If your city became too expensive for you to live there...

[King Kill 'em]

If your city became too expensive for you to live there, what less expensive city would you move to?

[Steely Dan]

Fortunately, I'm blessed by the fact that I live in chicago, which is already one of the best real-deal big city bangs-for-the-buck in the nation.

But if it ever got too expensive for us, we'd head up the road to milwaukee because it's like an even more affordable mini-me version of chicago.

And my wife's parents and sisters live up there.

And it's only 90 minutes away from the world's greatest city

And it's an awesome mid-sized American city in its own right!

[The North One]

I live in the suburbs, so this hypothetical dilemma doesn't apply to me.

If I came from some other city that was getting too expensive for what it's worth I'd probably go with Detroit, it's got that urban NYC pre-war vibe without any of the uptight assholes.

But IDK if that's even saying much considering I really don't want to live in the U.S. at all.

[brickell]

I live in the suburbs, it still applies to me.
I refuse to move any further out, and I can't afford anything closer in (that's in a decent neighborhood). If I had to sell here, I'd be in a bind.

I'm getting old, so I'd probably just give in and move to Sarasota, Naples, Venice or some other Florida Gulf Coast city.... somewhere close to "downtown" and a short bike ride to the beach.

[Cirrus]

After DC my favorite US cities are NY and SF, but nobody's moving to them for affordability. So I'd probably go with Philadelphia. Legit big city amenities, in the midst of the east coast, and affordable.

[Centropolis]

santa barbara.

[chris08876]

I'm in a NJ suburb which is already super pricey, but I guess for me, from suburb of NY on the Jersey side, I'd move to San Diego. Pick up a nice condo downtown.

California is worth the price. The people are super nice, the weather is great, and its just an epic state. Lets just say that you'd pay less in SD for a 2000 sq ft condo than the same size in my area. And its in an arguably nicer area (San Diego that is).

[The North One]

Originally Posted by brickell

I live in the suburbs, it still applies to me.

lol maybe that was the wrong thing for me to say, I interpreted the question as pertaining to people who are priced out of urban areas.

[mhays]

Portland would be a bit cheaper. But maybe Tacoma so I could visit Seattle (home) more often, and because it's cheaper still?

[Randomguy34]

Chicago will only become a pricey place to live when Philadelphia also becomes a pricey place to live, which easily would have been the city I otherwise would live in. Assuming both cities became too pricey, I wouldn't mind living in Baltimore or Cleveland since both places have NASA centers and Maryland has a decent Ethiopian population.

[ssiguy]

Vancouver is already outrageously expensive in every department but housing in particular is unbelievable. The average price of a house in the city is now $1.8 million.......40% more than expensive Toronto and prices are skyrocketing. Many young people are fleeing Vancouver {and all of BC for that matter} due to the cost of living and low wages.

I will eventually move back to Ontario.

[brickell]

rethinking the question:

1) If I'm being serious about job prospects and family. Probably Orlando. On a lake.
2) If not serious about jobs then my original answer, Florida Gulf Coast, Sarasota or the like.
3) If I ignore all the things (Family, friends, homerism, Mickey Mouse, manatees) keeping me in Florida, Baltimore I guess. I have a rowhouse fetish and it's part of that NE megalopolis. Not sure how cheaper it is.
4) If we dive deeper into lala land, I'm intrigued by Mexico City. Pretty cheap for daily stuff from what I remember and a city big enough to never get tired of. Medellin, Colombia also another option.
5) F all that. I'm buying a homestead in Belize and raising goats. I'm going to build boats in my spare time. The Goats and Boats dream. Who needs reality?

[fflint]

Oakland if I'm staying in the region. Otherwise, Seattle, Portland, or Chicago. Internationally, maybe Montreal or Mexico City. I would include Buenos Aires, Melbourne or Sydney, but they are just too ridiculously far from family and friends.

[MonkeyRonin]

Good question. In the not-unlikely event that Toronto becomes too expensive, the only real choice I'd have for an affordable place in Canada that I'd actually want to live in would be to brush up on my French and move to Montreal. That or just go down the road to Hamilton.

Originally Posted by The North One

If I came from some other city that was getting too expensive for what it's worth I'd probably go with Detroit, it's got that urban NYC pre-war vibe without any of the uptight assholes.

Detroit bears absolutely no resemblance to anywhere in New York.

Originally Posted by ssiguy

Vancouver is already outrageously expensive in every department but housing in particular is unbelievable. The average price of a house in the city is now $1.8 million.......40% more than expensive Toronto and prices are skyrocketing. Many young people are fleeing Vancouver {and all of BC for that matter} due to the cost of living and low wages.

Not that Vancouver real estate isn't absurdly expensive, but that's the average price of a (detached) house - kind of irrelevant in a city where most people live in apartments.

[Busy Bee]

Mortville

[Boris2k7]

Both Calgary and Edmonton are already among the more expensive cities to live in Canada (though not the most -- see Vancouver, Toronto). That is balanced out by the fact that average wages are higher and taxes are lower here than in the rest of the country. Even with a recession here (due to oil prices), we are doing pretty well.

If I had to pick somewhere else in the country, I might look at the Maritimes again (probably Halifax). I spent a year of college out east so I already have some familiarity, and my career is somewhat mobile. I could also consider Ottawa as I'm quite familiar with the city and I have plenty of family in the National Capital Region.

[ChargerCarl]

Girlfriend is an expat who grew up in Indonesia and can't handle the cold, so maybe Miami?

[Centropolis]

in all seriousness, the only place i have seriously considered recently that myself and my fiancee traveled to/assessed is seattle, which is more expensive. theres almost no scenario where i would be moving somewhere cheaper, because im already there. the economic engine of (in this case) seattle makes up for that...and in fact was tapping us on the shoulder, so to speak.

more generally, philadelphia would be the east coast option if the jobs lined up.

[Beedok]

Ottawa is already too expensive for me. Planning to move to Montreal.

[kool maudit]

Too late (good ol' Montreal...).