See my location. At one point, this was a joke. Now, it is pretty much true. Highland Square or North Akron might be ideal for you.
South St. Louis fits all your criteria, as far as I can tell, though $500 will only get you a single bedroom on the lower end of the quality spectrum. Also, the wifi isn’t municipal – a bunch of hackers voluntarily beam wifi signals around the city using old coffee cans. So reception is hit or miss and support is nonexistent. But many bars, restaurants and coffee shops have free wifi as well. There are community gardens and dog parks everywhere. There are plenty of gamer stores and geeks around here, though I’m not specifically aware of a Magic club. The whole city is bikeable, but I wouldn’t necessarily call it “bike friendly”. I’ve seen many cities that were friendlier to bikers, but we’ve got lots of hipsters here with their lightweight touring bikes who manage.
Reminds me of the saying, You can have a great partner, a great house, and a great job, but you cannot have all three at once.
Thanks everyone! I’d been tending to ignore the whole eastern seaboard, figuring the Midwest was overall going to be cheaper, perhaps incorrectly. Nice to hear from St Louis, as I’d already been eyeing it, that Forest Park looks a bit of alright!
The smaller places (Gardiner, Stroudsburg) don’t seem to have the variety of inventory. In fact, Gardiner has 0 pet-friendly apartments. Davis doesn’t have anything under $1200/mo.
I think, for now, cheap trumps fun. I can make my own fun at home 
Downtown Tucson AZ. Great nightlife and restaurants, cheap cheap rent. Very near the University of Arizona for your intellectual enjoyment. Lots of nerdy things to do.
Wait, I can have two of those things?
Heck, I would have been happy with just one of them.
I lived in the historic district in Savannah and would never live there again due to the crime. It was a few years ago, but my understanding is that it hasn’t gotten better. Something to consider.
I haven’t owned a car in 15 years. I’m in Chicago’s North Side near the Red Line and in a neighborhood with a walk score of 92. I have three organic and two regular grocery stores in walking distance, a beach, parks, university, dentist, veterinarian, doctor, a bunch of bars, coffee shops, 2 farmer’s markets, theaters and restaurants all within 10 minutes’ walking time. There’s a place called Dice Dojo where gaming things happen - since I’m not a gamer it must be popular since I’ve heard of it, I’ve heard of Magic stuff going on there and there’s a Wednesday night Board Game night every week.
In the last week, I’ve been to one comedy/music show a 10 minute walk due north, a friend’s bass recital at a gorgeous 7th floor venue 30 minutes downtown on the train, and a neighborhood chamber hosted Wine Walk in a nearby 'hood 20 minutes away via bus.
Grab a train or one of 4 different bus lines within 2 blocks and go anywhere. Also bike sharing and car sharing, both for which I have memberships.
My 1-bedroom apartment is a decent size and runs me $810 right now after 5 years there. Pets welcome, this is a very dog-centric neighborhood. Go away from the lake west along the Brown and Blue lines, and rents go down with apartment sizes going up.
No shit, dude. We should be roommates. Or…
I’ve lived and worked in Savannah for years, including the historic district (mostly for work, lived there for a couple of years, though.) The worst crime I ever experienced personally was the time someone stole the aloe plant off my front stoop*. Walked around at all hours of the day and night, parked my vehicles on the street or in garages, depending on whether my work included parking at any given time, etc. Yes, crime happens in Savannah, just like everywhere; but the city and merchants have a vested interest in keeping downtown safe and tourist dollars flowing.
*I take that back. I did have a purse stolen back in 1996, but I know who did it - the girlfriend of the drummer in our house band. It wasn’t a random street crime. And I still miss that purse!
Glad your experience is better than mine was! I wanted to love it there, but had some significant issues including having my home robbed and then finding my stolen property on a murder victim a week or so later. He was lying dead in the street a few blocks from my home. I am not a shrinking violet by any means, but that was all a bit too much for me. Maybe I just didn’t know the area well enough when selecting a place to live but my story was not considered unusual amongst the LEOs that I spent a fair amount of time with.
Oh there are definitely neighborhoods surrounding the historic district that I wouldn’t consider living in! I think we’re using a slightly different vocabulary is all - the Historic District I’m referring to is that little 2-square-mile area bounded by East Broad, MLK, Gwinnett, and the river; and the Victorian district has the same east and west boundaries, but stretches about as far south as Forsyth Park. Past that, you’re either in the Starland District or the 'hood. I think a lot of people see the historic, pretty homes on those streets with numbers instead of names and assume those are part of what’s usually called the “Historic District.” And mostly, no - I wouldn’t recommend those neighborhoods for someone who’s looking to spend most of their time walking or biking.
If you don’t mind my asking, where did you live in Savannah?
Anyone from Memphis care to chime in? This cost of living calculator says that living in Memphis is more than 50% cheaper than here…
Midtown Memphis would meet all of your requirements. Lots to do and very walkable. Reasonably safe if you aren’t stupid.
Sounds like you’d enjoy Salt Lake City.
I ride my bike to work, about twelve miles- but I live in a suburb. SLC is considered to be one of the best bicycle cities in the world, and they’re getting even better- new bike lanes are being put in right now.
Rent’s cheap here, and there’s a lot of it. It’s not even that expensive to buy, if you decide to do that. The average apartment rent for a one bedroom in SLC proper is $768.
Lots of game and comic stores around. There’s a university nearby, and two computer game companies (that I know of). I work with a ton of gaming geeks.
The largest library I’ve ever seen is just across the street from me. My bike commute takes me nine miles along a river, and the mountains are really close (but the city itself is flat). There’s at least five dog parks in the valley, some of the best I’ve seen- the city seems to love dogs.
We just found out we’re getting Google Fiber in SLC. Not down in my area, darnit, but definitely downtown.
I don’t know about community gardens, but it wouldn’t surprise me. This area’s apparently fantastic for gardens.
Thanks. It’s on the list!
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Sounds like you’d enjoy Salt Lake City.
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I DEFINITELY hadn’t thought of Sal Tla Ka Siti… is it anything like the song?
Shit, most of my prospectives have a theme song… Meet Me in St Louis, Walking in Memphis, Everything’s Up To Date in Kansas City, Seven Nation Army (“I’m going to Wichita”)…
I guess Champaign-Urbana (University of Illinois) might fit the bill. Campus is in the heart of town, so it’s all walkable or at least bikeable. Even the train station, which will take you to Chicago for the day when you get a notion.
$500 won’t get you a very nice apartment, though. A studio maybe, or a room in a house.
A bit more?? Most of the 1 bedroom listings in Burlington I just looked at were between $1000 and $1600 a month, the lowest was a solitary listing for $850. Northern New England is out for cheap rents. There’s no such thing as a $500 month apartment in a city or town that have any of the other things the OP is looking for. Maybe you could get down to costs that low if you’re willing to live with 3 college kids in the same apartment.
About a half hour south of Gardiner is another town that may fit the OP’s criteria. Brunswick, Maine has a lot of parks, it’s near the ocean, and two large rivers, fairly cheap rent, and has the large (for Maine) cities of Portland, Lewiston/Auburn, and Augusta all fairly close. I think a 1bed downtown is about $600/month, and there are a few gaming stores nearby. It is also a college town, home to Bowdoin College.
The OP said that he/she is currently living in Silicon Valley. So would you be happy moving to a place in the snowbelt, like Maine, Vermont or Utah? Cost of living aside, there’s going to be a big change in climate.