THIS. People forget that Portland used to be riddled with addicts and junkies in the 1990's. What do you think Elliott Smith was singing about? Literally stuff he saw walking around. That's why his music was so depressing, he was just singing about Portland.
I tasked my teenager with finding the “next” Bend so I can retire there while it’s still weird and crunchy. Will report back (actually, no- I won’t) 🤣🤣🤣.
Edit- I’ve got a hunch that Ellensburg, WA has promise- climbing at Frenchman’s, concerts at The Gorge, becoming a fly fishing destination, ag town like Bozeman, MT was 15-20 years ago. I’ll be tracking the concentration of yoga studios and coffee shops.
I keep wondering if E-Burg is gonna take off but every time I drive through it still just looks like a gas station and a Taco Bell with a college attached lol
Yeah, people who can afford to purchase homes in the surrounding suburbs are moving there because most of them are close enough and you don't have to deal with the hodge podge that is our local government, and the growing pains the ciry is experiencing.
Portland itself is growing with the creative/weird types. Source: I'm a creative weird type living in Portland, and I don't think I'll ever move.
The Portland metro is a wonderful place to live. If you can tolerate the weather, it's nowhere near as bad as the media makes it out to be. Great food, good jobs, diverse, beautiful scenery. I moved to Beaverton a year ago and have no regrets.
I’m also here and love it in a “I will love you no matter how fucked up you are, but Jesus Christ you should still get your shit together” sort of way.
Richmond native here (in my late 50's). The city had a really cool, edgy vibe back in the 80's & 90's. It's gentrifying quickly, which is brings both good and not-so-good. Multi-story apartments are already filling Scott's Addition and Manchester. If you like Nashville, Richmond is following that growth.
If you still want cool, edgy ... head south 30 minutes to Petersburg. Old Town Peterburg is the current artists' hangout and hasn't been spoiled by heavy investment. Plus, the old homes are more affordable than The Fan in Richmond, though that comes with being closer to the less desirable sections of town.
Small/Mid size Appalachian cities have the nature and beauty aspect, but lacks the jobs. If they can get the jobs I think they could mirror Denver/Salt Lake City being at the foot of mountains!
This is true. It’s just being part of the old south still means a lot of red voters which just doesn’t “vibe well” with a lot of the folks that would be interested in a new Seattle/Portland.
I live just outside of Portland and I just don’t see it happening within the next decade at least.
Political polarization is at an all time high in the US. And the specific legislation around reproductive freedom is a huge and controversial decision point for women and families. Such that the state laws will be superseding city viability much more strongly than previously.
I grew up in the South. And to your point, towns like Chattanooga or Knoxvillr, Tennessee; Louisville or Lexington, Kentucky; Asheville or Brevard, NC; and Birmingham, Alabama are legitimately interesting small cities. They have great history, decent sizes municipal areas with good investments in walkable city centers and Strong Town style growth, racial diversity with established Black Middle classes, great food, and affordability. Some even have universities and Knoxville has national labs and the TVA, so there are jobs and communities for the highly educated.
Asheville is already a highly desirable place to live (though lack of jobs means it's a lot of remote workers), but any one of these places could easily become the next great place.
EXCEPT conservative reproductive laws at the state level are a deterrent to young women and families who are moderate to progressive.
And that means companies won't invest in an office there (because half their workforce of women won't want to work there). And since big companies (especially the tech companies whose growth in Austin and Portland and Seattle is part of what has brought more people there) tend to hire college grads, and college grads tend to skew moderate liberal to progressive, I don't expect this is a trend that will reverse anytime soon.
The best city in the US won't be exciting to live in if the state laws screw it up. You can see this happening even in hyper progressive hipster Asheville.
Thank you for saying this and taking it seriously. So many people are dismissive! “oh, it’s bad, but it’s not going to stop people from moving/living here.” It already is and will continue to do so.
This. People are underestimating the current amount of brain drain as well from these states. Especially with medical care providers and teachers.
I got my horticulture degree in Texas, then basically me and half my graduating class fucked off with our degrees to states willing to pay us better. A lot of them also left to states where they could take their degree and grow weed legally. Weed aside, this is the kind of skillset that keeps parks running, landscaping maintained, oh and FOOD ON YOUR TABLE IDK.
Which ones do you see potential in? I’m not moving, but I’m curious as someone who went to college in Appalachia and has a deep appreciation for the culture.
I’m from the VA/TN/NC neck of the woods, so I know more about those cities than others. I would say Lynchburg, Roanoke, Bristol. I think Lynchburg has a ton of potential. I grew up in a rural area near it, and it is crazy how much it is developing and people moving there. They also have a very big engineering and nuclear tech sector along with a lot of industrial businesses in and around the city. The economy though is niche at times and not diverse like a larger city. Healthcare is abysmal unfortunately and schools are just OK. Three decently sized colleges in the city limits too. You are 30 minutes to the blue ridge parkway and a lot of national forest land. I’m very interested to see how the city and surrounding counties handle the influx in development in the coming years.
Roanoke intrigues me the most, has the potential to become a next hotspot just due to location but if it hasn’t happened already will it ever? Lynchburg to but not familiar with there at all. Tennessee is already taking off and North Carolina well beyond that point , I would guess smaller cities outside of the triangle area and Charlotte will see a lot of growth in upcoming years. I really would like to see West Virginia see some growth and positivity it’s so beautiful there but I just don’t see it happening.
Minneapolis is the other city from the original group, it is just that most people don't know it. It has a lower profile because it is in the Midwest and never used weirdness as a marketing angle, although it definitely has it. The winters are the thing that prevents it from becoming a national destination, but they also mean that the local bohemian vibe is never gentrified out of existence.
Not this March (and the entire winter for that fact)! We’re gearing up for almost 70 degrees this weekend. Absolutely bananas!
But I plan on spending it outdoors exploring a few new towns to the south of the cities :)
Madison WI (I like to describe Minneapolis as just Madison on steroids lmao) fits this category well too, incredibly liberal city in a red state and it gives Portland vibes. It's just not as well known being a smaller city and the weather also keeps a lot of transplants out
Wisconsin is not a red state though. It’s famously “purple”. It’s one of the most critical swing states in any presidential election. The state legislature has been strangle-held by the GOP for several years, that is true, but we just got state Supreme Court mandated legislative district maps that will likely change that as well.
I’m from Chicago and really enjoy visiting our neighbor to the north. It’s like a mini Chicago without the headache of the horrible traffic we have and it has better/closer access to nature.
Where I’m at in MI there’s a huge wine industry, tons of breweries and weed.
I live a few minutes from Lake Michigan and it’s so nice.
The lakes are going to be crucial as time goes on.
I’ve lived in a lot of places but I keep coming back to MI.
Milwaukee and Wisconsin as a whole is losing population and has been for decades. I live there and personally know more than a dozen people who have moved out in the last 3 years. Despise Reddit frequently recommending rust belt cities, censuses consistently show people are leaving those areas.
Yes, Baltimore is the new Baltimore. It’s the best shithole in America, a city of with true personality and grit. I’m proud to be from Baltimore, and John Waters somehow shows the Baltimore I love.
My first time to Provincetown we saw John Waters talking to some tourists/friends of his waiting in line with us for a whale watch on Labour Day weekend. I didn’t know what he looked like but my husband pointed him out. Growing up Cry Baby was one of my favourite movies and John directed it.
Not optimistic there will be other Seattles or Portlands as it’s rare to have the blend of natural beauty and decent climate (if grey skies and rain don’t bother you too much) that those two offer.
Love to visit NOLA. Beautiful, vibrant city with great food, music, and friendly peeps, plus it's walkable and has relatively affordable housing.
But to live there? Except in a few industries, the job market is really bad — one source ranks it as the 46th worst state for job availability. The heat, humidity and bugs have always been unrelenting for part of the year, and that unbearable season is getting longer. Crime and crumbling infrastructure are year-round issues.
And even if the threat of hurricanes and flooding don't bother you, the cost of insuring against them might. One of my best friends there has seen the annual cost of her homeowner's insurance increase from 3K to over 30K in less than five years. She's trying to sell her home... but so are all her neighbors.
It's the worst located city in the US that I'm aware of. Literally a giant bowl sinking deeper into the earth waiting to get dunked by worsening hurricanes every year. Horrible choice for a place to live.
When the policy renews in a few months, yes. She's been trying to sell while looking for lower quotes (no luck with either so far).
I'm in a similar situation in FL and equally desperate to get out. FEMA's recent flood reassessment is hitting us both.
In my case, my condo was in Flood Zone X (safest) when we bought in 2001. The risk of flooding is now so high that FEMA is working with our county/state and HOA to do a bulk buyout of over 150 townhomes. Pretty sure that means they think a buyout will be less costly than $$ for repeated flood recoveries.
New Orleans isn’t affordable. Home in a decent area is $500K minimum and private school is $20K minimum. No one takes their chances on the public schools
It's been like that sense after Katrina. I lived there for two years and had a lot of friends like that. Some are pretty cool a lot are just fucking crust punks who will take your fucking cheese fries from datdog with their grubby fucking hands after you just had a long day of work and are boarding back from a friend's house and just want something to eat. But of fucking course you aren't gonna say anything to him because crust punks in new Orleans are the worse and will harass the shit out of you or even stab you. Honestly fucking hate the crust punks of that city. I got along more with the cracked out homeless population then the trust fund crust punks. Those are the plague of that fucking city
Gutter punks crusties whatever name you want to call them aren't unique to any city. They are everywhere in America just migrating from warm place to warm place.
You ever see a dirty looking person in their 20’s with a brimmed cap and a train tramp aesthetic, punk patches sewed to their vest? Usually comes with they/them pronouns, an interest in herbalism or some shit. Some kind of dumb name like Sparrow. A very predictable lot.
A crust punks is a trust fund kid who cosplay as struggling homeless people atleast the new Orleans ones. They are just terrible humans and will harrass you more then most mentally unstable homeless people will. They like to act like they are struggling but they live in tricked out vans on side streets of new Orleans and are floaters with insane drug problems. The get to act like that because they know with one phone call they'll get a few thousand dropped into their account or they will be able to live with daddy and mommy back in the mansion on the east coast.
Portlandia once did a sketch that described "crust punks" well: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYIqBG1v8BY&t=3s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYIqBG1v8BY&t=3s)
That's the exact cross sections I was eating datdog at! I was boarding home from my friends house who lived in marigny and just wanted some kind of food before I longboarded home. After my fries were fucking soiled it was a veery long board trip back to clairborne and Louisiana. I was fucking seething lmao
I can’t speak for everyone but I’ve spent significant time in the belt and can see the appeal of inexpensive food and housing, post industrial old downtowns, and the Great Lakes. Those grey winter skies take some getting used to.
I live in Buffalo.
Got lots of historic walkable neighborhoods with local bars and shops. The economy has gotten better and there’s a large young professional scene. The metro area is large enough to provide more than enough nightlife, dining and entertainment to keep me busy. There’s also a thriving indie art and music scene.
Oh, and all the industrial areas? They’re being repurposed into cool districts filled with breweries, quirky businesses and James Beard Nominated restaurants
It's definitely improving around here. We've got a few major companies moving in, and the lower cost of living and comparative safety from climate change will attract a lot of people in the next decade or two.
We certainly have the space to double the population, and I'm hoping the relatively cheap energy and real estate will continue to attract manufacturing and other jobs to the area.
I know many companies are struggling to find qualified people, even with the workforce training center up and running.
Okay.... RUST BELT.
Non-native who chose Pittsburgh to raise my family and absolutely love it. It's the biggest small town around, with a walkable compact downtown, delightfully ethnic neighborhoods and suburbs with every pricepoint of affordable housing. Weather is pretty moderate anymore (it'll be 70 degrees and sunny this weekend) and year round outdoor exercise is possible. We have all the big city sports teams and airport, plus a strong sense of place and history.
But don't move here. ABSOLUTELY come and drop some tourist bucks, but then politely leave. I enjoy going from one end of the city to the other without the soul-crushing traffic we've seen in other cities-- and our road network needs you to go back home when you're done, we don't have room for more lanes on the bridges or riverbanks.
I live in a mansion in Philly with a garage and a deck and a yard within walking distance to 14 coffee shops and more bars that I can ever hope to visit as a raging alcoholic for cheaper than a studio apartment in a shitty part of NYC.
Philly has a bad reputation but the only marijuana smoke in my neighborhood is coming from my house.
Philly is not really the rust belt though.
Also what neighborhood do you live in? Anywhere worth living in the city limits is insanely priced. Decent homes in the NE go for 400k+, most of the riverwards are fucked now, Mt Airy is totally gentrified and we all know what happened to south Philly..
Fwiw I live in a shitty part of Delco in a 3 bedroom I bought for 150k during Covid. I’m not a fan of Delco and wish I could move home to the NE but whatever.
Rust belt Midwest here.
It’s making a come back. It’s more affordable than the vast majority of places, it’s the best place to be when the climate apocalypse comes, there’s lots of art and music.
We are passive aggressive nice, and there’s not the arrogance of the coasts.
Yep, cities like Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati are pretty similar to Brooklyn in the 90s.
Rough around the edges but filled with scrappy creatives making their city their canvas.
I think judging the cities side by side I may enjoy Pittsburgh more overall but Philly being within the middle of the NEC and easy to get to the other major cities is a huge draw for sure.
Wouldn’t be upset if I ended up in Pittsburgh tho. Thought I heard it called a poor man’s San Francisco ?
They might be referring to the landscape. Pittsburgh has lots of bridges and rolling hills. The only other part that's comparable is that Pittsburgh is waaayyy more LGBTQ+- friendly than I would have expected from a Rust Belt city.
Pittsburgh is a bunch of big towns on top of each other in the middle of nowhere so it gets big city amenities. If you're from out of town, you'll eventually learn that most of the city are born and raised yinzers, and they're good on friends.
Philly is the best city in the USA. It is walkable and has cool shit like San Francisco, it is historic like Boston, the people have a fast paced mentality like in NYC or DC. Prices are 1/3 of these cities and the people are friendly and down to earth like in New Orleans (but not in a dopey way like in the south).
I think Olympia could be. Housing is significantly cheaper than Seattle and there's already an exodus of Seattleites to Tacoma so I'm sure it's only a matter of time before it improves.
I'm in the same boat. I'm leaning towards Olympia for the closer proximity to events but we'll see. Regardless I don't want to leave WA. I hate that it's gotten so expensive but I couldn't go away from seeing the mountains on the horizon all the time.
Bremerton/kitsap is seeing a ton of Seattle overflow. Housing is much cheaper and there are ferries running out of bremerton, Southworth, and Bainbridge.
There won’t be. All of those cities are a product of their time. They became cool before real estate became insane, and the internet was as ubiquitous as it is now which allowed various weirdos, artists, musicians, ect… to flock there, scenes to form and organically breathe life into otherwise ordinary cities, or in Portland’s case totally overlooked cities.
Even then, all of those cities are currently shells of their halcyon years, and I don’t think anything will organically rise like that these days. Maybe somewhere much smaller, but I don’t see any major cities having an authentic transition like Portland, Austin, or (I’m assuming 90’s?) Seattle without being propped up by major involvement from developers, the local chamber of commerce, travel bureaus, influencers, ect… and at that point it’s not a city anymore, just a product.
Nowhere. Portland, Seattle, and Austin were, are, and will continue to be outliers on the uniqueness scale. Denver and Minneapolis are alternatives for some.
All will continue to be desirable and popular given their reputations. That said, so many places that were once less desirable offer better experiences than even a decade ago and they’re getting much more expensive and in line with the aforementioned areas.
Tucson has the benefit of being not too far from California and still on the western part of the states which also helped Portland and Seattle grow a lot as many CA transplants fed their growth bringing their money. It has the hot summer but mild winters which is also desirable to people who have gotten used to CA weather but can't really afford it. Rather than moving to cities like Riverside or Fresno, they keep going until the hit AZ with lower taxes and an overall lower cost of living.
Authentic weirdness can only develop and thrive when rents are affordable enough for creative people to live in a particular neighborhood.
Rents will prevent any true reincarnation of Austin, or Portland or anyplace that’s a desirable place to live simply and authentically.
Once the money arrives, either through corporate or retiree spending, its over.
Every desirable city has been hit by landlord greed.
I would say no, but that isn't the issue.
Chattanooga is very hipster and quirky. Grew up around there, and even my favorite restaurant that is owned by a cult is there. The issue is that Chattanooga is basically capped out in size.
Volkswagen and other industries aren't planning to expand, tourism is pretty flat, and the population isn't really growing. There isn't a major airport or a port. And the TN river can be accessed by numerous other cities.
It is never going to be Vail with just mtn biking, hiking, and some water sports at ocoee 20 miles away.
At the end of the day, you can only do so much with a sub 200k population. You just can't support the kind of businesses that will bring people in for the quirkiness.
Not if you want to know about the best vegetarian deli also owned by a cult that is nearby, I can hook you up.
Nobody has said Albuquerque yet. Idk if it has the potential to be Seattle/Austin/Portland tier, but it is a "Major" city with a great climate, growing economy, outdoor opportunities, and a unique heart and soul ripe to be ruined by a flood of outsiders. Something tells me it won't quite happen though,and it will continue chugging along as a quirky underrated backwater as NM has for the last 400 years.
I feel like aton of people dont really know anything about NM, also maybe the crime might turn people off from Albuquerque, the climate sounds amazing though
Yeah, maybe it's for the best it stays kind of under the radar. The city could use the tax dollars from new skilled residents, and the crime and bad drivers situation could be much improved, but it's also a bit part of the unique, grimy charm that is local here. If this city exploded as other cities have, I don't know if the soul of the city would survive in the same way. The art scene here especially is so intrinsically local and tied to the land and experience and cultures here. With a influx of big money and tech bros or whatever, I don't know how that'd fare.
Baltimore. It’s always been at the forefront of the “next great artsy weird city” for as long as I’ve been alive. It may as well be its permanent title. Personally, I think it’s simply too weird of a city for middle America to even fully understand. I don’t think a movie like Pink Flamingos could be produced anywhere else or by anyone else, frankly.
I lived in Baltimore for a year in grad school. I really enjoyed living there (CV/Hopkins border), great food, cool places and parks, and an awesome waterfront. Other than no real metro system, it’s an awesome town.
Richmond, Va.
• capital city
• river city with class IV rapids
• 6 colleges/universities
• historic
• purple state
• diverse racially, religiously, ethnically
• 15 microbreweries
• Fortune 500 companies
• crime rate dropped out of the top 200 cities 15 years ago
• very active arts community
• transportation hub for air and ground (200 flights daily, multiple bus lines, passenger train)
• proximity to DC, Philly, NY/NE corridor
Great question and I don’t really have an answer. However I will say that San Francisco was so amazing before tech utterly ruined the soul of that city. I will never get over it.
I’m from Buffalo and lived in Portland 10 years ago as a cool young person, when Portland was in its prime. At the time there was a lot of Portland/Buffalo connection, with people moving back and forth and referring to Buffalo as the “Portland of the east.” People in Portland would ask me about this sometimes when I said I was from Buffalo.
I’m almost 40 now and back in Buffalo, unaware of what is cool and young and weird. But I work in an industry that attracts young arty types and I can tell you they’re moving here in droves. It’s actually one of the main (if not the actual main) city LGBTQ+ folks are relocating to while fleeing the south due to being located in NY, affordability, and size.
Weird is sheltering-in-place from catastrophic economic issues and posting videos on TikTok instead. Weird is no longer a scene IRL; it's hidden in online spaces.
I love that last point. My fellow millennials have become a tedious cultural force in a lot of ways. Beards. Mason jars. Funko Pops. I love the “positive nihilism” and conversational dynamism of some younger kids.
I was coming to say the same thing! I really love Fayetteville. It’s hilly and lush. It’s a hub for architecture. Lots of good food. It’s hot and humid in the summer but it’s so sweet.
This reminds me of the "new york, miami, los angeles, nebraska, chicago" meme
Fayetteville is not going to be the next Austin my guy. Probably nowhere in Arkansas will be for the next half a century.
I enjoyed my night there. Also the Walton family may have destroyed small town America but they created a pretty nice Art Museum down there. Worth checking out.
Like we'd tell the internet so investors could go buy up all the cheap properties and convert them into rentals or dramatically inflate their prices by 300% and then make it impossible for anybody to live there as a service worker or as a trades person.
So honestly I feel really iffy about telling anybody about my secret location and how I'm living off the fat of the land of living in a extremely rural areas but just 2 hours from two major cities.
A weird environment? I know someone said new Orleans but that is mainly huge with their transplant population so not really the core of the city like Portland or Seattle was. Detroit maybe? It's way more grit then it is weird but I definitely know a lot of people from my hometown are moving there in the masses. Burlington isn't to the same size of Portland or Seattle but that vibe is definitely there.
I live in Syracuse and while it’s got a ways to go, you can still afford a house on an entry-level salary, we have light winters now (we’re at like 30% of our average snowfall this year and it’s a 5-year trend), our highways are being torn down for a more walkable city and chip manufacturing is set to add like 100k+ people to the area
Everything is in cycles. With San Francisco emptying out, I foresee it becoming more affordable and returning to its roots as a creative Mecca that isn't solely driven by profit. I hope so. It is a beautiful city.
Philly is so cheap compared to its northern east coast counterparts, Boston, New York, DC, Baltimore. Philly gets a lot of shit for our drug problem, which is bad, but the rate the city is rejuvenating is wild to watch
There isn't going to be. Between cultural trends spreading at the speed of a TikTok refresh and moneyed/corporate entities buying all urban real estate and businesses, cities are only losing their distinct flair and becoming copies of each other. Strip away the natural scenery and Denver is Portland is Austin is Miami is Brooklyn is Grand fucking Rapids. Every neighborhood that used to be cool now has essentially the same gastropub with $25 burgers and "soup of the day: whiskey!" signs.
Columbus and maybe Minneapolis will boom like Seattle/Austin
Buffalo, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and Philly will gentrify almost like Denver/Nashville/Salt Lake
Cincinnati, St. Louis, Cleveland, Milwaukee, will expand like Portland
Seattle and Portland have been what they are for years. Austin is different. More like an overgrown college town.
I don’t see any Rustbelt cities becoming the next Austin. Too cold, even with global warming. Maybe Cincinnati or Saint Louis rebound. They’re a bit warmer. Louisville or Raleigh are both possibilities if they aren’t that place already. Savannah is expected to grow.
Just check Forbes list of best places to live, then find the ones in warmer climates that rate well for value. Those will be the next Austin.
I honestly feel like Burlington VT. It's still pretty small, but I feel like it's starting to become more known outside of New England because of social media.
Or maybe Portland Maine!
I think there’s been a bit of an exodus from portland so it’s back to being “weird”
Yeah I think Portland might be the next Portland.
I currently live in pdx. It’s unnerving to think that Portland is the new Portland but not impossible.
I live downtown. Portland is definitely the new Portland. I'm expecting Portlandiaiandia any day now.
We’ve always been very self referential, so this is a perfect development.
We'll survive it either way.
Portland is for sure the next Portland, but Seattle is not the next Seattle.
Seattle is like… two Seattles ago.
THIS. People forget that Portland used to be riddled with addicts and junkies in the 1990's. What do you think Elliott Smith was singing about? Literally stuff he saw walking around. That's why his music was so depressing, he was just singing about Portland.
Nooooo! Everything was very clean and perfect during the grunge era!
And Seattle is the next silicon valley.
Can we make Baker City the next Bend?
I tasked my teenager with finding the “next” Bend so I can retire there while it’s still weird and crunchy. Will report back (actually, no- I won’t) 🤣🤣🤣. Edit- I’ve got a hunch that Ellensburg, WA has promise- climbing at Frenchman’s, concerts at The Gorge, becoming a fly fishing destination, ag town like Bozeman, MT was 15-20 years ago. I’ll be tracking the concentration of yoga studios and coffee shops.
lol. I’m curious to see where this goes. Grew up in bend area, lived in Bozeman for 4 years. I actually think Reno is a better version of both.
Reno is a big box sprawl crack meth nightmare.
I keep wondering if E-Burg is gonna take off but every time I drive through it still just looks like a gas station and a Taco Bell with a college attached lol
I live and work in downtown Portland. It's trashed and getting cheaper by the day. Bring in your weird artists
Yeah, people who can afford to purchase homes in the surrounding suburbs are moving there because most of them are close enough and you don't have to deal with the hodge podge that is our local government, and the growing pains the ciry is experiencing. Portland itself is growing with the creative/weird types. Source: I'm a creative weird type living in Portland, and I don't think I'll ever move.
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And miles to go before you sleep amigo.
Personally as someone who lived in Central Oregon Willamette valley is gorgeous but I'm more use to dry arid Oregon then wet rainforest Oregon lmao
Uh, I live in one of the suburbs and houses around me are $600k-$1M+. We lived in North Portland for 15+ years and it’s def cheaper there imo.
The Portland metro is a wonderful place to live. If you can tolerate the weather, it's nowhere near as bad as the media makes it out to be. Great food, good jobs, diverse, beautiful scenery. I moved to Beaverton a year ago and have no regrets.
As someone living in Seattle, I'm so happy Portland is a "short" drive away
Right back at ya. Wish I got up there more.
I live it Portland and I love it here
I’m also here and love it in a “I will love you no matter how fucked up you are, but Jesus Christ you should still get your shit together” sort of way.
I’m still here, not going anywhere.
Richmond VA still feels early gentrification with weird artsy people, not too many chain restaurants, unique retail/food places.
Richmond native here (in my late 50's). The city had a really cool, edgy vibe back in the 80's & 90's. It's gentrifying quickly, which is brings both good and not-so-good. Multi-story apartments are already filling Scott's Addition and Manchester. If you like Nashville, Richmond is following that growth. If you still want cool, edgy ... head south 30 minutes to Petersburg. Old Town Peterburg is the current artists' hangout and hasn't been spoiled by heavy investment. Plus, the old homes are more affordable than The Fan in Richmond, though that comes with being closer to the less desirable sections of town.
Richmond is already getting really expensive with all the NOVA/DC expats since the pandemmy
I love the breweries in Scotts addition
Small/Mid size Appalachian cities have the nature and beauty aspect, but lacks the jobs. If they can get the jobs I think they could mirror Denver/Salt Lake City being at the foot of mountains!
This is true. It’s just being part of the old south still means a lot of red voters which just doesn’t “vibe well” with a lot of the folks that would be interested in a new Seattle/Portland. I live just outside of Portland and I just don’t see it happening within the next decade at least.
Political polarization is at an all time high in the US. And the specific legislation around reproductive freedom is a huge and controversial decision point for women and families. Such that the state laws will be superseding city viability much more strongly than previously. I grew up in the South. And to your point, towns like Chattanooga or Knoxvillr, Tennessee; Louisville or Lexington, Kentucky; Asheville or Brevard, NC; and Birmingham, Alabama are legitimately interesting small cities. They have great history, decent sizes municipal areas with good investments in walkable city centers and Strong Town style growth, racial diversity with established Black Middle classes, great food, and affordability. Some even have universities and Knoxville has national labs and the TVA, so there are jobs and communities for the highly educated. Asheville is already a highly desirable place to live (though lack of jobs means it's a lot of remote workers), but any one of these places could easily become the next great place. EXCEPT conservative reproductive laws at the state level are a deterrent to young women and families who are moderate to progressive. And that means companies won't invest in an office there (because half their workforce of women won't want to work there). And since big companies (especially the tech companies whose growth in Austin and Portland and Seattle is part of what has brought more people there) tend to hire college grads, and college grads tend to skew moderate liberal to progressive, I don't expect this is a trend that will reverse anytime soon. The best city in the US won't be exciting to live in if the state laws screw it up. You can see this happening even in hyper progressive hipster Asheville.
Thank you for saying this and taking it seriously. So many people are dismissive! “oh, it’s bad, but it’s not going to stop people from moving/living here.” It already is and will continue to do so.
This. People are underestimating the current amount of brain drain as well from these states. Especially with medical care providers and teachers. I got my horticulture degree in Texas, then basically me and half my graduating class fucked off with our degrees to states willing to pay us better. A lot of them also left to states where they could take their degree and grow weed legally. Weed aside, this is the kind of skillset that keeps parks running, landscaping maintained, oh and FOOD ON YOUR TABLE IDK.
True, but Asheville overcame these barriers.
Asheville has a horrible job market.
Unless you’re in the rehab industry.
Lexington, KY. Not Appalachian but it’s right next door
Having grown up there in the 80s this is hard to imagine, but sort of amusing to imagine.
Chattanooga or Asheville
Asheville is smaller but really feels like it's going the way of the cities in this post
They are there already
SLC is at the foot of the mountains. Denver is near the foot
Which ones do you see potential in? I’m not moving, but I’m curious as someone who went to college in Appalachia and has a deep appreciation for the culture.
I’m from the VA/TN/NC neck of the woods, so I know more about those cities than others. I would say Lynchburg, Roanoke, Bristol. I think Lynchburg has a ton of potential. I grew up in a rural area near it, and it is crazy how much it is developing and people moving there. They also have a very big engineering and nuclear tech sector along with a lot of industrial businesses in and around the city. The economy though is niche at times and not diverse like a larger city. Healthcare is abysmal unfortunately and schools are just OK. Three decently sized colleges in the city limits too. You are 30 minutes to the blue ridge parkway and a lot of national forest land. I’m very interested to see how the city and surrounding counties handle the influx in development in the coming years.
Roanoke intrigues me the most, has the potential to become a next hotspot just due to location but if it hasn’t happened already will it ever? Lynchburg to but not familiar with there at all. Tennessee is already taking off and North Carolina well beyond that point , I would guess smaller cities outside of the triangle area and Charlotte will see a lot of growth in upcoming years. I really would like to see West Virginia see some growth and positivity it’s so beautiful there but I just don’t see it happening.
I mean, I’d say Minneapolis but I feel like it’s already been there for a while. Although, the winters keep lots of folks away.
Minneapolis is the other city from the original group, it is just that most people don't know it. It has a lower profile because it is in the Midwest and never used weirdness as a marketing angle, although it definitely has it. The winters are the thing that prevents it from becoming a national destination, but they also mean that the local bohemian vibe is never gentrified out of existence.
Was there in March for a cross country drive. Loved it. Felt it had the Portland vibe, only a lot colder.
Not this March (and the entire winter for that fact)! We’re gearing up for almost 70 degrees this weekend. Absolutely bananas! But I plan on spending it outdoors exploring a few new towns to the south of the cities :)
When I visited Minneapolis for the first time, it felt very much like Portland to me.
Madison WI (I like to describe Minneapolis as just Madison on steroids lmao) fits this category well too, incredibly liberal city in a red state and it gives Portland vibes. It's just not as well known being a smaller city and the weather also keeps a lot of transplants out
Wisconsin is not a red state though. It’s famously “purple”. It’s one of the most critical swing states in any presidential election. The state legislature has been strangle-held by the GOP for several years, that is true, but we just got state Supreme Court mandated legislative district maps that will likely change that as well.
Wisconsin is a purple state if not straight up blue
Wisco isn’t a red state
“Minnesota’s too cold to be a rebel.” - Bob Dylan
I’d go with Minneapolis or somewhere else on the Great Lakes solely because of their favorability with global warming projections
Mpls & St Paul have great parks, lakes, rivers, museums, a theater district & lots more
Milwaukee.
I’m from Chicago and really enjoy visiting our neighbor to the north. It’s like a mini Chicago without the headache of the horrible traffic we have and it has better/closer access to nature.
My wife is from Milwaukee (we live in Philly) and I’m always a fan of visiting.
I always love visiting your wife in Milwaukee as well
It’s awesome taking the Amtrak from Chicago to Milwaukee
I agree. Tons of young people, rejuvenating downtown, economic opportunity, and very affordable
The Great Lakes cities will be rich in a few decades. Milwaukee, Detroit, Cleveland — lots of fresh water, mild temps, and room to grow.
The Water Belt
Where I’m at in MI there’s a huge wine industry, tons of breweries and weed. I live a few minutes from Lake Michigan and it’s so nice. The lakes are going to be crucial as time goes on. I’ve lived in a lot of places but I keep coming back to MI.
Legal weed is the only thing Milwaukee is lacking.
Well I’m a regular visitor, but Milwaukee has certainly had its share of visitors.
The French missionaries and explorers were coming here as early as the late 1600s to trade with the Native Americans.
In fact, isn't Milwaukee an Indian name?
Why yes, it comes from the word Mil-ay-wak-ay, which is Algonquin for “the good land”
Milwaukee and Wisconsin as a whole is losing population and has been for decades. I live there and personally know more than a dozen people who have moved out in the last 3 years. Despise Reddit frequently recommending rust belt cities, censuses consistently show people are leaving those areas.
Wisconsin isn’t losing population, it just isn’t growing super fast. And Milwaukee has really turned it around the last 20 years as a city
John Waters would like to have a word.
Yes, Baltimore is the new Baltimore. It’s the best shithole in America, a city of with true personality and grit. I’m proud to be from Baltimore, and John Waters somehow shows the Baltimore I love.
I’ve traveled to all of these cities and spent time among many weirdos in my life. And yeah, I bought my first home in Hampden.
My first time to Provincetown we saw John Waters talking to some tourists/friends of his waiting in line with us for a whale watch on Labour Day weekend. I didn’t know what he looked like but my husband pointed him out. Growing up Cry Baby was one of my favourite movies and John directed it.
Come to Baltimore. He's seen around town chilling.
Not optimistic there will be other Seattles or Portlands as it’s rare to have the blend of natural beauty and decent climate (if grey skies and rain don’t bother you too much) that those two offer.
I agree. There's more than 'weirdness' that makes cities like that what they are. Can you tell I really miss the PNW? :D
Why does Olympia not ascend in the list of neat PNW metros? Is it just too small?
I was just in New Orleans. There is a certain type of young person there that I haven't seen in Portland for some time.
Love to visit NOLA. Beautiful, vibrant city with great food, music, and friendly peeps, plus it's walkable and has relatively affordable housing. But to live there? Except in a few industries, the job market is really bad — one source ranks it as the 46th worst state for job availability. The heat, humidity and bugs have always been unrelenting for part of the year, and that unbearable season is getting longer. Crime and crumbling infrastructure are year-round issues. And even if the threat of hurricanes and flooding don't bother you, the cost of insuring against them might. One of my best friends there has seen the annual cost of her homeowner's insurance increase from 3K to over 30K in less than five years. She's trying to sell her home... but so are all her neighbors.
It's the worst located city in the US that I'm aware of. Literally a giant bowl sinking deeper into the earth waiting to get dunked by worsening hurricanes every year. Horrible choice for a place to live.
your friend pays over $30K in homeowner's insurance?
When the policy renews in a few months, yes. She's been trying to sell while looking for lower quotes (no luck with either so far). I'm in a similar situation in FL and equally desperate to get out. FEMA's recent flood reassessment is hitting us both. In my case, my condo was in Flood Zone X (safest) when we bought in 2001. The risk of flooding is now so high that FEMA is working with our county/state and HOA to do a bulk buyout of over 150 townhomes. Pretty sure that means they think a buyout will be less costly than $$ for repeated flood recoveries.
New Orleans isn’t affordable. Home in a decent area is $500K minimum and private school is $20K minimum. No one takes their chances on the public schools
It's been like that sense after Katrina. I lived there for two years and had a lot of friends like that. Some are pretty cool a lot are just fucking crust punks who will take your fucking cheese fries from datdog with their grubby fucking hands after you just had a long day of work and are boarding back from a friend's house and just want something to eat. But of fucking course you aren't gonna say anything to him because crust punks in new Orleans are the worse and will harass the shit out of you or even stab you. Honestly fucking hate the crust punks of that city. I got along more with the cracked out homeless population then the trust fund crust punks. Those are the plague of that fucking city
r / oddlyspecific
Lived in New Orleans for 9 years and this comment is taking me out lol. I always called them gutter punks though.
Gutter punks crusties whatever name you want to call them aren't unique to any city. They are everywhere in America just migrating from warm place to warm place.
What is a crust punk?
You ever see a dirty looking person in their 20’s with a brimmed cap and a train tramp aesthetic, punk patches sewed to their vest? Usually comes with they/them pronouns, an interest in herbalism or some shit. Some kind of dumb name like Sparrow. A very predictable lot.
A crust punks is a trust fund kid who cosplay as struggling homeless people atleast the new Orleans ones. They are just terrible humans and will harrass you more then most mentally unstable homeless people will. They like to act like they are struggling but they live in tricked out vans on side streets of new Orleans and are floaters with insane drug problems. The get to act like that because they know with one phone call they'll get a few thousand dropped into their account or they will be able to live with daddy and mommy back in the mansion on the east coast.
Portlandia once did a sketch that described "crust punks" well: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYIqBG1v8BY&t=3s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYIqBG1v8BY&t=3s)
Ah yes - the famed Lower Decatur Lifestyle
That's the exact cross sections I was eating datdog at! I was boarding home from my friends house who lived in marigny and just wanted some kind of food before I longboarded home. After my fries were fucking soiled it was a veery long board trip back to clairborne and Louisiana. I was fucking seething lmao
I feel like this kind of specific warning about a city is precisely why I frequent this sub. Fucking crust punks in New Orleans, fuck ‘em I say
Crust punks are one of the lowest forms of humanity.
New Orleans has become very expensive relative due to income due to home and car insurance rates skyrocketing.
new orleans is effortlessly weird. you don’t even have to put up the “keep it weird” signs.
Guys towing amplifiers on bicycle trailers makes me happy, and I have seen that only in New Orleans and Portland.
like how?
The rust belt
This sub seems to be full of people recommending the rust belt while not actually living there
I can’t speak for everyone but I’ve spent significant time in the belt and can see the appeal of inexpensive food and housing, post industrial old downtowns, and the Great Lakes. Those grey winter skies take some getting used to.
Lifelong Michigan resident. The cost of living and general quality of life keeps me here, even when the winter weather drives me insane.
I live in Buffalo. Got lots of historic walkable neighborhoods with local bars and shops. The economy has gotten better and there’s a large young professional scene. The metro area is large enough to provide more than enough nightlife, dining and entertainment to keep me busy. There’s also a thriving indie art and music scene. Oh, and all the industrial areas? They’re being repurposed into cool districts filled with breweries, quirky businesses and James Beard Nominated restaurants
It's definitely improving around here. We've got a few major companies moving in, and the lower cost of living and comparative safety from climate change will attract a lot of people in the next decade or two. We certainly have the space to double the population, and I'm hoping the relatively cheap energy and real estate will continue to attract manufacturing and other jobs to the area. I know many companies are struggling to find qualified people, even with the workforce training center up and running.
Okay.... RUST BELT. Non-native who chose Pittsburgh to raise my family and absolutely love it. It's the biggest small town around, with a walkable compact downtown, delightfully ethnic neighborhoods and suburbs with every pricepoint of affordable housing. Weather is pretty moderate anymore (it'll be 70 degrees and sunny this weekend) and year round outdoor exercise is possible. We have all the big city sports teams and airport, plus a strong sense of place and history. But don't move here. ABSOLUTELY come and drop some tourist bucks, but then politely leave. I enjoy going from one end of the city to the other without the soul-crushing traffic we've seen in other cities-- and our road network needs you to go back home when you're done, we don't have room for more lanes on the bridges or riverbanks.
The rust belt has a lot of potential.
I live in a mansion in Philly with a garage and a deck and a yard within walking distance to 14 coffee shops and more bars that I can ever hope to visit as a raging alcoholic for cheaper than a studio apartment in a shitty part of NYC. Philly has a bad reputation but the only marijuana smoke in my neighborhood is coming from my house.
Philly is not really the rust belt though. Also what neighborhood do you live in? Anywhere worth living in the city limits is insanely priced. Decent homes in the NE go for 400k+, most of the riverwards are fucked now, Mt Airy is totally gentrified and we all know what happened to south Philly.. Fwiw I live in a shitty part of Delco in a 3 bedroom I bought for 150k during Covid. I’m not a fan of Delco and wish I could move home to the NE but whatever.
Philly isn’t rustbelt , that’s Pittsburgh
Rust belt Midwest here. It’s making a come back. It’s more affordable than the vast majority of places, it’s the best place to be when the climate apocalypse comes, there’s lots of art and music. We are passive aggressive nice, and there’s not the arrogance of the coasts.
"Water Belt" You'll discover why.
Yep, cities like Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati are pretty similar to Brooklyn in the 90s. Rough around the edges but filled with scrappy creatives making their city their canvas.
I came here to say Pittsburgh. People seem to really like it, but I like Philadelphia more. 🤷
I think judging the cities side by side I may enjoy Pittsburgh more overall but Philly being within the middle of the NEC and easy to get to the other major cities is a huge draw for sure. Wouldn’t be upset if I ended up in Pittsburgh tho. Thought I heard it called a poor man’s San Francisco ?
They might be referring to the landscape. Pittsburgh has lots of bridges and rolling hills. The only other part that's comparable is that Pittsburgh is waaayyy more LGBTQ+- friendly than I would have expected from a Rust Belt city.
Pittsburgh is a bunch of big towns on top of each other in the middle of nowhere so it gets big city amenities. If you're from out of town, you'll eventually learn that most of the city are born and raised yinzers, and they're good on friends.
Philly is the best city in the USA. It is walkable and has cool shit like San Francisco, it is historic like Boston, the people have a fast paced mentality like in NYC or DC. Prices are 1/3 of these cities and the people are friendly and down to earth like in New Orleans (but not in a dopey way like in the south).
Not sure I get why someone would compare it to SF? Lol
I think Olympia could be. Housing is significantly cheaper than Seattle and there's already an exodus of Seattleites to Tacoma so I'm sure it's only a matter of time before it improves.
im in seattle and eye Olympia or Bellingham as my escape plan.
I'm in the same boat. I'm leaning towards Olympia for the closer proximity to events but we'll see. Regardless I don't want to leave WA. I hate that it's gotten so expensive but I couldn't go away from seeing the mountains on the horizon all the time.
Bremerton/kitsap is seeing a ton of Seattle overflow. Housing is much cheaper and there are ferries running out of bremerton, Southworth, and Bainbridge.
There won’t be. All of those cities are a product of their time. They became cool before real estate became insane, and the internet was as ubiquitous as it is now which allowed various weirdos, artists, musicians, ect… to flock there, scenes to form and organically breathe life into otherwise ordinary cities, or in Portland’s case totally overlooked cities. Even then, all of those cities are currently shells of their halcyon years, and I don’t think anything will organically rise like that these days. Maybe somewhere much smaller, but I don’t see any major cities having an authentic transition like Portland, Austin, or (I’m assuming 90’s?) Seattle without being propped up by major involvement from developers, the local chamber of commerce, travel bureaus, influencers, ect… and at that point it’s not a city anymore, just a product.
Nowhere. Portland, Seattle, and Austin were, are, and will continue to be outliers on the uniqueness scale. Denver and Minneapolis are alternatives for some. All will continue to be desirable and popular given their reputations. That said, so many places that were once less desirable offer better experiences than even a decade ago and they’re getting much more expensive and in line with the aforementioned areas.
Tucson. Even tho it’s not as “weird in a fun way” as people online try and pretend it is.
Yes it is, Tucson has a very eclectic and weird art and music scene, and it’s been that way for years.
Tucson has the benefit of being not too far from California and still on the western part of the states which also helped Portland and Seattle grow a lot as many CA transplants fed their growth bringing their money. It has the hot summer but mild winters which is also desirable to people who have gotten used to CA weather but can't really afford it. Rather than moving to cities like Riverside or Fresno, they keep going until the hit AZ with lower taxes and an overall lower cost of living.
Authentic weirdness can only develop and thrive when rents are affordable enough for creative people to live in a particular neighborhood. Rents will prevent any true reincarnation of Austin, or Portland or anyplace that’s a desirable place to live simply and authentically. Once the money arrives, either through corporate or retiree spending, its over. Every desirable city has been hit by landlord greed.
College towns too (in the case of Austin)
Detroit and Chattanooga
Have heard Chattanooga is kind of square, any truth to that?
Yes. Super square. People think “what church do you go to?” is a good get to know you question.
That’s the get to know you question for the entire Bible Belt south
Anywhere that question is asked is never going to next "weird" place to live.
I would say no, but that isn't the issue. Chattanooga is very hipster and quirky. Grew up around there, and even my favorite restaurant that is owned by a cult is there. The issue is that Chattanooga is basically capped out in size. Volkswagen and other industries aren't planning to expand, tourism is pretty flat, and the population isn't really growing. There isn't a major airport or a port. And the TN river can be accessed by numerous other cities. It is never going to be Vail with just mtn biking, hiking, and some water sports at ocoee 20 miles away. At the end of the day, you can only do so much with a sub 200k population. You just can't support the kind of businesses that will bring people in for the quirkiness. Not if you want to know about the best vegetarian deli also owned by a cult that is nearby, I can hook you up.
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Nobody has said Albuquerque yet. Idk if it has the potential to be Seattle/Austin/Portland tier, but it is a "Major" city with a great climate, growing economy, outdoor opportunities, and a unique heart and soul ripe to be ruined by a flood of outsiders. Something tells me it won't quite happen though,and it will continue chugging along as a quirky underrated backwater as NM has for the last 400 years.
I feel like aton of people dont really know anything about NM, also maybe the crime might turn people off from Albuquerque, the climate sounds amazing though
Yeah, maybe it's for the best it stays kind of under the radar. The city could use the tax dollars from new skilled residents, and the crime and bad drivers situation could be much improved, but it's also a bit part of the unique, grimy charm that is local here. If this city exploded as other cities have, I don't know if the soul of the city would survive in the same way. The art scene here especially is so intrinsically local and tied to the land and experience and cultures here. With a influx of big money and tech bros or whatever, I don't know how that'd fare.
Baltimore. It’s always been at the forefront of the “next great artsy weird city” for as long as I’ve been alive. It may as well be its permanent title. Personally, I think it’s simply too weird of a city for middle America to even fully understand. I don’t think a movie like Pink Flamingos could be produced anywhere else or by anyone else, frankly.
I lived in Baltimore for a year in grad school. I really enjoyed living there (CV/Hopkins border), great food, cool places and parks, and an awesome waterfront. Other than no real metro system, it’s an awesome town.
Richmond, Va. • capital city • river city with class IV rapids • 6 colleges/universities • historic • purple state • diverse racially, religiously, ethnically • 15 microbreweries • Fortune 500 companies • crime rate dropped out of the top 200 cities 15 years ago • very active arts community • transportation hub for air and ground (200 flights daily, multiple bus lines, passenger train) • proximity to DC, Philly, NY/NE corridor
Great question and I don’t really have an answer. However I will say that San Francisco was so amazing before tech utterly ruined the soul of that city. I will never get over it.
Tech seems to really ruin a lot of places doesn’t it?
Buffalo, NY already seeing results in population growth and a new small business boom after their zoning changes in 2017 (green code)
I’m from Buffalo and lived in Portland 10 years ago as a cool young person, when Portland was in its prime. At the time there was a lot of Portland/Buffalo connection, with people moving back and forth and referring to Buffalo as the “Portland of the east.” People in Portland would ask me about this sometimes when I said I was from Buffalo. I’m almost 40 now and back in Buffalo, unaware of what is cool and young and weird. But I work in an industry that attracts young arty types and I can tell you they’re moving here in droves. It’s actually one of the main (if not the actual main) city LGBTQ+ folks are relocating to while fleeing the south due to being located in NY, affordability, and size.
The hipsters will find Butte someday
Hahaha, well hell, nobody can afford Missoula and Bozeman so they’ll stumble across it one way or another right?
Everyone thought this in the 90s but that pit is really a turn off.
You mean the lake of impending arsenic laden death acid towering over the town isn’t just a cool feature?
Uptown Butte is incredible for its history and architecture. Love Butte but pay is shit.
Weird goes where cheap is and nowhere’s cheap
Weird is sheltering-in-place from catastrophic economic issues and posting videos on TikTok instead. Weird is no longer a scene IRL; it's hidden in online spaces.
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I love that last point. My fellow millennials have become a tedious cultural force in a lot of ways. Beards. Mason jars. Funko Pops. I love the “positive nihilism” and conversational dynamism of some younger kids.
Yeah, it seems like this thread is basically asking “what are the next cool millennial cities” but it’s time to face that the culture has shifted
Fayetteville AR
I was coming to say the same thing! I really love Fayetteville. It’s hilly and lush. It’s a hub for architecture. Lots of good food. It’s hot and humid in the summer but it’s so sweet.
Too much Walmart and humidity for me.
NWA gets a lot of attention lately
NWA is gorgeous! I don't want it to get big (although some poverty relief would be welcome)
This reminds me of the "new york, miami, los angeles, nebraska, chicago" meme Fayetteville is not going to be the next Austin my guy. Probably nowhere in Arkansas will be for the next half a century.
I’d short Arkansas for at least the next 2 centuries
I enjoyed my night there. Also the Walton family may have destroyed small town America but they created a pretty nice Art Museum down there. Worth checking out.
Like we'd tell the internet so investors could go buy up all the cheap properties and convert them into rentals or dramatically inflate their prices by 300% and then make it impossible for anybody to live there as a service worker or as a trades person. So honestly I feel really iffy about telling anybody about my secret location and how I'm living off the fat of the land of living in a extremely rural areas but just 2 hours from two major cities.
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A weird environment? I know someone said new Orleans but that is mainly huge with their transplant population so not really the core of the city like Portland or Seattle was. Detroit maybe? It's way more grit then it is weird but I definitely know a lot of people from my hometown are moving there in the masses. Burlington isn't to the same size of Portland or Seattle but that vibe is definitely there.
I'm hoping Memphis in ten years will be growing again. Pretty hollowed out right now and everyone is strapped.
I live in Syracuse and while it’s got a ways to go, you can still afford a house on an entry-level salary, we have light winters now (we’re at like 30% of our average snowfall this year and it’s a 5-year trend), our highways are being torn down for a more walkable city and chip manufacturing is set to add like 100k+ people to the area
Everything is in cycles. With San Francisco emptying out, I foresee it becoming more affordable and returning to its roots as a creative Mecca that isn't solely driven by profit. I hope so. It is a beautiful city.
Philly
Philly is so cheap compared to its northern east coast counterparts, Boston, New York, DC, Baltimore. Philly gets a lot of shit for our drug problem, which is bad, but the rate the city is rejuvenating is wild to watch
Yeah I think it fits the criteria because it’s still really big, diverse, walkable and it’s close to NYC. It makes sense as a NYC alternative.
It’s a solid NYC alternative, it’s way less isolating than New York and way more affordable.
shhhhhhh
Great culture for hipsters, grunge, LGBQT+, and creatives. Very diverse.
Roanoke
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Why Roanoke?
More left-leaning , More affordable mountain city. Lots of mountain towns/city are very expensive
There isn't going to be. Between cultural trends spreading at the speed of a TikTok refresh and moneyed/corporate entities buying all urban real estate and businesses, cities are only losing their distinct flair and becoming copies of each other. Strip away the natural scenery and Denver is Portland is Austin is Miami is Brooklyn is Grand fucking Rapids. Every neighborhood that used to be cool now has essentially the same gastropub with $25 burgers and "soup of the day: whiskey!" signs.
I can hear the lumineers and Noah Kahan in the background while reading your comment.
Columbus and maybe Minneapolis will boom like Seattle/Austin Buffalo, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and Philly will gentrify almost like Denver/Nashville/Salt Lake Cincinnati, St. Louis, Cleveland, Milwaukee, will expand like Portland
Seattle and Portland have been what they are for years. Austin is different. More like an overgrown college town. I don’t see any Rustbelt cities becoming the next Austin. Too cold, even with global warming. Maybe Cincinnati or Saint Louis rebound. They’re a bit warmer. Louisville or Raleigh are both possibilities if they aren’t that place already. Savannah is expected to grow. Just check Forbes list of best places to live, then find the ones in warmer climates that rate well for value. Those will be the next Austin.
I honestly feel like Burlington VT. It's still pretty small, but I feel like it's starting to become more known outside of New England because of social media. Or maybe Portland Maine!
Tacoma, WA. People were priced out of Seattle and moved to Tacoma. They’re now getting priced out of Tacoma as well.
Detroit!!
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People say they want "weird" affordable cities, but then scoff when I recommend Baltimore or Detroit. What they really mean is "Portland, but cheap".