Hi!

Which cities on the east coast have the most affordable cost of living along with good public transportation?

Philadelphia, for sure.

Unlike DC, Boston, and NY which are expensive, you can afford to buy a house there and the jobs do pay higher than average. I don't know how Philly's public transit is, but I'm sure SEPTA is better than the national average.

Definately not the Baltimore-Washington Area

Baltimore is dirt cheap, but DC can be expensive.

I second the first responder who said Philly. But that is only if you are talking soley about the Bos-Wash corridor. Because if you are talking about the Northeast in general; Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and Rochester are 3 of the most affordable metros in America.

Don't forget Hartford, even though it is probably more expensive than Philly.

2 hours between NY and Boston is nice...

How's Hartford, CT for walkers and riders? How's it compare to, say, New Haven, in terms of convenience, cleanlinesss and safety?

How's Hartford, CT for walkers and riders? How's it compare to, say, New Haven, in terms of convenience, cleanlinesss and safety?

New Haven is much more walkable with all their attractions relatively close to each other. The downtown is very nice, with Yale dominating it. It was pretty clean also. The rest of the city, I have no idea.

Hartford is another story. While the city is walkable, there are areas that you WON'T want to walk through. Downtown is kind of unwalkable, and you need a car to go anywhere in the suburbs, Bus service is not very frequent.

New Haven is probably a better choice than Hartford.

DEFINITELY PHILLY, but not for long (hopefully). Center City and the surrounding areas and even in places like teh NE, housing prices are shooting up. If you would wanna buy, I'd reccomend someplace like Kensington or Northern Liberties or Universtiy City. Those are good neighborhoods with a vibrant atmosphere that are stiill pretty cheap. Also most of South Philly is cheap and beautifully urban, but South Philly is actually getting expensive very quickly.

Is Baltimore that much cheaper than DC? Rating on a scale of 1-10, what would the scale of the five big BosWash cities be?

Yes Baltimore is cheaper than DC way DC cheaper! That's why people from Washington are moving to Baltimore!

I would have to say Philly and the Baltimore.

For those thinking that Philadelphia is significantly more expensive Baltimore, consider this.

- Maryland taxes are a bitch. Income tax rate in Maryland is 4.75%. In Pennsylvania the income tax is 3.07%. Baltimore's property tax is 11.7%. By comparison, property tax for a home in Philadelphia is only 8.263% of assed value of land and buildings.

- According to the National Association of Realtors, median home price in the Baltimore market is $282,000.00, which, interesting enough, is above the northeastern U.S. average of $234,100. The average home in the Philadelphia region costs $211,000. Baltimore's average rent is $1080.12 as of Q3 2005. The average apartment in Philly rents for $1,001.00.

- Average household incomes for both cities are nearly identical. Philadelphia holds a $700 advantage in this catagory.

If one relocates to Philly, then you'll earn about the same amount of money as you would in Baltimore, but see more of it in your pocket because you'd be taxed less on it . On average, you'd pay less for your home/apartment and be taxed less on it.

Plus, you'd have access to better amenities.

Is Baltimore that much cheaper than DC? Rating on a scale of 1-10, what would the scale of the five big BosWash cities be?

Yes, Washington is siginificantly more expensive to live in than Baltimore. But remember, Washington is one of the most expensive markets in the country.

Among BoWash cities, cost-of-living probably goes something like this:

1) New York - NYC has a real 'affordable housing' crisis.

2) Washington - Sans San Fran, LA, and NYC, there arent too many cities in the country more expensive to live in than Washington. Even once blue-collar neighborhoods like the U-Street corridor and Chincatown are becoming very expensive neighborhoods in which to live.

3) Boston - In 2005, the median home price in Boston was $374,000.

t-4) Baltimore - Compared to NY and DC, you can get a lot of bang for your real-estate buck in Baltimore. There's something for every sized purse. You can get into a Ritz-Carlton condo for between $1 million-$5 million in
Baltimore. In New York, you wont get nearly as much at the Ritz in Battery Park nor Central Park.

t-4) Philadelphia - See what I wrote in my previous post.

I know living in Delaware is seriously cheat!

living in delaware is very cheap, but since we're sticking to major cities, i have to agree that philly and baltimore are very good "bargains".

I agree!

Not really major city, but Providence has some affordable areas thats aren't too run down.

Definately Pittsburgh; yesterday, the lowest house I saw for sale was a fully restored, two storey house near Mt. Washington for $16,000. Wasn't the best neighborhood in town, but compared to Baltimore, Washington, or Philly, it was definately livable. There were also a lot of restoration projects and old houses selling for extremely low prices around Crafton which, from what I saw might be the nicest neighborhood in Pittsburgh. Its just outside the city limits but is on the city bus routes which allow for access to the rest of the city and downtown, about 2.5 miles away. Definately worth looking into.

^ Yeah, the interior Northeast is very affordable (USNY, WPA, NNE, etc)

But of the major coastal cities, B-more and Phila are indeed the bargains.

so it looks like Philly wins for affordable housing with good public transit. what about the smaller cities inthe Northeast? someone mentioned Delaware, but when I think Del, I think driving around everywhere!

How about Charlotte?

I moved from Philly to Bmore a few years back when a 4 story renovated townhouse in upper Bolton Hill went for 140k.

Now, the same house would be around 340k. As an investment, I'm looking very good. However, moving back home may be an idea, especially with 72% energy increases coming.