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Albuquerque is a cheap city that shares a decent number of attributes with much more expensive western cities. It has a moderate climate, great access to mountains and nature, a history of STEM employment, a nice art scene, etc.
There are reasons why it's cheap of course, but that's how this will go.
Charleston - Average home price (538K) and average rent (1730 a month)
Miami - Average home price (620K) and average rent (2100 a month)
Nashville - Average home price (595K) and average rent (1630 a month)a
Philadelphia (suitable areas) - Average home price (483K) and average rent (2400 a month)
Just what I was thinking. I live in a suburb of Charleston, and it is NOT cheap here. I also wouldn't say it has "expensive amenities". Yes it has 2 hospitals, one a teaching hospital that has ok rankings with US News and World Report, and has a small performance center, and some good restaurants and shops.
But there are no pro sports teams here (I guess that's a thing in a lot of the south though - it's all about college sports).
It has the College of Charleston, but that's it.
It has an "international airport" with very few, if any, international flights left.
It's also only about 125K, much less though in the historic core which is what people think of when they think of Charleston, so it certainly doesn't feel like a big city.
Someone mentioned NYC as #1? How is that "cheap"? World class amenities, yes. Cheap? Far from it.
Anyways, to answer the question, these affordable, not cheap cities have expensive city attributes:
Charleston
Houston
Atlanta
Dallas
Miami
Philadelphia
Nashville
Pittsburgh
Since when was Miami considered affordable, with a median home price of over $600k? As a matter of fact, Miami was recently on a list of one of the most unaffordable cities in the US.
I'm surprised but relieved that Philadelphia is as affordable as it is. It should be much more expensive given the amenities the city and the metro area offer, but we do have some pressing issues to tackle. Nevertheless, I was able to buy a nice home in Northwest Philly at 26. My neighborhood is walkable, my Center City office building is a short train ride away, my neighborhood's two main commercial corridors have enticing restaurants, my neighbors are great, and my wife gets her parking (I would've preferred to live in the denser parts of the city since I don't own a car, but she's a transplant who needs her car and prefers easy parking).
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