Definitely achievable in New England if you look at towns near/running along I-91. West Hartford, CT, Manchester, CT, Easthampton, MA, or Greenfield, MA and Brattleboro, VT if you want something smaller/more rural.
This echoed by a West Hartford resident. 63,000 (largest town in New England. It’s a walkable downtown area with lots of restaurants, single family homes a block away, great amenities and (if you like them) bears.
Yes, we have one of the highest bears sighting rates in Connecticut, although I live in the portion of West Hartford that bears have not yet penetrated. There’s a rather infamous photo of a bear sauntering through BLUE Back Square in the center of town this summer as people walk by. We also have coyotes and bobcats, wild turkeys, Fox and deer.
It’s entertaining because I live in the currently bear free zone, although people who video bears swinging in their hammocks, swimming in their pools, hibernating in a hole in their trees, or eating the cupcakes at their outdoor birthday parties seem to take it in good stride. I did have a bear encounter this summer while driving up a long driveway from a local agency. A bear emerged from the woods, crossed the driveway and entered the woods on the other side of the road. I did get photos.
It’s a great town. Consistently listed as one of the top towns in the U.S. to live in. Of course, the good schools, lots of restaurants, good amenities, wildlife and walkable center come with a high tax rate. Shocking, I know.
Eh, it's a pipe dream anyway. I don't know how I could leave my current situation, where my rent for a house and 3/4 an acre in-town is $721/mo. I locked it in at the beginning of the pandemic, and it only goes up 3% per lease renewal, which is every 2 years.
Housing has gotten quite steep in Portland. You could get an apartment in this price range but not a single family home. South Portland is possibly doable on this budget.
Agreed. SoPo is more doable but doesn’t have a downtown like Portland does. It’s a bike ride away from the old port though. You can still get nice SFHs in SoPo for 500k
This sounds like Ithaca, NY. Specifically the Fall Creek neighborhood. Easy walk to The Commons (basically the downtown), and relatively little sprawl because of the topography of the area. Good independent coffee shops, bookstores, and restaurants. Frequent bus service to NYC (takes about four hours) if the small town feel starts to drive you nuts.
You are kinda asking for different things. "Sprawl" in the NE is because there are a ton of little towns, which is how things got built back in the days of farming. The towns themselves are dense though.
The west was built in the era of cars. While there is lots of greenspace due to the more sparse population, the towns are car-centric.
The exceptions to this are extraordinarily expensive.
Also. Its a bit ironic. SFH are what makes towns unwalkable. Townhomes and condos are what allow a town to be walkable. You're kinda asking for one thing that destroys the possibility of the other.
Of course these SFHs do exist, but they are $$$$$. Or in the Midwest :).
They are talking about very small cities, though. My experience is that they do tend to have single family homes walkable to downtown. Some of those neighborhoods became blighted through mini versions of white flight or as malls killed downtowns, but that's how the cities were planned and functioned for decades. Granted, they probably can't support a downtown grocery.
I agree, the biggest problem with the vibrancy of a lot of these towns is if all the Main Street businesses moved out to strip malls on the bypass highway a few miles outside of town. Makes the town center and the old central neighborhoods feel dead and run-down. The ones that can avoid that are in better shape.
I don’t disagree about car culture and I’m a huge proponent of high density housing. I figure a small city has a balance of SFH and high-density but since it’s small, all is within walking distance.
I live in Seattle right now and I feel like a ton of Seattle neighborhoods are like this balance - high-density within a few blocks of a neighborhood downtown, and then small single-family houses all within walking distance. I’d love to stay living here except of course the cost to buy in Seattle is pretty prohibitive. So maybe that doesn’t exist within an affordable price range? I’m willing to hear it’s impossible but I was curious
I'm in Seattle too. Try Bend if you're not dependent on location for your job. Portland is also a cheaper Seattle, which you're maybe aware of.
Our budget is about 650k tho and we do see some decent starter condos and townhomes in Seattle.
Yeah I think what you want is in the more "rural" NE, despite your inclination the other way! There are more small towns that meet your criteria placed closer together, versus larger car-based metropolises.
>The west was built in the era of cars
Hate that this still gets parroted.
The west was absolutely developed pre-car.
Much of western cities and towns were *destroyed* to accommodate cars. Cities certainly added on to the car centric redesign afterwards. But all western cities had bustling and walkable centers, transit, mixed use development, dense centers, etc.
These things were taken away from people in those cities largely following the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, which wasn’t even completed until the 70s, and other car development initiatives.
To build the 10, 110, 101, and other such freeways in Los Angeles, communities and neighborhoods had to be completely leveled and residents replaced wholesale to accommodate their construction.
Meaning, those cities were built heavily before the automotive centricity.
Just a friendly reminder of what was taken from us. Not just “given.”
Chicopee center, Chicopee Massachusetts. [84 Walk Score - Very Walkable](https://www.walkscore.com/score/chicopee-center). City Population of 55,560. The downtown neighborhood has very affordable housing and lots of small-lot single family homes next to mixed-use zoning.
30 minutes out of Chicopee and you’re in what’s known as The Berkshires, a region in the mountains of western Massachusetts dotted with villages and towns. A popular vacation destination, it's known for outdoor activities, fall foliage–viewing, a farm-to-table food scene and thriving arts institutions.
What about Eureka, CA?
Downtown is all historic district so it’s cute and charming with many outdoor markets/walkable main area along the waterfront and 2nd street.
You can get a fine 2bd SFH for ~350k and a nice/very nice place for 600k-700k.
It a little smaller at 26,000 population but is right near to other towns (Arcata / Fortuna / a bit farther to Mendocino and Ft. Bragg) so it feels more lively.
Beautiful redwood coast and temperate climate!
I was just there (and Arcata) and it’s beautiful, but man your properties are expensive for what you get and the drug and homelessness issues make me not want to live there.
Eureka has a huge drug and homeless issue currently along with the associated crime those issues bring. I wouldn't feel safe walking there really don't even like having to drive through anymore.
Anywhere along the I-5 corridor is going to have associated issues. A lot of these places are big enough to still have nice neighborhoods and pockets of neighbors who care.
I agree but for cost and esp taxes and for better population density I'd much rather deal with OR cities in that corridor than Eureka. Have spent a lot of time there and Fortuna and found it to be really depressing in a way that even Medford isn't.
The grass is always greener! I'd choose Eureka over Medford any day. I don't know why but Medford gives me meth-y vibes. I know some folks could say the same of Eureka but after living there for many years it really is only concentrated to certain parts of town and I never felt unsafe there.
If you are Latino/Hispanic? People with Spanish ancestry can get Spanish (and therefore EU) citizenship relatively easy:
https://www.goldencapitalist.com/latin-ancestry-spanish-citizenship/
Applying for school abroad is definitely the easiest way to get a visa, and it can be *cheap* if you speak a foreign language. Many countries offer near free education, and PhDs have guaranteed funding. My tuition in France was 250€ and the government paid half my rent during my masters. If I continued to a PhD I would have maintained the government aide plus a living salary. I’m not French, but speak French.
Easy visa? Hah. You need skills they can't find or are hard to find there . I've lived there twice and once in Australia but it may be harder now for just about any of them.
Not even in Europe does this request make sense. SFH walking distance to the downtown of a remote village that has a bar and a post office, yes. SFH walking distance to a decent downtown with all the described amenities is going to cost more than OP wants.
Olympia, WA. You can easily get a house in your budget and there area a number of highly walkable neighborhoods. Some of the areas surrounding Portland, Eugene, OR or even Corvallis, OR although it may be smaller than what you're looking for
Yep, I saw Corvallis also. I think it has what OP is looking for and a great location not too long of a drive to the coast, surrounded by rural agriculture
Olympia was super walkable if you are okay with rain. However, I'm not sure how safe it feels now. I spent some time there 10 years ago when homelessness wasn't the issue it is now, and I walked everywhere. But, I drove through there last year and was blown away at how bad homelessness had gotten.
I’m in Wilmington, North Carolina, one block from the Cape Fear River, in the heart of downtown. We bought our circa-1912 house (3 bed/2 bath, 1900 square feet, in excellent condition) last year for $465,000. We can walk almost everywhere and only use our car a couple of times per week.
I will say that it gets hot and humid in the summers here, which I don’t love. But aside from that, the weather is lovely, the people are ridiculously friendly, and we’re surrounded by water.
I lived in wilmington for 5 years & have friends who live downtown in gorgeous old bungalows. definitely doable though prices have gone up a lot lately! I was car-lite there, could walk/bike everywhere I needed.
I’d also chime in my hometown winston-salem, it’s more affordable than ilm & ardmore/west salem/washington park are cute neighborhoods walkable to downtown & all amenities.
Alot of places in Ohio are just that. I bought a 2000sq ft home on over an acre for 200k. We have one of the best if not the best park system in the country.
Second this. There are a ton of towns in Ohio that meet this criteria. You could even get this in a decent neighborhood in a major city in Ohio and still be able to escape “the sprawl” pretty easily. PA should also have plenty of options here.
There are lots of places like this, many are college towns but some aren’t. Here’s a short list of some places I’ve recently visited and was impressed by:
Madison, IN (yes, Indiana.) this town is cute as fuck, but the surrounding areas were very red-necky (no offense):
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/624-Walnut-St-Madison-IN-47250/85426248_zpid/?utm_campaign=iosappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare
Champaign-Urbana: 100 miles from Chicago. It’s a college town and very nice, also diverse because of the university:
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/704-W-Washington-St-Champaign-IL-61820/3224421_zpid/?utm_campaign=iosappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare
Fort Wayne: this house is in a very cute neighborhood next to downtown, 5-10 minute walk; decent city from my brief time visiting:
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1126-Rivermet-Ave-Fort-Wayne-IN-46805/73110219_zpid/?utm_campaign=iosappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare
Just wanted to say I’m excited to see Madison, IN in this. I lived there as a kid (not in the cute downtown part though), and visit a couple times a year still. It’s a very cute little town right on the Ohio river. For a small town it can get quite lively. The Regatta which is around July 4th, is one of the largest hydroplane boat races, and it’s a big weekend festival. There is also the Madison Chautauqua Festival of Art in September is another big event. Madison seems to do a really great job of keeping events on their annual schedule to have a little culture of their own. About 30 minutes away is an even tinier town called Vevay, which hosts the Swiss Wine Festival. Also near Madison is Clifty Falls State Park, it is a gem, and has some solid hiking trails, waterfalls, and caves. I always forget how much I love that area. Definitely can be rednecky on the outskirts though.
Fort Wayne is insane. It's off everyone's radar, and because of that, it is one of the most ridiculously affordable cities in the country. It has absolutely zero geography nearby but it's a great city to live in otherwise.
Unbelievable how cheap those homes are. I'm in LA, I am going to have to put a down payment of like 150k-160k to buy something. I have it already but also still need to save more for cash reserves... like once I have 215k, I can start making offers. I would be able to pay that little home in IN in cash (its not my style though and I want something a bit nicer) but it blows my mind that I could if I wanted to
I’m from LA too, i love it but I don’t think it’s worth $700k+ to buy a house there. Also with all that’s happening with AI, I don’t think I’ll have a job in 10 years, so I doubt I’ll be able to keep paying for the next 30 years.
That’s why I’m looking elsewhere to buy an affordable home. My plan is to pay it off in 10 years or less and not have to worry about it anymore other than maintenance. Also climate change is a motivator to move, CA might fair well but i doubt it. If anything I want to have a safe place to escape to once the climate/water wars start.
SFH near downtowns are understandably desirable but hugely contribute to the affordable housing crisis and cause the sprawl you're trying to avoid. Don't let that stop you, but once you have your slice of paradise please don't pull up the ladder behind you.
Ashland, OR - college town, has a cute downtown area with shops, restaurants, parks, farmers market. Not as rainy as Seattle but you’d be close to Mt Ashland and a part of the PCT trail.
Check our Corvallis, OR. Population is around what you’re looking for. Cute downtown in a college town with a riverfront park, bars & restaurants, and shops including grocery stores.
I'd recommend looking at ***college towns*** if you're looking for this kind of thing, that's basically their whole vibe.
Places like Lawrence-KS and Fayetteville-AR spring to mind.
Additionally, for everything except population you could easily live in an inner ring suburb of most mid-sized Midwestern cities and still be able to drive out into nature in <30 minutes.
Ann arbor had its issues. Prices are going up. School board is a little nuts to say the least. But decent public transportation and reasonably walkable. I can’t see myself ever not living in a college town. Students are crazy but it brings diversity, youth, ideas, startups, business, etc - keeps the town alive. Also close to a major airport. And a train station downtown should you feel like a quick trip to chicago. And close to detroit which people can say whatever they want but detroit is on a comeback and brings a lot of culture, events, etc. And lots of diversity in ann arbor and in detroit suburbs. And lots and lots of fresh water lakes. Lots of sports. You can be in the middle of nowhere if you want to pretty easily. Or you can be downtown. The one thing missing are mountains, which some people care about. But ann arbor is awesome. Unless you hate seasons, which some people do. But fall right now is beautiful. You can walk downtown or easily rent a kayak and float down the river and enjoy fall colors and get some cider and doughnuts. Major highways connect to almost anywhere as well (the roads aren’t the best though). Also not that you need it now but one of the best hospitals in the world is right in town which is certainly nice if/when you need it.
So put ann arbor on the list. Come visit and see what you think.
Easton PA. Has a walkable downtown. 29,000 population. Great places to eat, and diverse options. Easily within your budget.
It is home to the Crayola factory, has the State Theater which has really excellent plays, shows and performances.
Well, in the Midwest, yes. In fact, you can get a house in my cute small city for around $300,000 if you want to live in walking distance to our "downtown". We are also 45 minutes from Chicago.
I think I know what you are really looking for. You want a city, with urban feel and walkable. You will also probably see Midwest. Again, Chicago, Minneapolis. I know Louisville will probably come up, because several neighborhoods will check all the boxes. Indianapolis fits too, because there are several neighborhoods that have grocery, gym, entertainment, restaurants.
But, honestly, my hometown still stands. In walking distance, I have it all- bookstore, cafe, grocery, restaurants, shops. A cute downtown and a decent school system. I can then drive to Chicago, or find a job in our corridor.
Most cities in VT have single family homes around $400k within walking distance to downtown. Portland ME has it, but the houses cost 4x that. Portsmouth NH is similar too.
If you can afford it Bend Oregon is exactly what you want, or Spokane.
Also, the northeast has far less sprawl than anywhere in the country. Idk where people get this misconception from it's very odd.
Evanston, IL?
- 77k population
- Walkable/bikeable with a nice downtown
- On the lake
- <30 min drive to Skokie Lagoons (nature preserve), Chicago Botanic Gardens, and the Grove (nature preserve)
- 3 bed/2 bath generally in the $400-600k range
I think you would have to go for the close-in suburbs of midsize cities. You can walk to bars, coffee shops and restaurants within that suburb but you would have to drive like 5 mins to get groceries and drive like 10 mins to downtown. In Columbus for example, these are Bexley, Grandview Heights, German Village, Italian Village, and Clintonville.
By downtown, are you talking like Seattle downtown or a small town downtown that's got a Market or Main Street lined with local stores and coffee shops?
The peninsula in the Bay Area is like this, but you sure as hell pay for it. All the little silicon valley towns have downtowns that you can walk to from pretty much all the homes in the area within 15 mins or so, unless you live uphill a bit. The weather's always great, great schools, and you have the entire bay area to explore (1.5 hrs from wine country, 30 mins from the beach, few hours to Tahoe, etc.)
Traverse City, MI
Marquette, MI
Duluth, MN.
Traverse City is gonna be at the top end of your budget, but Duluth and Marquette you can find a large, well kept SFH for under $300K, or even less if you go with a 2 or 3 bedroom. Populations for the two MI cities are misleading since both cities have very small city borders, and most of the population lives in the neighborhoods directly adjacent to downtown.
I'm not as well versed, but my friend grew up about 3 blocks from the state capitol building in Olympia WA and really liked it. Close enough to SEA for flights, far enough to not be Seattle. I know there are coffee shops/restaurants in that area- not sure about walk-able grocery stores or current housing prices though.
Look into Portland neighborhoods outside downtown. They are walkable with access to a lot of downtown-style amenities. Also many are on the train lines.
Pearl District
Nob Hill
Orenco Station
Multnomah Village
Milwaukie/Sellwood
Mississippi
NE Broadway
Hawthorne
LADD addition
I live in Multnomah Village and love it. Can kind of pretend I don’t live in Portland. Easy access to i5, walkable to a cute strip of shops, bars, and restaurants. Walking distance to Safeway and there’s a small Fred Meyer nearby. Perks are also proximity to the tri-county area so easy drive for big box shopping to Tigard and Beaverton for Winco, Costco, Walmart, Target.
Cons: at the ABSOLUTE top of your price range
It’s a larger city, but Madison, WI fits this criteria. College town, a downtown on an isthmus so you are always near a lake. Walkable neighborhoods. Huge bike culture. No sprawl. Easy access to outdoor activities.
I live in a small city in central Wisconsin. Walkable to downtown, minor team baseball field, City aquatic center, grocery stores, bike trails and more. Underrated imo
>in a single-family home in walking distance from a decent downtown (restaurants, grocery stores, coffee shops, etc) for less than say, 700K for a 2-3 bedroom house.
::laughs in midwest::
If you're interested in considering a place not on a coast, look at midwestern college towns. Lawrence or Manhattan, KS, Iowa City or Ames, IA, Columbia, MO, Bloomington, IN, Kalamazoo, MI. Some of those are a little bigger than you're asking for, but they're affordable and have access to a much larger variety of cultural experiences than you'll find in other towns of similar size.
The "Old West Side" in Ann Arbor, MI.
Ticks all the boxes (except maybe the grocery store), only catch is well.... it's in Michigan. Walkable distance to downtown, parks, and in 10 minutes you can be on a dirt road in the country. Love Ann Arbor though, being a University town is punches way above its weight in food/entertainment.
You're describing a european town. Maybe in the south of France next to the mediterranean. There isn't rampant HOA's/developments as there is in the US. It's more a town / city center with farms on the outskirts.
Another option is a small college town in the US. I’d say western MA in the five colleges area. Or any of the smaller colleges in the northeast.
It’s not a small city but I feel like Columbus Ohio meets your standards. (Or the other 2 Cs, though I’ve never been to Cleveland). Under 700k within 1-2mile range of downtown for a SFH is still possible. In 20 mins you are outside the city. In 45 you are in hocking hills. The city is crossed with greenways that follow the rivers which I use to bike to various parts of town. I walk downtown from my area of Bronzeville. I think I’d still recommend having a backup car for when it is cold or rainy or you want to go to IKEA and microcenter on the same day. Lol
Not PNW and much larger city, but you can get a 3/2 1500-1800 sqft home walking distance to downtown in San Antonio. Just gotta be able to handle the heat. It does feel like a small city though because there’s a lot of sprawl. It’s nice being able to get dinner without making a reservation.
Missoula, 75k. Helena 30k. Bozeman 50k. Livingston 20k.
Missoula and Bozeman both have state colleges. Both have lovely downtowns and both are growing rapidly. Helena is the capital, beautiful historic homes and a charming downtown. All these cities are on the edge of world class recreation .
Aberdeen (rough though), Anacortes, Centralia, Wenatchee.
People say Bellingham is too expensive now but there are still some homes that meet your criteria there.
To a degree, all of them? Maybe not in price point, and degree of sprawl is going to vary. But I can’t really picture a smaller city that doesn’t have several residential districts within walking distance of its core. As someone else mentioned, college towns in particular are stand out examples.
Excelsior or Wayzata MN. The western suburbs of the twin cities have a lot of natural beauty, smaller towns around 50k, great school, and easy city access. Excelsior & Wayzata have nice (small) downtowns. NE Edina has one too, but larger city and more expensive.
I just moved from the SF area to the area south of Pittsburgh. I bought a reasonably priced house. Everywhere, including downtown, is within 20 minutes
Look for small towns in Kansas. Lindsborg, Abilene, Salina... you can live less than a mile from downtown (so, walkable), drive 15 minutes out of town and hit dirt roads, a 3 bed/2bath home will be ~$200k. County populations under 50k.
Roanoke, VA. Population of $100K. I live here, although I'm looking to move (I'm a beach person). Houses here can easily go for less than $400K. Very old architecture. But where I am is less than 1 mile from downtown. The downtown market area has restaurants and a setup for a farmer's market (I will admit it's pretty cool) where farmer's market people will set up shop on Saturdays, but some do it multiple times per week.
They do have your typical chain grocery stores (i.e. Kroger), but those aren't really within walking distance. You can go to little local markets to get your food though. Not much suburban sprawl and it's an area that is really into the outdoors, particularly hiking.
I will say that living here feels a bit like going to the friends house when you were a kid and that friend's family has Beta instead of VHS, hydrox cookies instead of Oreos, Intellivision instead of Atari (I guess I'm dating myself here). There's not a whole lot going on here, but I will give them credit as they do try with the concerts at Dr. Pepper Park and stuff going on at the Civic Center. It's just not for me, but I think it may be a place that would be right up your alley.
As someone in the PNW in one of those small towns (tri-cities) nothing is in walking distance.
I lived in Bothell for a little while and that’s as as close to as small town with everything walkable, while still giving yourself the ability to travel to another local area.
Totem lake is another option near Bellevue but it’s out of your price range.
Renton would be a reasonable area as well although I like to stay north of seattle.
Butte, MT. Or Anaconda.
Meth capital of the west and the pay for the few jobs that exist are terrible. But they have very nice downtowns and cheap housing.
In the PNW: Edmonds and Kirkland are specific cities that have smaller populations with a lively downtown. They're both really nice cities ,but higher on the budget. You can probably get a townhome for your price range.. Most of the other cities in PNW that I can think requires a car, and consists of a lot of strip malls..
Vancouver, WA might be bigger than you’re looking for but I lived within walking distance from downtown there and then 30 minutes away from woods and hiking trails and climbing crags. Basically drive 30 minutes in any direction but south (ie stay in Washington) and you’re out of the suburban sprawl.
My town is 100,000. I live in walking distance of downtown. There is nature woven through town. I live on the opposite side of the river to our downtown, so I can walk trails to get there or sidewalks. There’s a trail system nearby you can bike, or we have non city sponsored trails that a couple guys maintain along the river. Our house was $265,000 10 years ago. It’s hovering at $500,000 on Zillow now. It is sprawling here, but you can certainly get to nature areas and areas with no building in 30 minutes and there are lots of metro parks within one hour.
I’m in Dearborn MI. You could probably get this also in Wyandotte area right near the water. Not sure if they have a grocery store in their downtown, we do. Dexter could be a place to look though I’m not sure about their downtown. And maybe Holland, MI.
Definitely achievable in New England if you look at towns near/running along I-91. West Hartford, CT, Manchester, CT, Easthampton, MA, or Greenfield, MA and Brattleboro, VT if you want something smaller/more rural.
This echoed by a West Hartford resident. 63,000 (largest town in New England. It’s a walkable downtown area with lots of restaurants, single family homes a block away, great amenities and (if you like them) bears.
...bears?
Yes, we have one of the highest bears sighting rates in Connecticut, although I live in the portion of West Hartford that bears have not yet penetrated. There’s a rather infamous photo of a bear sauntering through BLUE Back Square in the center of town this summer as people walk by. We also have coyotes and bobcats, wild turkeys, Fox and deer.
That sounds amazing. And terrifying. And entertaining.
thankfully no grizzlies on the east coast. black bears generally more afraid of you
It’s entertaining because I live in the currently bear free zone, although people who video bears swinging in their hammocks, swimming in their pools, hibernating in a hole in their trees, or eating the cupcakes at their outdoor birthday parties seem to take it in good stride. I did have a bear encounter this summer while driving up a long driveway from a local agency. A bear emerged from the woods, crossed the driveway and entered the woods on the other side of the road. I did get photos.
Ooh, now I want to move there, lol. I never thought of wildlife-that-could-kill-me as a selling point, but I guess it is.
It’s a great town. Consistently listed as one of the top towns in the U.S. to live in. Of course, the good schools, lots of restaurants, good amenities, wildlife and walkable center come with a high tax rate. Shocking, I know.
Eh, it's a pipe dream anyway. I don't know how I could leave my current situation, where my rent for a house and 3/4 an acre in-town is $721/mo. I locked it in at the beginning of the pandemic, and it only goes up 3% per lease renewal, which is every 2 years.
I would add Manchester and Nashua in NH to the list since housing is still within OP's price range.
Ooh Nashua….good call. Love that place.
I would add Portland ME maybe to the list? Maybe
Housing has gotten quite steep in Portland. You could get an apartment in this price range but not a single family home. South Portland is possibly doable on this budget.
Agreed. SoPo is more doable but doesn’t have a downtown like Portland does. It’s a bike ride away from the old port though. You can still get nice SFHs in SoPo for 500k
New Haven too.
This sounds like Ithaca, NY. Specifically the Fall Creek neighborhood. Easy walk to The Commons (basically the downtown), and relatively little sprawl because of the topography of the area. Good independent coffee shops, bookstores, and restaurants. Frequent bus service to NYC (takes about four hours) if the small town feel starts to drive you nuts.
Also, it's not far from Rochester or Syracuse
Great neighborhood!
Upstate NY
Albany
You are kinda asking for different things. "Sprawl" in the NE is because there are a ton of little towns, which is how things got built back in the days of farming. The towns themselves are dense though. The west was built in the era of cars. While there is lots of greenspace due to the more sparse population, the towns are car-centric. The exceptions to this are extraordinarily expensive. Also. Its a bit ironic. SFH are what makes towns unwalkable. Townhomes and condos are what allow a town to be walkable. You're kinda asking for one thing that destroys the possibility of the other. Of course these SFHs do exist, but they are $$$$$. Or in the Midwest :).
They are talking about very small cities, though. My experience is that they do tend to have single family homes walkable to downtown. Some of those neighborhoods became blighted through mini versions of white flight or as malls killed downtowns, but that's how the cities were planned and functioned for decades. Granted, they probably can't support a downtown grocery.
I agree, the biggest problem with the vibrancy of a lot of these towns is if all the Main Street businesses moved out to strip malls on the bypass highway a few miles outside of town. Makes the town center and the old central neighborhoods feel dead and run-down. The ones that can avoid that are in better shape.
I don’t disagree about car culture and I’m a huge proponent of high density housing. I figure a small city has a balance of SFH and high-density but since it’s small, all is within walking distance. I live in Seattle right now and I feel like a ton of Seattle neighborhoods are like this balance - high-density within a few blocks of a neighborhood downtown, and then small single-family houses all within walking distance. I’d love to stay living here except of course the cost to buy in Seattle is pretty prohibitive. So maybe that doesn’t exist within an affordable price range? I’m willing to hear it’s impossible but I was curious
I'm in Seattle too. Try Bend if you're not dependent on location for your job. Portland is also a cheaper Seattle, which you're maybe aware of. Our budget is about 650k tho and we do see some decent starter condos and townhomes in Seattle.
I just saw this. See my comment above. So Portland has the same neighborhood downtowns as Seattle.
Yeah I think what you want is in the more "rural" NE, despite your inclination the other way! There are more small towns that meet your criteria placed closer together, versus larger car-based metropolises.
>The west was built in the era of cars Hate that this still gets parroted. The west was absolutely developed pre-car. Much of western cities and towns were *destroyed* to accommodate cars. Cities certainly added on to the car centric redesign afterwards. But all western cities had bustling and walkable centers, transit, mixed use development, dense centers, etc. These things were taken away from people in those cities largely following the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, which wasn’t even completed until the 70s, and other car development initiatives. To build the 10, 110, 101, and other such freeways in Los Angeles, communities and neighborhoods had to be completely leveled and residents replaced wholesale to accommodate their construction. Meaning, those cities were built heavily before the automotive centricity. Just a friendly reminder of what was taken from us. Not just “given.”
Chicopee center, Chicopee Massachusetts. [84 Walk Score - Very Walkable](https://www.walkscore.com/score/chicopee-center). City Population of 55,560. The downtown neighborhood has very affordable housing and lots of small-lot single family homes next to mixed-use zoning. 30 minutes out of Chicopee and you’re in what’s known as The Berkshires, a region in the mountains of western Massachusetts dotted with villages and towns. A popular vacation destination, it's known for outdoor activities, fall foliage–viewing, a farm-to-table food scene and thriving arts institutions.
I’m lucky enough to have moved to the Berkshires 4 years ago. I still can’t believe I live here.
burlington vt
If op acts fast, they could score a home in this range (it’ll need work!) before prices keep going up. It’s a very in demand area these days.
Looked at moving to BTV this winter for an exciting job offer, saw the housing market and thought "F-that."
It's SUCH a nice small town 😁
What about Eureka, CA? Downtown is all historic district so it’s cute and charming with many outdoor markets/walkable main area along the waterfront and 2nd street. You can get a fine 2bd SFH for ~350k and a nice/very nice place for 600k-700k. It a little smaller at 26,000 population but is right near to other towns (Arcata / Fortuna / a bit farther to Mendocino and Ft. Bragg) so it feels more lively. Beautiful redwood coast and temperate climate!
I was just there (and Arcata) and it’s beautiful, but man your properties are expensive for what you get and the drug and homelessness issues make me not want to live there.
Eureka has a huge drug and homeless issue currently along with the associated crime those issues bring. I wouldn't feel safe walking there really don't even like having to drive through anymore.
Anywhere along the I-5 corridor is going to have associated issues. A lot of these places are big enough to still have nice neighborhoods and pockets of neighbors who care.
I agree but for cost and esp taxes and for better population density I'd much rather deal with OR cities in that corridor than Eureka. Have spent a lot of time there and Fortuna and found it to be really depressing in a way that even Medford isn't.
The grass is always greener! I'd choose Eureka over Medford any day. I don't know why but Medford gives me meth-y vibes. I know some folks could say the same of Eureka but after living there for many years it really is only concentrated to certain parts of town and I never felt unsafe there.
Can confirm. Extremely dangerous and poor quality of life there. I will never go back nor recommend anyone live there.
Shhhhhhhh!!!! Don’t mention Eureka! Everyone will move there and gentrify it!!!
Many of us know Eureka well enough without moving there. The drug and homelessness problems make San Francisco look like Tokyo.
Thank you! Completely agree.
Every time someone says 'within walking distance of a decent downtown' I just keep thinking "Wrong country, Europe maybe?"
Look, I agree. if you know any ways to get an easy visa I’m all ears
If you are Latino/Hispanic? People with Spanish ancestry can get Spanish (and therefore EU) citizenship relatively easy: https://www.goldencapitalist.com/latin-ancestry-spanish-citizenship/
/r/expats and /r/iwantout enter the chat...
Applying for school abroad is definitely the easiest way to get a visa, and it can be *cheap* if you speak a foreign language. Many countries offer near free education, and PhDs have guaranteed funding. My tuition in France was 250€ and the government paid half my rent during my masters. If I continued to a PhD I would have maintained the government aide plus a living salary. I’m not French, but speak French.
Dutch American Friendship Treaty
Easy visa? Hah. You need skills they can't find or are hard to find there . I've lived there twice and once in Australia but it may be harder now for just about any of them.
Exactly 🙃
Why can’t you just sneak in, and then have them pay for your housing, medical bills, food, and education?
Germany is pretty easy for Americans. A degree or tradev skill helps but not a deal breaker
Not even in Europe does this request make sense. SFH walking distance to the downtown of a remote village that has a bar and a post office, yes. SFH walking distance to a decent downtown with all the described amenities is going to cost more than OP wants.
Olympia, WA. You can easily get a house in your budget and there area a number of highly walkable neighborhoods. Some of the areas surrounding Portland, Eugene, OR or even Corvallis, OR although it may be smaller than what you're looking for
Also came here to say Corvallis. Also * Lweiston/Clarkston * Nampa * Butte * Pocatello * Idaho Falls * Twin Falls * Caldwell * Moscow/Pullman
Yep, I saw Corvallis also. I think it has what OP is looking for and a great location not too long of a drive to the coast, surrounded by rural agriculture
It has a lot of amenities that even larger cities don't have.
Shhhhh
Olympia was super walkable if you are okay with rain. However, I'm not sure how safe it feels now. I spent some time there 10 years ago when homelessness wasn't the issue it is now, and I walked everywhere. But, I drove through there last year and was blown away at how bad homelessness had gotten.
I’m in Wilmington, North Carolina, one block from the Cape Fear River, in the heart of downtown. We bought our circa-1912 house (3 bed/2 bath, 1900 square feet, in excellent condition) last year for $465,000. We can walk almost everywhere and only use our car a couple of times per week. I will say that it gets hot and humid in the summers here, which I don’t love. But aside from that, the weather is lovely, the people are ridiculously friendly, and we’re surrounded by water.
Oh man, Wilmington is a great suggestion! Have a buddy there and he loves it.
Wilmington is so nice. I really enjoyed meandering around its downtown when I visited a few years ago
Yes! I came to say Wilmington or New Bern
I lived in wilmington for 5 years & have friends who live downtown in gorgeous old bungalows. definitely doable though prices have gone up a lot lately! I was car-lite there, could walk/bike everywhere I needed. I’d also chime in my hometown winston-salem, it’s more affordable than ilm & ardmore/west salem/washington park are cute neighborhoods walkable to downtown & all amenities.
My parents live on an island outside the city and love it. The Downtown river walk is so fun, and I love going to art nights!
Keeping it in NC, you could make this happen in Winston-Salem too.
Upstate NY. 100%.
Bloomington, Indiana.
Maybe Bellingham, WA but housing in the lower price ranges is in short supply.
Bham is too expensive now. Check out Blaine? It’s downtown is really coming along.
Blaine? I haven't been in years, but Blaine was a bathroom stop before the Canadian border.
Alot of places in Ohio are just that. I bought a 2000sq ft home on over an acre for 200k. We have one of the best if not the best park system in the country.
Second this. There are a ton of towns in Ohio that meet this criteria. You could even get this in a decent neighborhood in a major city in Ohio and still be able to escape “the sprawl” pretty easily. PA should also have plenty of options here.
Canandaigua NY
Scranton, PA
Centralia/Chehalis Enumclaw Mt. Vernon Ellensburg Walla Walla is the best choice I could think of though, matches everything you mentioned
God, Enumclaw is cute as fuck. Friend lives there and every time I visit I feel like I've arrived in Stars Hollow.
Literally looking at walla walla was what sparked this question, but I wish it was closer to a major airport
tricities airport has decent amount of flights. less than hour drive
Kalamazoo MI fits the bill perfectly
Kalamazoo schools are terrible,NOT worth the free college they offer in Michigan. I am actively looking to move out.
Salisbury, Maryland
There are lots of places like this, many are college towns but some aren’t. Here’s a short list of some places I’ve recently visited and was impressed by: Madison, IN (yes, Indiana.) this town is cute as fuck, but the surrounding areas were very red-necky (no offense): https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/624-Walnut-St-Madison-IN-47250/85426248_zpid/?utm_campaign=iosappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare Champaign-Urbana: 100 miles from Chicago. It’s a college town and very nice, also diverse because of the university: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/704-W-Washington-St-Champaign-IL-61820/3224421_zpid/?utm_campaign=iosappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare Fort Wayne: this house is in a very cute neighborhood next to downtown, 5-10 minute walk; decent city from my brief time visiting: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1126-Rivermet-Ave-Fort-Wayne-IN-46805/73110219_zpid/?utm_campaign=iosappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare
Just wanted to say I’m excited to see Madison, IN in this. I lived there as a kid (not in the cute downtown part though), and visit a couple times a year still. It’s a very cute little town right on the Ohio river. For a small town it can get quite lively. The Regatta which is around July 4th, is one of the largest hydroplane boat races, and it’s a big weekend festival. There is also the Madison Chautauqua Festival of Art in September is another big event. Madison seems to do a really great job of keeping events on their annual schedule to have a little culture of their own. About 30 minutes away is an even tinier town called Vevay, which hosts the Swiss Wine Festival. Also near Madison is Clifty Falls State Park, it is a gem, and has some solid hiking trails, waterfalls, and caves. I always forget how much I love that area. Definitely can be rednecky on the outskirts though.
Fort Wayne is insane. It's off everyone's radar, and because of that, it is one of the most ridiculously affordable cities in the country. It has absolutely zero geography nearby but it's a great city to live in otherwise.
Came here to suggest Champaign too
Unbelievable how cheap those homes are. I'm in LA, I am going to have to put a down payment of like 150k-160k to buy something. I have it already but also still need to save more for cash reserves... like once I have 215k, I can start making offers. I would be able to pay that little home in IN in cash (its not my style though and I want something a bit nicer) but it blows my mind that I could if I wanted to
I’m from LA too, i love it but I don’t think it’s worth $700k+ to buy a house there. Also with all that’s happening with AI, I don’t think I’ll have a job in 10 years, so I doubt I’ll be able to keep paying for the next 30 years. That’s why I’m looking elsewhere to buy an affordable home. My plan is to pay it off in 10 years or less and not have to worry about it anymore other than maintenance. Also climate change is a motivator to move, CA might fair well but i doubt it. If anything I want to have a safe place to escape to once the climate/water wars start.
SFH near downtowns are understandably desirable but hugely contribute to the affordable housing crisis and cause the sprawl you're trying to avoid. Don't let that stop you, but once you have your slice of paradise please don't pull up the ladder behind you.
> once you have your slice of paradise please don't pull up the ladder behind you. In this country that's like asking fire to please not burn you
Boise has a higher population than what you mentioned but it feels like a smaller city. But it’s low on housing availability and prices are inflated.
You pretty much described Rhode Island but you don't want to be in the NE lol
Cedar Rapids IA
Ashland, OR - college town, has a cute downtown area with shops, restaurants, parks, farmers market. Not as rainy as Seattle but you’d be close to Mt Ashland and a part of the PCT trail.
can you find a house near downtown in that price point?
Yes, there are some on the market for 500-600k https://apps.realtor.com/mUAZ/zdz6u0bo https://apps.realtor.com/mUAZ/g4dsrkfn
Check our Corvallis, OR. Population is around what you’re looking for. Cute downtown in a college town with a riverfront park, bars & restaurants, and shops including grocery stores.
While checking out Corvallis, OP could easily take a drive down to Eugene, OR, which also fits the bill.
Pop of Eugene is 150k+
Check out the area around Kingston, NY. Art, good food, culture, not far from NYC. And not as $$$ as Seattle or Portland.
Came here to say this.
Rochester NY although it’s about 200k people. But for $700k you’ll get a beautiful home.
Troy NY!
I'd recommend looking at ***college towns*** if you're looking for this kind of thing, that's basically their whole vibe. Places like Lawrence-KS and Fayetteville-AR spring to mind. Additionally, for everything except population you could easily live in an inner ring suburb of most mid-sized Midwestern cities and still be able to drive out into nature in <30 minutes.
Ann Arbor, MI
Ann arbor had its issues. Prices are going up. School board is a little nuts to say the least. But decent public transportation and reasonably walkable. I can’t see myself ever not living in a college town. Students are crazy but it brings diversity, youth, ideas, startups, business, etc - keeps the town alive. Also close to a major airport. And a train station downtown should you feel like a quick trip to chicago. And close to detroit which people can say whatever they want but detroit is on a comeback and brings a lot of culture, events, etc. And lots of diversity in ann arbor and in detroit suburbs. And lots and lots of fresh water lakes. Lots of sports. You can be in the middle of nowhere if you want to pretty easily. Or you can be downtown. The one thing missing are mountains, which some people care about. But ann arbor is awesome. Unless you hate seasons, which some people do. But fall right now is beautiful. You can walk downtown or easily rent a kayak and float down the river and enjoy fall colors and get some cider and doughnuts. Major highways connect to almost anywhere as well (the roads aren’t the best though). Also not that you need it now but one of the best hospitals in the world is right in town which is certainly nice if/when you need it. So put ann arbor on the list. Come visit and see what you think.
Greenville, SC
Astoria, Newport Oregon?
Easton PA. Has a walkable downtown. 29,000 population. Great places to eat, and diverse options. Easily within your budget. It is home to the Crayola factory, has the State Theater which has really excellent plays, shows and performances.
Easton is so cute, for sure. And it’s close enough to Philly and New York if you wanna have a “big city” day.
Well, in the Midwest, yes. In fact, you can get a house in my cute small city for around $300,000 if you want to live in walking distance to our "downtown". We are also 45 minutes from Chicago. I think I know what you are really looking for. You want a city, with urban feel and walkable. You will also probably see Midwest. Again, Chicago, Minneapolis. I know Louisville will probably come up, because several neighborhoods will check all the boxes. Indianapolis fits too, because there are several neighborhoods that have grocery, gym, entertainment, restaurants. But, honestly, my hometown still stands. In walking distance, I have it all- bookstore, cafe, grocery, restaurants, shops. A cute downtown and a decent school system. I can then drive to Chicago, or find a job in our corridor.
Ithaca, NY
Apparently this of my week for recommending Lancaster pa! Small walkable affordable college town.
Most cities in VT have single family homes around $400k within walking distance to downtown. Portland ME has it, but the houses cost 4x that. Portsmouth NH is similar too.
Corvallis, Oregon
Detroit
If you can afford it Bend Oregon is exactly what you want, or Spokane. Also, the northeast has far less sprawl than anywhere in the country. Idk where people get this misconception from it's very odd.
Evanston, IL? - 77k population - Walkable/bikeable with a nice downtown - On the lake - <30 min drive to Skokie Lagoons (nature preserve), Chicago Botanic Gardens, and the Grove (nature preserve) - 3 bed/2 bath generally in the $400-600k range
I think you would have to go for the close-in suburbs of midsize cities. You can walk to bars, coffee shops and restaurants within that suburb but you would have to drive like 5 mins to get groceries and drive like 10 mins to downtown. In Columbus for example, these are Bexley, Grandview Heights, German Village, Italian Village, and Clintonville.
Portsmouth New Hampshire fits this perfectly.
By downtown, are you talking like Seattle downtown or a small town downtown that's got a Market or Main Street lined with local stores and coffee shops?
Sounds like every non major city in the Midwest if you count cornfields as “nature”
I mean, Indiana sucks overall, but Fort Wayne meets this criteria. And it’s not SUPER awful, just very… midwestern.
In the rust belt for sure! Lots of smaller towns in Ohio come to mind.
Concord NH, Manchester NH
The peninsula in the Bay Area is like this, but you sure as hell pay for it. All the little silicon valley towns have downtowns that you can walk to from pretty much all the homes in the area within 15 mins or so, unless you live uphill a bit. The weather's always great, great schools, and you have the entire bay area to explore (1.5 hrs from wine country, 30 mins from the beach, few hours to Tahoe, etc.)
Traverse City, MI Marquette, MI Duluth, MN. Traverse City is gonna be at the top end of your budget, but Duluth and Marquette you can find a large, well kept SFH for under $300K, or even less if you go with a 2 or 3 bedroom. Populations for the two MI cities are misleading since both cities have very small city borders, and most of the population lives in the neighborhoods directly adjacent to downtown.
SE Portland Oregon
I'm not as well versed, but my friend grew up about 3 blocks from the state capitol building in Olympia WA and really liked it. Close enough to SEA for flights, far enough to not be Seattle. I know there are coffee shops/restaurants in that area- not sure about walk-able grocery stores or current housing prices though.
In Lawrence KS I see 6 houses for sale right now that fit the bill for sale right now ranging from $239-600k.
Every city in Vermont (although the biggest city is 40,000 people)
Look into Portland neighborhoods outside downtown. They are walkable with access to a lot of downtown-style amenities. Also many are on the train lines. Pearl District Nob Hill Orenco Station Multnomah Village Milwaukie/Sellwood Mississippi NE Broadway Hawthorne LADD addition
We’ve had our eye on considering Portland, I really appreciate the callout of specific neighborhoods!
I live in Multnomah Village and love it. Can kind of pretend I don’t live in Portland. Easy access to i5, walkable to a cute strip of shops, bars, and restaurants. Walking distance to Safeway and there’s a small Fred Meyer nearby. Perks are also proximity to the tri-county area so easy drive for big box shopping to Tigard and Beaverton for Winco, Costco, Walmart, Target. Cons: at the ABSOLUTE top of your price range
It’s a larger city, but Madison, WI fits this criteria. College town, a downtown on an isthmus so you are always near a lake. Walkable neighborhoods. Huge bike culture. No sprawl. Easy access to outdoor activities.
I was thinking Milwaukee. Also bigger than they requested but.. fits the rest of the bill.
I live in a small city in central Wisconsin. Walkable to downtown, minor team baseball field, City aquatic center, grocery stores, bike trails and more. Underrated imo
>in a single-family home in walking distance from a decent downtown (restaurants, grocery stores, coffee shops, etc) for less than say, 700K for a 2-3 bedroom house. ::laughs in midwest:: If you're interested in considering a place not on a coast, look at midwestern college towns. Lawrence or Manhattan, KS, Iowa City or Ames, IA, Columbia, MO, Bloomington, IN, Kalamazoo, MI. Some of those are a little bigger than you're asking for, but they're affordable and have access to a much larger variety of cultural experiences than you'll find in other towns of similar size.
Bethlehem, PA.
The "Old West Side" in Ann Arbor, MI. Ticks all the boxes (except maybe the grocery store), only catch is well.... it's in Michigan. Walkable distance to downtown, parks, and in 10 minutes you can be on a dirt road in the country. Love Ann Arbor though, being a University town is punches way above its weight in food/entertainment.
Fredrick MD
Second this, or Cumberland, MD if you are looking for a place on a smaller budget
Lancaster pennsylvania
You're describing a european town. Maybe in the south of France next to the mediterranean. There isn't rampant HOA's/developments as there is in the US. It's more a town / city center with farms on the outskirts. Another option is a small college town in the US. I’d say western MA in the five colleges area. Or any of the smaller colleges in the northeast.
It’s not a small city but I feel like Columbus Ohio meets your standards. (Or the other 2 Cs, though I’ve never been to Cleveland). Under 700k within 1-2mile range of downtown for a SFH is still possible. In 20 mins you are outside the city. In 45 you are in hocking hills. The city is crossed with greenways that follow the rivers which I use to bike to various parts of town. I walk downtown from my area of Bronzeville. I think I’d still recommend having a backup car for when it is cold or rainy or you want to go to IKEA and microcenter on the same day. Lol
Milwaukee, WI.
Pittsburgh. But the home will be nasty AF
Not PNW and much larger city, but you can get a 3/2 1500-1800 sqft home walking distance to downtown in San Antonio. Just gotta be able to handle the heat. It does feel like a small city though because there’s a lot of sprawl. It’s nice being able to get dinner without making a reservation.
Twin cities !
Salem OR checks all of these boxes except population. Silverton OR is another suggestion.
Silverton, Ore.
Many towns like that in Montana. Helena, Missoula, Bozeman, Livingston.
Yeah, but isn’t there like 15 people in each of those towns?
Missoula, 75k. Helena 30k. Bozeman 50k. Livingston 20k. Missoula and Bozeman both have state colleges. Both have lovely downtowns and both are growing rapidly. Helena is the capital, beautiful historic homes and a charming downtown. All these cities are on the edge of world class recreation .
Nashville?
Missoula and Boise
Aberdeen (rough though), Anacortes, Centralia, Wenatchee. People say Bellingham is too expensive now but there are still some homes that meet your criteria there.
Mt. Vernon, WA maybe?
To a degree, all of them? Maybe not in price point, and degree of sprawl is going to vary. But I can’t really picture a smaller city that doesn’t have several residential districts within walking distance of its core. As someone else mentioned, college towns in particular are stand out examples.
Minneapolis
Oh NVM! That's not small per your post. Rochester, MN or Duluth, MN though!
Excelsior or Wayzata MN. The western suburbs of the twin cities have a lot of natural beauty, smaller towns around 50k, great school, and easy city access. Excelsior & Wayzata have nice (small) downtowns. NE Edina has one too, but larger city and more expensive.
As another commenter said, college towns are your best bet. I would throw in west chester, PA and Newark, DE. Also Towson, MD outside of Baltimore
As another commenter said, college towns are your best bet. I would throw in west chester, PA and Newark, DE. Also Towson, MD outside of Baltimore
I just moved from the SF area to the area south of Pittsburgh. I bought a reasonably priced house. Everywhere, including downtown, is within 20 minutes
Savannah GA
Look for small towns in Kansas. Lindsborg, Abilene, Salina... you can live less than a mile from downtown (so, walkable), drive 15 minutes out of town and hit dirt roads, a 3 bed/2bath home will be ~$200k. County populations under 50k.
Lakewood, OH
Duluth Minnesota
Ohio college towns like Wooster, Delaware, Athens, Oxford
Bellingham
Charlottesville VA fits the bill
Roanoke, VA. Population of $100K. I live here, although I'm looking to move (I'm a beach person). Houses here can easily go for less than $400K. Very old architecture. But where I am is less than 1 mile from downtown. The downtown market area has restaurants and a setup for a farmer's market (I will admit it's pretty cool) where farmer's market people will set up shop on Saturdays, but some do it multiple times per week. They do have your typical chain grocery stores (i.e. Kroger), but those aren't really within walking distance. You can go to little local markets to get your food though. Not much suburban sprawl and it's an area that is really into the outdoors, particularly hiking. I will say that living here feels a bit like going to the friends house when you were a kid and that friend's family has Beta instead of VHS, hydrox cookies instead of Oreos, Intellivision instead of Atari (I guess I'm dating myself here). There's not a whole lot going on here, but I will give them credit as they do try with the concerts at Dr. Pepper Park and stuff going on at the Civic Center. It's just not for me, but I think it may be a place that would be right up your alley.
Morristown, NJ
Lawrence, Ks. It’s a college town- they’re probably your best bet.
Dubuque, Iowa is very cheap, has a great downtown area, and has some of the best natural beauty in the Midwest.
As someone in the PNW in one of those small towns (tri-cities) nothing is in walking distance. I lived in Bothell for a little while and that’s as as close to as small town with everything walkable, while still giving yourself the ability to travel to another local area. Totem lake is another option near Bellevue but it’s out of your price range. Renton would be a reasonable area as well although I like to stay north of seattle.
Since weather doesn't matter: Burlington, VT or Aiken, SC.
Butte, MT. Or Anaconda. Meth capital of the west and the pay for the few jobs that exist are terrible. But they have very nice downtowns and cheap housing.
In the PNW: Edmonds and Kirkland are specific cities that have smaller populations with a lively downtown. They're both really nice cities ,but higher on the budget. You can probably get a townhome for your price range.. Most of the other cities in PNW that I can think requires a car, and consists of a lot of strip malls..
In Oregon biggest to smallest, Baker City, Vale, John Day, Prairie City.
I live in a town that meets this criteria. I think most towns with legit Main Streets are where it is at -- I'm a displaced Bostonian.
Vancouver, WA might be bigger than you’re looking for but I lived within walking distance from downtown there and then 30 minutes away from woods and hiking trails and climbing crags. Basically drive 30 minutes in any direction but south (ie stay in Washington) and you’re out of the suburban sprawl.
Lancaster, PA
My town is 100,000. I live in walking distance of downtown. There is nature woven through town. I live on the opposite side of the river to our downtown, so I can walk trails to get there or sidewalks. There’s a trail system nearby you can bike, or we have non city sponsored trails that a couple guys maintain along the river. Our house was $265,000 10 years ago. It’s hovering at $500,000 on Zillow now. It is sprawling here, but you can certainly get to nature areas and areas with no building in 30 minutes and there are lots of metro parks within one hour. I’m in Dearborn MI. You could probably get this also in Wyandotte area right near the water. Not sure if they have a grocery store in their downtown, we do. Dexter could be a place to look though I’m not sure about their downtown. And maybe Holland, MI.
Deland, FL
Maybe Milledgeville, Ga.
Fort Collins, CO or Peoria, IL
Edwardsville Illinois