay Area and having family here, I wouldn't miss it much. Only things I miss are friends and food, which are both from my cultural attachment. That's said, many youngstars from Tokyo go back after staying here for several years, probably because of the loneliness and the boredom. So your points well taken.
bwb 5y ago
Valencia, Spain. Amazing weather all year long, great biking, great beach, and beautiful old city along with beach city all in one place. Oh and they Turia is a giant park that runs through the middle of the entire city and is sunk into the ground.
slackfan 5y ago
If I can work from anywhere in the world, why in all flying hells would I work from a city?
- SamuelAdams 5y ago
  A lot of commenters come from wealthy / well off backgrounds. I agree with you, I like the openness and quiet that rural towns and areas bring. My only requirements are clean water and fast internet. Both of which were a problem in the farm house I grew up. Since moving to a city I’m always marveled at the difference between city water and well water. And now I get internet faster than 25 Mbps, consistently.
  - ngokevin 5y ago
    Software engineers like openness and quiet even more so than average. To get away. Hence why everyone is a hiker that wears Patagonia :) I'm sure lots of people's long-term dreams here are not software, but to live some Stardew Valley life or bake bread and make beer or something
  - giantg2 5y ago
    It depends on the well and city. I've had wells that had poor water quality. I've also lived in cities that had terrible water. So far the best water for me has been from a high quality well.
- ngokevin 5y ago
  I've been nomadic living in both rural and urban areas. Because cities have events, people to meet, food to eat. There's a lot of conveniences. For rural, I've lived in a town where there was only one restaurant, and it was a Mexican place that closed at 4PM. One small grocery store during height of the pandemic, no masks. I've driven 3 hours to make a grocery run to an Asian grocery store and get boba tea. In the US at least, I feel like I stick out like a sore thumb in rural areas in a time people were getting randomly attacked due to skin color. The nature is great though. For urban, I've been able to go out at 1AM+ and get delicious cheap food at a restaurant and feel the energy of the city as everyone was still out drinking and wandering. Or I can get into pickup basketball games. Or listen to porch concerts walking down the neighborhood It's nice to go back and forth.
binarynate 5y ago
I've been thinking about this a lot. My criteria: - Warm winters - Sunny (>200 avg. sunny days) - Good music scene - Good tech scene (for meeting other founders) - Beautiful nature nearby - Reasonable cost of living - In the US Based on these criteria, I think I've landed on Austin, Texas as the best option. Here are other places I considered, though: - California: L.A. or San Francisco would honestly be my top choices, but the high income tax rates push the cost too high. - Phoenix: A cool city, but my perception is that its music and tech scenes are not as vibrant as Austin's. Also, I don't think the desert is very beautiful. - Nashville: In a lot of ways it's like Austin, but smaller. It's still one of my top picks right now because it's closer to my family, but I'm leaning toward Austin because winters in Nashville are still relatively cold. - Miami: This city excels in all of my criteria except for the music scene, which appears to be severely lacking. So, that takes it out of the running. - Denver: Meets a lot of my criteria and seems beautiful, but I think its winters are too cold.
- achillesheels 5y ago
  I've done extensive business travel in Denver, and, being a CA native, I did not find the winter to be that harsh. In fact, because it's up in the mountains, most of the cold and snow melts away by high noon. You're left with sunny skies until the frost returns at night, but it definitely helps with needing to shovel snow I'd imagine :P
  - binarynate 5y ago
    Thanks for mentioning that—that's helpful to know
  - eunoia 5y ago
    Don’t listen! Denver is prone to harsh winters that weed out the weak. Yearly winter total population fatality rates average around 8%. If the weather doesn’t get you first you might asphyxiate from the extremely low oxygen. I hear New Jersey has better nature anyway. Source: sarcasm.
- syndacks 5y ago
  I'm not sure what kind of music scenes you're looking for, but Miami has one of the best for electronic music in the US, as well as probably latin and reggae.
runjake 5y ago
It would be not a city. It would be somewhere rural. In fact, it is somewhere rural. It's quiet, and there's just enough infrastructure to head down the road on bike or foot for some lunchtime exercise. But, if you like the big city, or working from the woods, that's fine, too.
iExploder 5y ago
Singapore, but the hourly rate would have to be in truckloads of gold.
999900000999 5y ago
Chicago. Friendly people , cheap housing, great public transportation. Tons of things to do. No visa issues, it's much easier to move cities they countries.
- codegeek 5y ago
  Brutal Winter.
  - 999900000999 5y ago
    Let the wrath of God humble you.
- floppydiskette 5y ago
  I love Chicago, but where are you finding cheap housing? Genuinely interested what areas.
gremloni 5y ago
Bangalore, India It has great weather, a nice mix of people since there are a lot of transplants both from other parts of India and international, good food/restaurants, good nightlife, relatively clean compared to other large Indian cities and it’s safe.
mayormcmatt 5y ago
If I had to choose one, it'd be Stockholm (or perhaps any Swedish city with water access). A couple years back I did take a two-week trip there consisting of one week sightseeing, one week remotely working for a West Coast agency. My work hours were around 4pm to 1am-2am Stockholm time, which was just on the edge of comfortable. My reasoning is as follows: 1) Fast internet everywhere I went, even the countryside 2) Great tea and coffee -- excellent cafe culture, too 3) Had a chance to meet some of the most kind, intelligent engineers I've ever known while there (and some now working here in the States, too); would love to collaborate and be motivated by working with them again 4) It felt very safe at all times of day (compared to where I live now, at least) 5) Active sailing culture, as I've recently become interested in that sport/hobby 6) Really fun bike culture, especially groups like at Bagarmossens cykelkök 7) Didn't seem like owning a car is necessary, even to travel outside the city/intercity 8) Perhaps an unpopular opinion, but I enjoy how vices like alcohol and rich foods are more expensive there, so I went easy on them and felt healthier Finally, nothing to back this up on, just a "feeling": the vibe is simply more chill, less dysfunctional than here in the States. Felt like many sectors of the citizenry, government, and business community had agreed upon a framework for a basic and decent standard of lifestyle. Certainly Swedes could chime in and tell me some hard truths that I missed while there (I've only stayed in Sweden for a month, cumulatively). Things that would be hard are, definitely, finding housing that doesn't break the bank (Stockholm is majorly backed up, with rentals expensive). Also, my wife and I mastering a new language now, in our forties could be a challenge. I did start taking classes for it, for fun, before the pandemic. If Sweden were off the table, my other remote choice would be Kagoshima, Japan. Nothing like living next to a volcano!
- alophawen 5y ago
  Countryside Sweden is where it's at! In my area of southernmost Sweden countryside we have 99,8% fiber connectivity. You pay about 2000 dollar no matter what to get fiber ditched and connected to your cabin unless it's already connected. Also it is: - way warmer than Stockholm - way cheaper - way less douchebag people - 2 hours to Denmark (3 to Germany) SOURCE: lived in Stockholm for 20 years doing software dev. Moved away. I never worked inside of US so I cannot relate to your back story fully.
poulsbohemian 5y ago
I'd really like to go check out Slovenia. Everything I've read / heard indicates that it is a more affordable Switzerland. Be at the beach and skiing in the same day, high quality of life, etc.
- toomanyrichies 5y ago
  After reading about Ljubljana in the article below, I'm dying to set up shop there for half a year or so: https://www.vice.com/en/article/jg8wq7/slovenia-car-free-city-ljubljana https://www.vice.com/en/article/jg8wq7/slovenia-car-free-cit...
higeorge13 5y ago
Tech scene in the balkans is great for a couple weeks. Athens, Belgrade, Zagreb, Sofia were great remote weeks for me, in nice coworking spaces, cheap accommodation and food and lively night life and friendly people to hang out. Having worked from almost everywhere around Europe, my next plan would be Seoul though.
Ancalagon 5y ago
Anyone else afraid to say exactly where, for fear it might become too popular? :)
- ngokevin 5y ago
  Don't worry, it won't become popular unless it has a craft beer scene
  - giantg2 5y ago
    For homebrewers, that can be anywhere.
- 1270018080 5y ago
  Wichita, Kansas. Everyone move to Wichita, it's great. Trust me.
  - coolspot 5y ago
    Can’t agree more! The crafting beer is great there, housing is affordable, crime is non-existent. And Internet is 10GBps full-duplex for each household.
  - rsj_hn 5y ago
    I heard good things about Oklahoma City
sokoloff 5y ago
I’m already living in one of my top choices: Cambridge, MA. (Four real seasons, high educational attainment generally, good public schools [some of them anyway].) I’d love to buy a place on a TVA lake in TN and spend most of the summers there. Younger and without kids, I’d have given serious consideration to moving to Costa Rica during/after COVID.
ngokevin 5y ago
After visiting many countries, and living in 10 US states this past year... Mexico City. I lived there a month, I enjoyed the food even more than Japan, Vietnam, LA. People are friendly, lot of action and culture, felt extremely safe, cheap.
Bjorkbat 5y ago
Might be the city I'm currently living in: Albuquerque, NM. It's very inexpensive, and sits at the foothills of the Sandia Mountains and Petroglyph National Park. It's almost always sunny, yet is rarely too hot for outdoor activities. As far as bike infrastructure goes it may just be in the top 10 for US cities. You almost need to go out of your way to not be an outdoorsy person here. It has a decent amount of restaurants, breweries, things to do, but if you're particularly starved for entertainment then there are cheap flights to Austin and Denver. Indeed, what makes Albuquerque really great is that you could use it as a nice place to decompress in-between destinations. There are some downsides though. Crime is pretty bad, as is the poverty rate, but a lot of places here in the US are struggling with that right now. Truth be told the thing that annoys me the most may be the Gross Receipts Tax. Basically, if you freelance, your services are subject to what's basically a ~7% sales tax, only for services. But given how inexpensive everything is, and how much I get, I can't really complain too much about the GRT.
- eunoia 5y ago
  Out of curiosity what are your thoughts on Santa Fe?
  - ngokevin 5y ago
    Not OP but I lived in Santa Fe for a couple weeks. I felt there was some rejuvenating spiritual energy in the air. And love the high desert and open skies. And Meow Wolf. People that moved there enjoyed having Taos nearby.
    - GoldenMonkey 5y ago
      Taos has really declined in the last couple years. It’s quite expensive and run down. Pretty sad.
  - Bjorkbat 5y ago
    Truth be told I didn't like living there, but I think that's mostly because I was working for a pretty strange startup at the time. Very expensive for New Mexico, and expensive in general. Getting around can take some getting used to (certain roads predate the US). Wouldn't recommend moving there if you're young as most of the population is of retirement age and most businesses cater to that crowd. That being said, I enjoy visiting every now and then. There are good restaurants and no shortage of cultural attractions and events. I particularly enjoy visiting for the Farolito Walk. I would recommend living in Albuquerque and taking the Railrunner or simply driving when the itch to visit strikes.
VirusNewbie 5y ago
I've been remote for a while and so I stayed in Orange County. It's very nice, strikes a good balance of the other big cities in CA but lower CoL compared to Bay Area and Los Angeles. I've traveled all over europe and my favorite city for living would be Budapest. It seems like it had a low CoL but a very vibrant community in addition to being walkable and beautiful. Haven't met any Hungarian engineers so I don't know how the developer/startup community is, so if anyone knows chime in.
arduinomancer 5y ago
Personally I think the ideal would be to have a big property in the countryside like 1 hour outside a big city.
muzani 5y ago
I'm happy where I live now. Bangi, Malaysia. Great food, and it's cheap enough to eat at a restaurant every day. Everything from the humble fried rice to wagyu steak. It's next to Putrajaya which has some amazing parks, whether it's skate parks or just picnic spots. Weather is great. Lots of beautiful people. About half an hour's drive from a cinema or major mall, but that's not too bad.
- yen223 5y ago
  Of all the places in the world, I certainly did not expect Bangi to show up on this list! How does Bangi compare to living in, say, KL or PJ?
  - muzani 5y ago
    Much better. I've turned down jobs in KL/PJ because it's not worth moving there. KL actually ranks very low in terms of quality of life, imo. Too angry, too much traffic, not enough parks, far too expensive for no reason. People buy homes in KL because it's close to offices, and people make offices in KL because it's close to other offices. Infrastructure in KL is very bad; roads and public transport don't suffice. The reason that so many companies like HappyFresh and Pop Meals are HQed in KL is because buying groceries is such a pain point. Bangi is a middle upper class area, similar to Bangsar in quality of life and cost. Much less alcohol but more suburban. It's a university town, so there are smart and beautiful people, many of whom decide to become a fashion designer instead of an engineer, hence the booming young businesses around here. A lot of events happen in Cyberjaya too. Cyberjaya is a bit out of the way for KL folks, but half an hour from Bangi. A second choice would be Kuala Terengganu. A major enough city but not too crowded. Parks, great fresh food, nice people, and really nice islands. All the benefits of city and beach life at half the cost of KL.
- titledlee 5y ago
  2nd this^^ Though i'm 100% more a KL person , but bias since i grew up there lol. I feel Malaysia is so so so underrated. It's almost perfect in the sense that it's a foreign country u can get away with with just english, everything's cheap. There's luxury if you want it, malls up the wazoo. Only con would be the price of cars and alcohol i guess but heyy Proton's getting pretty good
lookalike74 5y ago
Has anyone heard Chattanooga TN is cool?
- tshell 5y ago
  Heck yeah. Beautiful area nestled in the Smokey mountains, first major city in the U.S. to get gigabit internet, and access to both Nashville and Atlanta with a short drive without needing to live in the awful traffic.
- gregors 5y ago
  Chattanooga is wonderful. Good tech scene, especially in the innovation district. Great rock climbing, hiking, mountain biking, white water rafting. Nice downtown near a waterfront with some of the best municipal internet in the country. Biggest downside is no direct flights to SF if you need to fly out occasionally.
ryandrake 5y ago
My criteria... good luck--many conflict with each other, and I don't really think this unicorn town exists. English speaking Very low population density (rural-er is better) Inexpensive, reliable high speed internet for work Low tax burden (state income tax + sales tax + property tax) Affordable land + housing Unpolluted air and water Good schools and universities Politically stable Culturally moderate: not overly liberal or conservative Legal gambling: nice to have :) Things I don't care about: Access to cities, music scene, art scene, any scene really Sunshine/warm weather Walkability Neighborhood culture (I'd prefer to live far enough from my neighbors that I never see them)
- CitrusFruits 5y ago
  Maybe doesn't hit all of your points dead on, but Chattanooga Tennessee might be close to what you're looking for. It has the some of the fastest internet in the US, can be more politically moderate for a southern city, is not too far from Atlanta, and is really affordable for the U.S. Not perfect but worth knowing about.
brailsafe 5y ago
Where I am now, nearish to central Vancouver. I'd love to live in other places for some time for other reasons, but they're all cities in Europe with different ages and cultures. Smaller places are great to visit, but are boring and lack breadth of novelty. It takes me 4 mins to walk to the gym where I bump into people I'm gradually getting to know, then 2 mins to the next cafe where I might get to know someone, then 2 mins to groceries, 30 mins to the mountains, 2 hrs to whistler if I can get a car or bus.
- titledlee 5y ago
  wow really? I'm currently in Richmond and i've finding the housing issue here so out of hand that it's depressing... Even with FAANG salary my friends are finding it tough to afford a decently sized home :l
  - brailsafe 5y ago
    If you have enough means to consider the concept of home ownership, you have different issues than me, but you're not the first to consider leaving for that reason. I like my neighborhood a lot and would be sad to leave it. Have lived in other areas though that I wasn't so attached to.
alophawen 5y ago
I been working remote for the last 8 years, and thank you covid for even more work! I moved far out the country side and picked up farming, animal keeping and all that. When I need some think time, I have a 1-2 hour walk in the woods listening to the birds and experiencing nature. This is where I want to die. I left the big city and am never looking back. OP, why do you consider living in a city for remote work???
jollybean 5y ago
Vienna, Valencia, Copenhagen, Edinburgh, Lisbon and 1 year in non-Tokyo Japan and Istanbul. If very high salary net-worth include London, Paris and Tokyo for another year.
happynacho 5y ago
Probably Dallas/Austin... or Zurich.
- Texaner 5y ago
  Not sure how Dallas fits in there.
  - Snoozle 5y ago
    I have lived in Austin for 10 years and Dallas for 20, and I think Dallas is in every way better than Austin. Less expensive More things to do Real airport with good fares Better weather, not as hot in the summer time Variety of businesses so it's not just tech bros and poor mexican labourers More cultural variety
  - kadomony 5y ago
    Live in Dallas. Can confirm, it’s trash here. Moving in the next two months. Really, this whole state is ass backwards (with awful weather).
codyb 5y ago
I’ll put on in for NYC. Just love it here. Big beautiful sky line Fair amount of greenspace including parks, rivers, forests, and beaches Even more greenspace easily accessible with a bike or car or by train Bus trips to Vermont for snowboarding all winter (not as great as West coast, but still decent) Antenna gets me TV for free! Tons and tons and tons of cultures and restaurants and plays and movies and clubs and music Close to family (for me!) Lots of great people watching Getting more and more bike friendly by the day 24 hour subways, restaurants, supermarkets ## Cons Expensive Crowded Loud It ain’t for everyone, but I love it here, no reason to leave.
- rsj_hn 5y ago
  As someone who spent most of his life at or below 32° latitude, but has visited cities in the north a few times, I find NYC too gray and depressing. The light is very different there, the water is gray instead of blue-green, the bricks are brown instead of red, and in general it's a bit grim and colorless. Even the sky is desaturated. Stuff like light maybe subtle, but over time it wears on you and affects your mood.
zumu 5y ago
Lisbon is pretty great. Beautiful, cheap, great weather, good public transit, artsy, increasingly international and the language is fairly accessible.
crossroadsguy 5y ago
Same place where I am - Bangalore. Weather is the best - warm but not hot, cool but not cold. No extremes. People from every state of India. So great food. Culturally very diverse and really a melting pot. Good sports/fitness scene and culture. Safe. Locals are mostly fine with outsiders. In fact that’s the economy here other than IT. English (more) and Hindi (less) are the connecting tongues. Local language is not forced other than some isolated incidents. Decent amount of open space. Very easy and quick access to the hills. And in a way to the sea too, but drive is longer. Easy connectivity to everywhere by train, road, and air. Decently open and alive dating scene, though it gets way too hard in 30s. I had played with the idea of moving to a small town or a rural area or a quaint hill station but due to overall poor infrastructure in India those places easily get ruled out as candidates of a sustained working place. You don’t want to have total lack of social life, patchy Internet, and very absence of even half decent medical facilities where you live for long. So you got to stick to major cities in India. Other cities in India simply don’t have most of what Bangalore offers (except traffic is really bad here; and metro is designed to be useless; and political atmosphere is rapidly sliding to the extreme right but that’s the entire country). I tried living abroad, didn’t work for me. So Bangalore it is.
- fhaldridge7 5y ago
  What about the air quality? Also is the tap water drinkable?
  - crossroadsguy 5y ago
    > Also is the tap water drinkable? I said India, didn't I? :) Anyway, no. I don't think drinkable tap water is a developing or underdeveloped world phenomena. But I may be wrong. > What about the air quality? Again, it depends on which country you are comparing it with. Among Indian cities - pretty good. And I don't mean comparing with Delhi - that'd be an unfair comparison.
  - vmurthy 5y ago
    Not OP , but born and raised in Bengaluru Air Quality - depends . Very bad while traveling. Residential areas much better. Tap water , not drinkable as is. Most houses I've seen have a water filter. We personally used to use one of these[0] [0] https://www.pureitwater.com/IN/ https://www.pureitwater.com/IN/
wly_cdgr 5y ago
New York * most diverse and cosmopolitan English-speaking and relatively-free city in the world, by far * compact with good public transit, creating an incredibly high points of interest per commute hour ratio - the best metric for measuring urban qol * not the BEST tech/entrepreneurial communities, but still has very good ones, and is better rounded than the very top tier tech hubs: high quality art, design, games, music, publishing, fashion, etc scenes Hon. mentions: Tokyo, LA
- kgin 5y ago
  All very true. The one thing that worn on me about NYC: most people leave after 5-7 years. If you stay longer than that, everyone you built relationships with early on will be gone and the ones from the middle will be planning their departure. You can keep meeting new people to fill up the leaky boat, but gradually as you get older, you lose access to the spaces where all these new, exciting (mostly young) people meet each other. I love it for so many reasons, but that one aspect does wear on me.
  - throw_this_one 5y ago
    I don't get what would be so interesting about nyc after age 35 or so. Just people trying to make it, money to be made, tourists and visitors, etc. The young people you can kind of classify and thus they're not that interesting.
  - wly_cdgr 5y ago
    ....Kunal? Heh
porknubbins 5y ago
Thinking about my ideal place to live sends me into a spiral of conflicting requirements that ends up with the conclusion that any environment my simple human brain could think up will inevitably fail to satisfy somehow or feel like a static, boring utopia. I love nature and space but there is something about the change and pace of cities that is stimulating as well. The closest to how I’d want to live is probably like Mr. Miyagi with cool old architecture and space to tinker with old cars but nearby a city.
iszomer 5y ago
Antarctica, Amundsen/South Pole station, as a life test on mobility of productivity. Otherwise, back to Taiwan in the mountains. "Have you noticed their stuff is sh-t and your sh-t is stuff?" -- George Carlin on Stuff
Gibbon1 5y ago
San Francisco before all the tech bro's showed up.
abdik 5y ago
Check out https://nomadlist.com/ https://nomadlist.com/
manojvenkat92 5y ago
Lisbon
d_burfoot 5y ago
This kind of “what city is the best?” question isn’t very useful. There is a kind of efficient market phenomenon which causes all cities within a country to be nearly equivalent to the median person once you take into account cost of living, crowds, traffic, etc - if one place is clearly better than others, people will move there until it’s not. The key is to estimate your particular comparative advantage with respect to each city - do you want music, walkability, safety, climate, ambitious people, etc? Figure out what you value more and less than other people value, and then move to the place that aligns with those preferences.
tluyben2 5y ago
A village in nature less than an hour travel from a city with an airport. Done that for 2 decades in different countries (pt,es,hk,nl) and it is perfect (also: cheap). I like cities for a day or 2 and then I cannot imagine why anyone wants to be in one; I had that since I was a kid (my parents say I asked when I was 7 why people would want to live in NYC when we went on holiday there).
donkey-hotei 5y ago
Does anyone like Seattle?
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
andygrd 5y ago
Berlin, a bit cold and gray in winter, but possibly in the top one for greatest city on Earth.
- throw_this_one 5y ago
  Why do you think so? Berlin is cool. I like techno a lot. Obviously very German vibes. But stuff seems pretty far apart, transit kind of annoying.
- blocked_again 5y ago
  How? Its not diverse at all compared to a city like London. Unless you are a German/looks likes one it's a poor city to be in.
  - andygrd 5y ago
    Berlin has all the benefits and little to none of the disadvantages of a place like London. Why does a place need to be diverse to be great? Does the absence of a heap of Mincéirs make a city worse?
    - blocked_again 5y ago
      Well your reply pretty much back my point.
      - andygrd 5y ago
        What's your point?
smarri 5y ago
I'd like to be on the road traveling permanently if I was able to work 100% remote. Spend a few weeks or months in a place then move on.
Graffur 5y ago
In an ideal world, these are in no order: * Safe * Affordable * Great weather with no extremes (snow, storms, heatwaves) * Close to the sea with beaches and piers for walking * Not overcrowded * Great public transport * Close to mountains for hikes * Good pubs and restaurants with lots of variety * Good looking women * Good internet If anyone has any suggestions please say! I don't think a place like this exists.
- 1ibsq 5y ago
  I'm not keen to start a discussion here, but your wish for 'good looking women' looks a bit out of place next to affordable living cost, public transportation, etc. Might say more about you than you like.
  - Graffur 5y ago
    It doesn't say more about me than I like. Go be woke somewhere else please.
robotburrito 5y ago
Something like a city in the Netherlands where I can not have a car and have less a chance of being run over.
sbacic 5y ago
I don't have a particular city in mind, but here are the criteria I'd like it to fulfill: by the ocean, with good weather year round good public transport an airport nearby with good and affordable airport connections at least 2+ million people reasonable costs of rent lively cultural scene
- wikibob 5y ago
  Barcelona.

gremloni 5y ago

I find that people approaching woke but not “there” yet are the best.

Mikeb85 5y ago
Sarcastic 'best'? The 'locals' are extremely unfriendly, actively try to sabotage new businesses, bring in foreign workers and lock them into work/living arrangements to take advantage of them, heck (attempt to) take advantage of all workers, etc... But they claim to not be whatever 'ism' isn't politically popular.
- brailsafe 5y ago
  I feel like the parent wasn't referring to specifically your situation, but rather centre-left people rather than very-left people
  - Mikeb85 5y ago
    Ah. Fair enough. These people are more along the lines of: "I'm not racist, I have black employees". "I'm not a homophobe, we have a rainbow sidewalk". Meanwhile they exploit and are shitty to everyone not in their group. And all the "locals" are conveniently white while the visible minority transplants never have "local" status.
    - brailsafe 5y ago
      People in that position tend to try and protect that position through whatever means are available to them, and it wouldn't surprise me that there would be a racial disparity intentional or not. The more isolated and historically homogeneous you get, the more this probably occurs. You probably don't get too many racist people growing up in more heterogeneous communities. I get creepy vibes from most smaller towns anyway, and this is just another facet of that I'd imagine.
jollybean 5y ago
How on earth anyone would consider 'Woke' or even trying to be such to be a positive attribute in 2021 is shocking to me. Wokism and Trumpism are both ridiculous cults, where members refuse to concede basic realities in favour of some giant utopian delusion of an ideal. They're giant diversions I think that distort our ability to just see things for what they are. It's pretty interesting how people can be many things at the same time, so these kinds of triggering labels - and the narratives that support them in the press don't help one bit. The recent articles by various media outlets outlining the results of the Virginia election were about 80% playing into narratives of 'each side' further ignoring the 20% of simple truths that I think were the real underlying issues. Those 'truths' just don't line up nicely with the narratives. This problem has metastasized in the US (and rolled over into Canada) in the last 5 years, which is why 0 'aspirational locations' from the US are on my list, at least for another 5 years as things hopefully calm down.

justfortruth 5y ago

I live in Bangalore but I disagree. Bangalore is not such a good place to live in. Reasons being: 1) Dirty. Yeah, Most places in Bengaluru are very dirty. No effective dirt management system. Also, people throw trash on roads, on empty sites, on footpaths, and everywhere making it very dirty. 2) Roads and Traffic. First of all, let me tell that Road Infrastructure is not at all good. Also, People don't seem to value life of others. People many times don't follow traffic rules. Thanks to Lack of infrastructure, Crossing the road is also so difficult here and there are chances People will run over you(people seem to be hurry). 3) Water Water Quality is Bad. It's also causing baldness in many people. 4) Corruption Many people with power seems to be corrupt. You get to deal with them if you live here. Contd...

justfortruth 5y ago
5) Dating Scene People are mostly conservative here. Although Dating Scene exists, it's very very less(nil to most people). You will be disappointed. 6) Commutation Huge amount of Vehicles, many not following rules, many hurrying to overtake, to get inserted into the road, lot of honking, and time-eating traffic congestion. It's not at all a good experience and will suck energy outta you. 7) Power cuts Power cut is very rare but it exists. 8) Food Food is good, you get variety of them. 9) Internet Cellular Data is very cheap but also relatively slow. Fiber network seems to be available. 10) Education Education Quality is not much good for price they ask. Feel free to ask anything about life in Bangalore.
- nbhusal 5y ago
  Thanks! It'd be great if someone could go on about this for Mumbai as well.
- crossroadsguy 5y ago
  I think it was about which city and country one would want to live in, given the opportunity of always remote. And for me that’s India and in India that’s Bangalore. All these points you’ve gone on about - compared to where? Dating scene worse than Chennai? Ahmedabad? AQI worse than Delhi? Water and sanitation worse than Kolkata? I mean I didn’t get your rebuttal like response :)
  - justfortruth 5y ago
    Yeah, I agree that Bengaluru is Best city when it comes to India(the only country i have lived in) You are comparing Bangalore to other cities which i didn't intend to(given i have never lived in other places tbh). For me, Question was about Ideal Place to live and Bangalore is not ideal place according to me. Maybe my response is not rebuttal but the fact that Bangalore is not ideal place.
    - crossroadsguy 5y ago
      I am afraid you are still not getting it. Bangalore is the ideal place for me. It may not be for you and I am sure rightly so. No place can be ideal for everybody - not Lisbon, not London, not SF.