Ask HN: Where should I live?

[bedobi]

I'm looking to make a move from Brisbane Australia (not from there) and have the privilege of being able to look for a job and move pretty much anywhere. Where should I live?

Wish list:

1) Very warm climate (Brisbane has this)

2) Decent tech scene (or in a near enough timezone to enables remote work for US or EU employers) (Brisbane barely has this)

3) ACTUALLY diverse and cultured (Brisbane has gotten a lot better in the past ten years, but falls well short here IMO)

4) Non-car centric with good public and alternative transport opportunities (Brisbane falls well short here too)

The ultimate city for me would have the huge population and excellent public transport of Tokyo, the diversity of NY, Miami, London and Paris, the climate of Singapore and the non-car centrism of Amsterdam.

Short list so far:

* Barcelona?

* Lisbon?

* Miami?

* Austin?

* Tel Aviv?

* ??? Any Latin American or African cities I'm missing? Maybe Fortaleza, Recife, Salvador Bahia, Lagos, Dakar ???

Cities like NY, Toronto are diverse and have lots of opportunities but are too cold. Also not that great on public and alternative transport.

Sydney, Melbourne and Vancouver are too cold in winter and not that diverse. Also not that great on public and alternative transport.

Paris, Amsterdam, Copenhagen are very non-car centric but too cold.

Yes, I'm too picky and probably asking for the impossible =) but would love to hear more suggestions

[spupe]

Out of your shortlist, I would recommend Lisbon. It's not as big but punches above its weight in most of your other criteria.

The Brazilian cities you described do not have good public transport or bikes, and almost no foreigners. The advantage is that cost of living is very low, but Lisbon is also not that expensive as well.

[bedobi]

Really appreciate this reply, I will bump Lisboa in my mental ranking then!

[resonance1994]

This is probably going to be the most ridiculous suggestion on this thread, but since you mentioned Latin American and African cities:

Have you thought of India? the major South Indian cities (Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad) have large tech scenes, with Bangalore probably have one of the largest in the world. Many major US and EU employers have remote workers and/or offices here. The weather is certainly warm, perhaps even too warm :P

I'm from one of these cities and spent several years living in Europe. It wasn't until I moved from continental Europe to the UK that I found a comparable restaurant scene to my home city. Beaches, deserts, forests, and mountains are all just a short flight away. Not sure what diversity means to you though, so I might get this one wrong.

Uber, Ola, and other alternatives to cars are preferred by many, if not, well, you could always get a car with a driver, it's quite affordable on a developer wage. All three cities are building up their metro systems as well.

Of course, life in India doesn't suit everyone. There are several negatives, which I guess everyone knows. As I said, it's probably the most ridiculous suggestion, but here it is.

[airbreather]

Ho Chi Minh?

If it's not what you want on any given day super cheap to duck off somewhere else.

Tech scene, still french influenced, last time I was there a couple could live very comfortably for 2k a month, or even 1.5k.

[Loranubi]

It's non car centric alright... I wouldn't want to drive one around all the motor scooters anyway.

[badrabbit]

In the US: Miami,Atlanta, Houston minus #4. Is there a city outside of Northeast that isn't car centric?

"Actually diverse" is a tall order. Maybe a handful of cities fit that globally imo: in addition to the list above, nyc and I don't know, can't think of any but I am sure they exist.

[Wonnk13]

I'd say Chicago hits three of their points, but fails 1. miserably.

[benrbray]

Atlanta is second to maybe only LA in terms of how bad the traffic gets. Neighborhood streets backed up with highway traffic bad. Definitely not the place to look if cars stress you out like they do for me. On the bright side living there disillusioned me about American cities and now I live happily car free in Tokyo :)

[giaour]

Houston is much easier to navigate with a car, but you can find a few transit-centric areas (mostly downtown and in the areas around Rice). You would be SOL if you wanted to get to a different part of town without a car though.

[pvaldes]

If you want extra hot places that had improved in terms of cars there is Seville also with a lot of recent bike lanes.

Like Scottish in UK, they have a peculiar way to speak Spanish and all the common nuissances of being in a big city, but you will be dealing with just one language (Valencia and Barcelona speak two at the same time) and should be cheaper to live than both. Andalucía has a lot to offer in terms of gorgeous nature, culture (ancient mix of jew, muslim and christian heritages and links with America) and great food. Many good beaches at a reasonable distance and connected with Madrid by fast train AVE (2 hours 30 min) 15 times a day or so.

The climate in summer is a little hot to me but if you live in Australia shouldn't be much different. Similar range of temperatures than Brisbane but less humid.

My main concern would be the tech scene. Barcelona/Madrid are unbeatable in that.

[trcarney]

To mitigate the hot weather of Seville, you can live in one of the smaller towns closer to the beach. If you don't want to be around of a bunch of Americans, avoid Rota and El Puerto de Santa Maria as there is a U.S. Naval Base there. This could be a plus though as it may help you make friends quickly if you don't speak Spanish. If you have any questions about that particular area, let me know. I lived there for 3 years about 10 years ago while I was in the Navy.

[throwaway378037]

Ten years ago I’d have said Hong Kong, without hesitation. Now? I’m not so sure

[acqbu]

I wanted to say the same thing, but I am reluctant to go back myself let alone recommend it these days

[digianarchist]

Taiwan is an option. It actually has a visa that allows you to work there.

A lot of people are throwing out country names with little regard of the ability to live and work there legally.

[Ayesh]

Why not Singapore? The tech scene there is amazing and inspiring, (too?) Warm, diverse, and very good public transportation. Heck, you can walk though neighborhoods if you fancy some sweating.

Unfortunately it's a little bit too car-centric despite the expensive prices of cars, and I find the culture to be a little bit "unhinged".

[benrbray]

Singapore is pretty awful for LGBTQ rights, no? OP didn't mention it but it's the reason I would never consider living there despite having heard nice things.

[bedobi]

It's a place I've considered for sure but I've already spent five years in Tokyo so looking more outside Asia. (I know, I know, painting with a very broad brush here but yeah)

[tolai]

Lisbon is absolutely fantastic. I would happily move there. Walkable, very diverse, awesome beaches, great food, beautiful scenery, 1h or 2h by plane to rest of Europe. Amazing nightlife, best parties I've ever had :D

[tuckerpo]

Consider Boulder, CO if you've got stupid amounts of money. The winters here are very mild (no, not sarcasm) and you'll find plenty of 50-70 F sunny days in the dead of January.

[cableshaft]

I looked it up, wow you aren't kidding. It's about the same latitude as my hometown (roughly) so I just assumed it got as cold, but no it's significantly warmer.

[bachback]

check nomadlist.com. nomad style would be travel to all the ones you fancy and spend a few weeks there, then you'll know. one of the most favourite nomad places worldwide is thailand and bali. if you factor in costs work from home/paradise very likely gives a lot higher payoff than locating at tech hubs in terms of price/value. e.g. Chiang mai, Thailand frequently ranks #1 on nomadlist. living cost there is shown at 1000$/month (versus 4400$ in London or 6000$ in SF, 3600$ in Brisbane).

[Giorgi]

$1000/month will make you live like king in Tbilisi and Georgian cuisine is unmatched worldwide. Also super cheap craft beer and wine.

[throwawayp0rn]

Honestly all things being equal you should live where you are relevant.

The scenary, temperature and all the rest gets old pretty quickly and you are left with the social connections you can make as the only metric of how you are faring in a city. And that is dependant upon your relevancy

Given that you are planning to go as a foreigner all things being equal you should go for a place where you speak the local language and it has a decent amount of mobility and social volatility.

Without mobility and social volatility you are essentially looking at people still latching onto social relationship they established early on such as high school or college, that makes harder to create connections for somebody who is just arriving.

Mobility I don't think I have to explain, social volatility I'd define it as uhmm...essentially if you don't see fist fights or people arguing and going at each other, you won't even enjoy the opposite side of the emotional spectrum . Which I suppose is what you desire (maybe I am projecting)

An international South American city where people make friends and fall off quickly: say Sao Paolo or Rio or Mexico City seems a good fit, but as I said depends upon your relevancy and ability to speak the language.

[firecall]

Sydney? ;-)

I'm Adelaide based these days, and coming from London, the lack of day-to-day diversity is rather shocking!

I'd suggest London and the South of England during the summer months!

[thorin]

Ha ha, I was going to suggest Byron Bay :-)

From your list I'd go for Lisbon, I mean if you are interested in learning languages it has to be Europe really. Are you interested in any particular activities e.g. surfing and outdoor life is great in Lisbon and probably Bilbao too (although cooler).

[bedobi]

We seem to have a similar experience of Australia then :) scores very highly in many things but diversity just doesn't compare to London, NY etc. (which is to be expected so not a dig or anything but yeah)

[dotcoma]

Not sure how you’d fare in Fortaleza, Recife and Salvador, which have their share of security issues.

I doubt you’d stick to a place like Lagos for more than a month.

[mariojv]

I haven't been to Europe so can't compare it to some of your alternatives, but I've lived in south Texas for most of my life so could give some perspective there.

Pros for Austin:

* It definitely meets your first 2 goals of having a warm climate and a good tech scene.

* I would describe Austin as moderately diverse. Not as much as SF, NYC, or Houston, but it has some things going for it. A lot of people are moving there from out of state, so it's growing a lot. There's great fusion food, especially if you like Mexican food, and it has the 3rd highest rate of LGBTQ people in the country. Despite being in Texas, the cities here are tolerant and diverse.

* Great music scene and festivals.

* Fun summer activities, like tubing down nearby rivers.

* It would probably be a good place to raise a family, as it has some really nice neighborhoods and decent schools.

* You have a lot to do if you'd like to get out of the city. Fredericksburg for German restaurants/culture and Texas wine country, Corpus Christi and North Padre Island for long weekend beach trips, San Antonio for very good Mexican food, Fiesta (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiesta_San_Antonio), or seeing the Riverwalk or historic missions. I live in San Antonio, for reference.

* I'm not super familiar with the parks and trails, but I think they are good, if you enjoy cycling or running. The Austin Marathon is a blast.

Cons:

* It is car centric, and the traffic isn't great. However, a lot of people bike, so you could arrange it so that your work and errands are within a bicycle commute. I would definitely have a car for getting around elsewhere, though.

* Cost of living is high, but tech salaries cover that. It's not to the level of cities like NYC or SF, though, and I think it's mainly limited to housing.

* It is Texas, so there are certain regressive state policies, like a recent declaration from the attorney general attempting to criminalizing gender affirming healthcare for trans youth. A lot of these get challenged in court and thrown out, but it is something to consider.

Good luck with your decision! Lisbon or anywhere in Spain sound amazing, too.

[colourgarden]

You don't mention if you speak any languages other than English?

Whilst you'll get by OK in any large city with just English, some places are better than others. For example, in my experience, Lisbon (and Portugal in general) has a much higher level of English than Barcelona.

Maybe language isn't a huge concern for you but you still have a level of bureaucracy and settling in moving to any new place.

[bedobi]

Non English is a plus tbh

[aprdm]

Vancouver is not that diverse and doesn't have good public transport or bike infrastructure ? That's a first I hear.

[bedobi]

Vancouver has a large and visible Asian population ("diverse")

but it doesn't have large numbers of Francophones, Afro, Caribbean or Latino people as eg Toronto or NY does (this is kind of what I'm trying to get at by saying "ACTUALLY diverse")

please note I'm fully aware a) this is painting with a very broad brush, terms like "Asian" or "Afro" "population" are kind of nonsensical b) this is not a dig at Vancouver, it's just an observation - Vancouver pretty plainly not as diverse as eg Toronto or NY.

[2rsf]

Tel Aviv, and Israel in general, is very car centric, not what you mean by diversed and cultured and you will need to be a Jew to get an Israeli citizenship, permanent residencies are also hard to get AFAIK.

Buy a good winter coat and come here to Stockholm, it is cold but (like Copenhagen) the infrastructure is really good and built for the weather.

[yesenadam]

This site may help with learning about details of the climate in places all over the world. I've learnt so much in just an hour with it:

https://weatherspark.com/map

[erikpl]

Maybe Porto? Never been, but I've heard great things! Maybe check out the Nomadlist listing (heh): https://nomadlist.com/porto

[pvaldes]

Barcelona should fit well. If you want warm winters Madrid is not an option. You could take a look also to Valencia that has a Mediterranean climate and is a little warmer. Both have good beaches and lots of tourism. Barcelona has a metro so is a little less car centric maybe.

Lisbon is Atlantic climate and the sea is colder but should be also a competitive option. Barcelona is one of the 3 most expensive cities to live in Spain. Portugal should be more affordable probably.

[commentsgaloer2]

Yeah, I think I'd go for Barcelona or other small towns nearby.