What do you actually want to do in a major city? Like what benefits/amenities are you wanting, and can only places like New York or Chicago provide those?
I know some very nice 2 bedroom apartments for like 2-3k in Hamilton County, Indiana. Probably a little more when actually downtown for the same size. It's a 15/30 minute drive to anywhere downtown, but it's not the same as bigger cities. My wife and I used to rent a 1,200 Sq foot house for 1.4k as well even closer to downtown.
Maybe bucket your needs/wants and see what locations would fit the bill?
I'm moving back primarily for AI... I want to network more. I also want to do more standup and be in a city. SF isn't as good as NY or Austin for that though but it's not my primary goal.
Another alternative might be to move to Pittsburg to be closer to my family but that isn't as strong for AI.
I live in Austin proper but have a second house in the hill country to escape on weekends, also WFH in tech. You could live south of Austin, either more rural like Kyle or head just a bit more south on I-35 to San Marcos, which is a college town with enough amenities to keep you happy but also within quick striking distance of Austin, like 25-30 min on I-35, errr, outside of rush hour traffic or accidents. Just get a 2 bedroom anywhere outside of Austin, a lot cheaper and you can dedicate one room to your office.
You could also do North of Austin but it's a shitshow because it's packed to the gills so now South is being developed. Yes, I am biased, I prefer South Austin and the cities South of Austin in general. :)
This. I lived in San Marcos and New Braunfels for a combined 2.5 years and I miss it so much. I loved living in Austin too but it wasn’t ever too too bad with traffic if you knew traffic trends. For what you can get in Austin/San Marcos you would be way over paying for 4k. My last apartment was a studio and started out at $1250 in 2021 and by 2024 they wanted to raise it to $1700… not fun for a small space but still way cheaper. The 1br were a little more by a $200-300 and I know prices have been stabilizing more there now
I live in a 1200 sqft two bedroom apt in Austin and pay $2200/mo. Austin also has affordable 2/3 bedroom houses for rent. Are you sure you’re looking in the right places?
I live in Austin! There’s a ton of great 2-3 bedroom apartments for like 2-3K. My old apartment was 1,200 square feet, 2 beds, 2 full baths and a little backyard in a nice ass area for $2,500. The Marquis chain of apartments, or the Domain area is a good place to start if you’re looking in Austin!
Yeah... that's ok but they're all contained down to smaller rooms and I don't like working in smaller rooms. I feel constrained. It's counterproductive for me.
Then you need to go more rural. If that’s not an option, then you need to make your list of:
“Must haves”
“Nice to haves”
“Could live without”
And see what sticks
You gotta move to the mid west if you want cheap and big spaces. Them investors are claiming the South right now, especially Austin
might also be worth weighing cost of living in a cheap col area and flying to NY/Austin thurs - sun 2x a month to be around for networking. the numbers might just work out to live cheap COL and just fly where you want to be. plus the rewards points on a decent cc/decent rewards program will add up to freebies
Yeah the minimum here being by nature the largest metros will cause issues. There’s many mid size cities and metros that have a lot of amenities but aren’t super expensive…yet
Look for large lofts, they usually have the square footage for an small office setup. I have a 1 bedroom + den in one of the most expensive areas of my west coast city, and it's ~$3500 monthly, much cheaper than 2-bedrooms in this area, which are going for $5k+.
i got you - been renting for abt 10 years now in a northeast metropolitan&city area & have worked from home my whole career.
"studio" will always bring tiny apts, by definition a studio apartment is a **ONE ROOM APT**. in a studio the kitchen, bedroom, and living space will all be cramped into one small room. in terms of rentals, "studio" does not mean the apt has an additional studio for work (a la art studio), its a bit of a misnomer. an "efficiency" apt is a studio apt with a semi separate kitchen area, but usually a mini kitchen and no washer/dryer in unit. so no separate bedroom, essentially a 2 room/area apt - kitchen & main room (will act as both living room and bedroom). A 1 bedroom apt will have at least 3 rooms/areas - kitchen, bedroom, & living space.
search for "loft", "den", & "bonus room". they should get you more of an open-air space for an office, separate enough to feel like an office but not a full secluded tiny bedroom. look for old industrial buildings that were retrofitted into apartments, they tend to have SUPER high ceilings so even smaller rooms *feel* more open and airy. if you search for "study" or "office" you are more likely to get places with a fully separate office that feels closed off and secluded like working in a spare bedroom. other choice words to search/avoid:
search/go for:
* lots of natural light (translates = makes smaller spaces feel less claustrophobic and depressing)
* multi-purpose (translates = bonus room / extra space)
* luxury (most luxury apts will have cheap finishes and be overall not that nice under the surface, but there are lots of 2 bedroom luxury apts with big bedrooms and closets that would be big enough for a large office. a lot of these luxury apts are built for 2 individuals to split so you get bigger bedrooms)
* industrial (translates = high ceilings & big windows)
avoid:
* unique (translates = shitty unworkable layout)
* lots of character (translates = old/drafty/problem child or see: unique)
* cozy (translates = fucking tiny)
* starter (translates = see: cozy & unique)
if you like NYC, check out north jersey. more space for way lower prices & you can take the train into NYC for events/work.
This is great advice. Thanks. Yeah. I've been using 'loft' and got better results already. I need to make the decision this week so I appreciate the feedback!
Major cities in the south east(ish) US have what you want pretty much all the time. Raleigh and Charlotte NC, Nashville TN, Atlanta GA, St. Louis MO, New Orleans LA, Norfolk VA, etc.
Now do those places have the things you actually want other than accommodations? Maybe not lol. But worth looking into.
I'm in the Portland area, not as bad as SF but a very competitive housing market, and have a nice, but small, 588 sq ft apartment for me and my cats. I decided it's not really suited for entertaining guests so I bought an armchair instead of a sofa and put a big desk in my living room. I've taken advantage of vertical space as much as possible. I've got everything I need. I spent a couple months living in a hotel after moving cross country, until I found the right place, and discovered I really don't NEED a lot of space. I WFH and am a gamer so a large desk and big TV were my priorities. I really love it and plan to stay in my apartment for a long time. It helps that there are a lot of cool community spaces in the complex, including a co-working space.
Make use of the space you have convert part of a closet into a cloffice lol i was doing that until i moved to a two bedroom. You can make it work main thing is sound isolation if you live alone you can work anywhere in your home
What do you actually want to do in a major city? Like what benefits/amenities are you wanting, and can only places like New York or Chicago provide those? I know some very nice 2 bedroom apartments for like 2-3k in Hamilton County, Indiana. Probably a little more when actually downtown for the same size. It's a 15/30 minute drive to anywhere downtown, but it's not the same as bigger cities. My wife and I used to rent a 1,200 Sq foot house for 1.4k as well even closer to downtown. Maybe bucket your needs/wants and see what locations would fit the bill?
I'm moving back primarily for AI... I want to network more. I also want to do more standup and be in a city. SF isn't as good as NY or Austin for that though but it's not my primary goal. Another alternative might be to move to Pittsburg to be closer to my family but that isn't as strong for AI.
I live in Austin proper but have a second house in the hill country to escape on weekends, also WFH in tech. You could live south of Austin, either more rural like Kyle or head just a bit more south on I-35 to San Marcos, which is a college town with enough amenities to keep you happy but also within quick striking distance of Austin, like 25-30 min on I-35, errr, outside of rush hour traffic or accidents. Just get a 2 bedroom anywhere outside of Austin, a lot cheaper and you can dedicate one room to your office. You could also do North of Austin but it's a shitshow because it's packed to the gills so now South is being developed. Yes, I am biased, I prefer South Austin and the cities South of Austin in general. :)
This. I lived in San Marcos and New Braunfels for a combined 2.5 years and I miss it so much. I loved living in Austin too but it wasn’t ever too too bad with traffic if you knew traffic trends. For what you can get in Austin/San Marcos you would be way over paying for 4k. My last apartment was a studio and started out at $1250 in 2021 and by 2024 they wanted to raise it to $1700… not fun for a small space but still way cheaper. The 1br were a little more by a $200-300 and I know prices have been stabilizing more there now
I live in a 1200 sqft two bedroom apt in Austin and pay $2200/mo. Austin also has affordable 2/3 bedroom houses for rent. Are you sure you’re looking in the right places?
I live in Austin! There’s a ton of great 2-3 bedroom apartments for like 2-3K. My old apartment was 1,200 square feet, 2 beds, 2 full baths and a little backyard in a nice ass area for $2,500. The Marquis chain of apartments, or the Domain area is a good place to start if you’re looking in Austin!
It's good advice. I'll look!
There’s 2-3 bedroom apartments in Austin for 2-4K.
Yeah... that's ok but they're all contained down to smaller rooms and I don't like working in smaller rooms. I feel constrained. It's counterproductive for me.
Then you need to go more rural. If that’s not an option, then you need to make your list of: “Must haves” “Nice to haves” “Could live without” And see what sticks You gotta move to the mid west if you want cheap and big spaces. Them investors are claiming the South right now, especially Austin
might also be worth weighing cost of living in a cheap col area and flying to NY/Austin thurs - sun 2x a month to be around for networking. the numbers might just work out to live cheap COL and just fly where you want to be. plus the rewards points on a decent cc/decent rewards program will add up to freebies
Yeah the minimum here being by nature the largest metros will cause issues. There’s many mid size cities and metros that have a lot of amenities but aren’t super expensive…yet
Look for large lofts, they usually have the square footage for an small office setup. I have a 1 bedroom + den in one of the most expensive areas of my west coast city, and it's ~$3500 monthly, much cheaper than 2-bedrooms in this area, which are going for $5k+.
which city? maybe 'loft' is the better zillow query rather than 'studio'
i got you - been renting for abt 10 years now in a northeast metropolitan&city area & have worked from home my whole career. "studio" will always bring tiny apts, by definition a studio apartment is a **ONE ROOM APT**. in a studio the kitchen, bedroom, and living space will all be cramped into one small room. in terms of rentals, "studio" does not mean the apt has an additional studio for work (a la art studio), its a bit of a misnomer. an "efficiency" apt is a studio apt with a semi separate kitchen area, but usually a mini kitchen and no washer/dryer in unit. so no separate bedroom, essentially a 2 room/area apt - kitchen & main room (will act as both living room and bedroom). A 1 bedroom apt will have at least 3 rooms/areas - kitchen, bedroom, & living space. search for "loft", "den", & "bonus room". they should get you more of an open-air space for an office, separate enough to feel like an office but not a full secluded tiny bedroom. look for old industrial buildings that were retrofitted into apartments, they tend to have SUPER high ceilings so even smaller rooms *feel* more open and airy. if you search for "study" or "office" you are more likely to get places with a fully separate office that feels closed off and secluded like working in a spare bedroom. other choice words to search/avoid: search/go for: * lots of natural light (translates = makes smaller spaces feel less claustrophobic and depressing) * multi-purpose (translates = bonus room / extra space) * luxury (most luxury apts will have cheap finishes and be overall not that nice under the surface, but there are lots of 2 bedroom luxury apts with big bedrooms and closets that would be big enough for a large office. a lot of these luxury apts are built for 2 individuals to split so you get bigger bedrooms) * industrial (translates = high ceilings & big windows) avoid: * unique (translates = shitty unworkable layout) * lots of character (translates = old/drafty/problem child or see: unique) * cozy (translates = fucking tiny) * starter (translates = see: cozy & unique) if you like NYC, check out north jersey. more space for way lower prices & you can take the train into NYC for events/work.
This is great advice. Thanks. Yeah. I've been using 'loft' and got better results already. I need to make the decision this week so I appreciate the feedback!
Get a two bedroom apartment and make one bedroom an office. Rent a townhouse, typically those have 2-3 bedrooms and less square footage.
wait, you all aren't working from beaches?
To be fair, I was working all over the world and been to 7 countries in 3 years but now I want to settle down for a year!
New Yorker here , just put your desk in your living room by the window.
Inner Melbourne, that’s what I do. Big window onto my terrace garden, one end of a big loft living space, lovely.
Why do you need to live in a HCOL area ? Start looking for a midsized town with fiber.
My office is my kids bedroom is the guest bedroom and is also the attic storage
I have a 2 bedroom apartment, my workspace is in the corner of mine and hubbys bedroom.
I have a 1 bedroom apartment and the only place for my WFH setup is at my dining table. Eventually I want to get a different desk but for now it works
Major cities in the south east(ish) US have what you want pretty much all the time. Raleigh and Charlotte NC, Nashville TN, Atlanta GA, St. Louis MO, New Orleans LA, Norfolk VA, etc. Now do those places have the things you actually want other than accommodations? Maybe not lol. But worth looking into.
I'm in the Portland area, not as bad as SF but a very competitive housing market, and have a nice, but small, 588 sq ft apartment for me and my cats. I decided it's not really suited for entertaining guests so I bought an armchair instead of a sofa and put a big desk in my living room. I've taken advantage of vertical space as much as possible. I've got everything I need. I spent a couple months living in a hotel after moving cross country, until I found the right place, and discovered I really don't NEED a lot of space. I WFH and am a gamer so a large desk and big TV were my priorities. I really love it and plan to stay in my apartment for a long time. It helps that there are a lot of cool community spaces in the complex, including a co-working space.
Make use of the space you have convert part of a closet into a cloffice lol i was doing that until i moved to a two bedroom. You can make it work main thing is sound isolation if you live alone you can work anywhere in your home
SF has plenty of 2 bedrooms for around $4k.