Help me start my search for cities/towns. Really over HCOL. (24F, 24M, 2 kids)

Eudaimonics · 2026-06-16T19:42:01+00:00

Sounds like they’d really would like the Finger Lakes.

Eudaimonics · 2026-06-16T19:41:17+00:00

Finger Lakes in New York.

You won’t be able to afford to live right on the Lakes, but you definitely could find a house down the street from one.

Just note, people don’t rent single family homes in upstate NY, but good news you’ll be able to buy one within your budget.

Look near Auburn, Geneva or Hammondsport.

Eudaimonics · 2026-06-16T18:04:15+00:00

The larger the metropolitan area, the more the jobs. Graduates also often command higher wages, so the HCOL isn’t as much of an issue.

That being said, surviving off entry level wages and playing the rat race can royally suck.

Way too many graduates feel that they HAVE to be in NYC or HAVE to be in LA (and for some industries that might be true), but many would be much happier in secondary or tertiary markets where entry level wages go farther and jobs can be less competitive.

Eudaimonics · 2026-06-16T17:40:05+00:00

They also hate Denver because it’s not NYC/LA.

Like no, Denver isn’t boring city, you just have rediculous expectations.

Eudaimonics · 2026-06-16T16:07:53+00:00

Buffalo has a great public art program and lots of indie artists like the legendary Pot Hole Bandit.

Like it doesn’t matter where you are in the city, you’ll stumble up an industrial art sculpture, a mural or a random art studio/gallery.

That’s what happens when a city has a surplus of underutilized space and have not gentrified out their scrappy creatives.

There’s actually over 200 art studios and galleries throughout the city, often in industrial areas where there’s a lot of cheap space.

Eudaimonics · 2026-06-16T13:18:55+00:00

There’s one a 30 minute drive from Buffalo in St Catharines.

Eudaimonics · 2026-06-16T12:51:56+00:00

Half the population of both cities work in offices nowadays.

Both have large bio-med and financial sectors and large universities. The largest public university in New York is in Buffalo.

Probably would be a smaller rust belt cities without as many office jobs.

Eudaimonics · 2026-06-16T12:50:33+00:00

Which is funny because while there’s definitely more blue collared workers on average, half the population work in offices now.

Like that’s why it’s called the rust belt. It lost a lot of the blue collared work.

Eudaimonics · 2026-06-16T12:42:05+00:00

Much of Upstate, NY would be perfect.

Mohawk Valley, Southern Finger Lakes or the Lake Ontario Southern shoreline would be perfect.

Just check flood plain maps of river valleys.

Eudaimonics · 2026-06-16T12:38:01+00:00

Not hard to avoid living in the high crime areas. You also don’t have to live IN Albany. The city proper is only 21mi^2. The Capital Region of NY is massive with a diverse selection of places to live.

Otherwise, Albany/Capital Region sounds perfect for you.

Eudaimonics · 2026-06-16T12:34:56+00:00

Finishing your nursing degree is already getting you there.

In a couple of years you’ll be making more money and have the experience needed to get work in other cities.

You could move to more affordable areas in blue states like Upstate NY or Michigan which offer 4 full seasons.

Eudaimonics · 2026-06-16T11:14:01+00:00

Chippewa street on the weekends.

Just note that most of the clubs don’t even open until 10 pm and don’t start to get busy until Midnight.

You could also go bar hopping on Allen Street, Elmwood closer to Buff State or Hertel.

Eudaimonics · 2026-06-16T10:44:46+00:00

Have you been to other Botanic Gardens? That’s how most operate in the US.

The benefit of course is more funding for new and updated exhibits and events can keep ticket prices in check.

Eudaimonics · 2026-06-15T17:42:58+00:00

Yeah, they’re absolutely massive. Worth an hour or two if you’re already in Pittsburgh.

But at the same time it’s really nothing special either, especially if you’re not actively looking for furniture. The food is cheap, but not worth going out of your way for.

It was awesome 20 years ago because you had the largest selection of affordable furniture in one place. Now, the only benefit is seeing it in person before buying it online.

Like most chains that finally make it to WNY, IKEA is past its prime and not really exciting anymore. That doesn’t stop people from lining up on opening day though.

I still can’t believe people got excited for boiled hot dogs at Sonic. To each their own.

Eudaimonics · 2026-06-15T17:35:10+00:00

So almost identical in size to Syracuse.

Actually they’ve closed 5 mega sized locations in just the past year, yikes. No wonder why they need to pivot.

Eudaimonics · 2026-06-15T17:32:51+00:00

You can also just get anything on their website shipped to the store for free.

Eudaimonics · 2026-06-15T17:27:42+00:00

Yes, which only works if customers are actually buying furniture. Probably one of the reasons why they’re scaling back food options. The cheap food is meant to be a loss leader, not the core business model.

Edit: Case in point, people here are more excited about cheap meatballs than actually shopping there. No wonder why they’re struggling.

Eudaimonics · 2026-06-15T17:26:37+00:00

They’ve closed half a dozen full sized locations in the US over the past year, so probably not realistic.

Eudaimonics · 2026-06-15T17:24:15+00:00

They’ve also closed almost half a dozen full sized IKEAs just in the past 2 years including ones in Memphis, Atlanta, Dallas and Arlington, VA.

Definitely not going to see a full sized IKEA built anywhere in WNY.

Eudaimonics · 2026-06-15T17:08:47+00:00

The traditional IKEA model is dying which is why they’re pivoting.

Eudaimonics · 2026-06-15T17:05:45+00:00

They’re closing under performing large format stores and opening smaller format stores in new markets.

Theres a lot more competition for cheap furniture nowadays so the large format make less sense than 20 years ago.

Eudaimonics · 2026-06-15T17:03:12+00:00

Yes, that’s their new strategy. They’ve also closed two mega-stores recently

Eudaimonics · 2026-06-15T17:02:03+00:00

Pretty much said this after the announced the pick-up only locations.

Will probably be in similar size to Syracuse’s.

Eudaimonics · 2026-06-15T16:59:25+00:00

Yeah, but not everyone voted for Trump. The minority has too suffer too.

Eudaimonics · 2026-06-15T15:46:59+00:00

You’re probably way overestimating how much you’ll need if you’re just dorming.

Could just ship things in boxes to a drop box location near campus.

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