Providing Cheap Places to Live for Artists

Local civic organizers and supporters of the arts are working with a national nonprofit organization called Artspace to foster the arts scene in El Paso.

So what's Artspace? - it's a concept for El Paso, and also a concept that has worked in 2 dozen places around the U.S - the idea of affordable live/work space for artists.

Why is affordable Housing for Artists Important?

“We want to use the arts as an economic development tool,” Cummings says, “but we’re not treating the artists as dispensable.” The artists get the great, cheap places to live and work. The surrounding neighborhood becomes a trendy place with new shops, bars and restaurants that draw tourists and other residents. It’s a win-win … however, Cummings stresses this is a make-it-or-break-it opportunity for El Paso.

You can check out the rest of the discussion  over at

'What's Up'

Cheap Places to live near Westminster

For my U.K. readers I picked this up off the net. It seems Sir Christopher Kelly has some recommendations as MPs’complain over changes.

Sir Kelly thinks it's a "Bad day for homeowners" as an MP doesn't need to move into rental accommodation until 2015. Any capital gains on a home sold today til 2015 need to be paid back. Suposedly there is going to be some kind of agency to over see rent payments that MPs make on 2nd homes. But this could be more expensive than making a mortgage payment for some. MPs who rent now end up paying less than MPs who own a mortgage. Of course there are still plenty of cheap places to live near Westminster or of course they could always move to Sheffield! (As I noted in a previous post it's one of the cheapest places to live in England)

Could Detroit be the Cheapest Place to Live?

In a recent Money Magazine article  a Detroit home with "surprisingly little work needed' sold for just $6,900! All the new owner, a guy from Chicago, needed to do was put in a little paint, replace some old, dirty carpets, and install a new water heater.

Detroit is full of great real estate deals like this one with foreclosed homes in relatively good condition selling within hours of hitting the market.


Could Detroit's loss become the real estate investors dream or is it simply destined to beocme one of the cheapest places to live in America?

Rankings come Second Place to 'Familiarity' for Ex-Pats

Yes, Norway and Australia and even Iceland have been ranked as the best places to live in the world but that doesn't mean Americans are going to make a rush to move there.

When it comes to retirement and second homes they tend to look to more familiar locations.

The United Nations' human development index came out earlier this week and ranked those as the hot spots. It also gave a thumbs up to Canada and Ireland by placing them among the top five places to live in the world.

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Cheapest Places to Live for Lucinda Williams

Lucinda Williams maybe a well known and successful singer now but when she was working on her craft she traveled extensively living "like a musical vagabond'.

She traveled anywhere and everywhere that had the cheapest places to live and places where songwriters and performers were welcomed.

Williams just recently married her long time fiance and manager, Tom Overby at the end of one of her concerts.

Best and Worst Places to Live

The Mail & Guardian online recently posted an article naming Norway as the best place to live or in their words, 'the most desirable country". Now Norway certainly isn't one of the cheapest places to live but it brings home he reality of 'cheap' not necessarily be 'good' or even 'desirable' for that matter.

The ranking was actually based on UN data which just got released last Monday. The UN report went on to label 'sub-saharan African states' as the worst places to live due to war and HIV/aids.

Notes of interest -

• Life expectancy in Norway is 8o years vs 50 for Niger.
• The ratio of $ per person earned in Norway vs Niger was 85 to 1.
• Japan boasts the longest life span at 82.7 years compared to just 43.6 years in Afganistan.
• Liechtenstein has a GDP of more than $85,000 per capita even though it only has a populaiton of 35,000.
• Norway, Australia and Iceland have the best standard of living in the world.
• Niger, Afghanistan and Sierra Leone have the worst. 

It doesn't talk specifically about the Cheapest Places to Live but I image some of those poor countries would be pretty low.

Sheffield England is one of the Cheapest Places to Live in the UK

UK most popular destination for International Students

According to the Sunday Times.

"Amazing when you think UK has just over 100 fully accredited universities and US well over 4,000."

Sheffield England is one of the Cheapest Places to Live

The City of Sheffield is located near the confluence of five rivers, and is one of the eight largest cities outside London. The beginning of the 21st century has shown extensive redevelopment in some British cities, including Sheffield. The city's GVA (gross value added) increased by 60 percent in recent years which also indicates the stability of the industry and employment opportunities available. Sheffield is one of the cheapest places in UK to live and study according to a survey of 26 university towns and cities (Natwest Student Living Index 2008).

As a vibrant, modern and cosmopolitan city, two of the top universities in UK, are located in Sheffield, University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University The University of Sheffield founded as the Sheffield school of medicine in 1828, Sheffield now boasts Nobel Prize winners and famous alumni in the arts and politics, sport, journalism and law. It ranked within the World's top70 Universities published by the - QS World University Rankings and constantly ranked amongst the top 20 universities in Britain and Europe according to The Good University Guide. The university is one of the original 'red brick' universities and a member of the Russell Group. The University of Sheffield is a premier-league, research-led institution with a population of over 25,000 students including more than 3,700 international students from 120 countries and has a worldwide reputation for quality, operating at the forefront of research and training.

Sheffield Hallam University is one of UK's most progressive and innovative universities. International students voted for SHU No.1 in UK for overall learning experience. (International student barometer, spring 2007) The university is the sixth largest in UK, with more than 30,000 students, over 4,000 staff and 650 courses. One of its priorities is to promote regional wealth creation through enterprise and knowledge transfer. Universities' industry partners Sony, BP, NHS, Network Rail, Cisco, SAP and Microsoft choose Sheffield Hallam because of a flexible business led approach and a high quality research. The University is recognised as a Centre of Excellence for Teaching and Learning, e-learning and employability.

UK is one of the leading study destinations for Sri Lankan students. The key question is how do you make your decision on selecting a good university in UK? Fortunately help is here on Saturday September 12 " A Day with -University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University", an event hosted by ANC Education. Sri Lanka's leading private tertiary education provider offering post O/Level and post A/Level access routes to many of UK's top universities with guaranteed entry for students who successfully complete their courses.

Does Cheap Rent make it one of the Cheapest Places to Live?

Bob McPhail writes in the San Diego Reader about Cheap Rent in Tijuana.

“The loss of employment in the United States and the impossibility of paying rents over a thousand dollars a month has prompted many families to change their residence to Tijuana, where they can pay rents between 400 and 600 dollars,” reports the Tijuana daily El Mexicano.

Sounds a lot like many other Latin American destinations like Panama where Americans can find some of the Cheapest Places to Live.

Bob says that, "According to real estate agents, there has been an increase in emigrados (Mexican residents with legal permission to work in the U.S.) who have moved to Tijuana in search of a house.

By paying cheaper rent, the hope is that they can improve their financial situation. Even though Tijuana rents are high compared to the rest of Mexico, those who have lost their jobs can still afford to rent here with their unemployment insurance, said the report.

Meanwhile, the influx of emigrados is having a negative effect on Tijuana residents, who are also looking for less-expensive places to live during the economic crisis.

“They are trying to change to more economic housing whose rents are fixed between 250 and 300 dollars a month, but emigrados are renting many of these available homes,” according to El Mexicano. Real estate agents told the newspaper that when they show an emigrado a home that rents for 500 or 600 dollars a month, “for an emigrado, that’s cheap because over there on the other side you’re talking about thousands of dollars.”

Because of the effect of emigrados' on the housing market, real estate agents have adopted a new policy to protect themselves from the fluctuating value of the peso (currently about 13 pesos to the dollar): they are fixing prices in dollars instead of pesos in new rental contracts.

Source: San Diego Reader | Home Is Where Cheap Rent Is