Travel Great American Cities for Creatives (That You Can Actually Afford to Live In) Now's the perfect time to start plotting your next act.

There's something poetic about the struggling creative, but it's also ironic: Could they maybe cut the "struggling" bit by getting a little more creative with their choice of home base? Yeah, New York and LA are the dream, but that dream also requires serious cash flow. And rents have spiked in weirdo enclaves like Austin and Portland; gone are the days when you could make ends meet selling papier mache ducks at the art walk. Luckily this country is full of cities where writers, musicians, illustrators, makers, and tinkerers of all stripes can create and live comfortably. We looked for spots that fall on the full livability spectrum: artist communities; a good dose of nature; a food, beer, or music scene; and a level of affordability that actually allows you to partake therein. (Apartment List’s Rentonomics tool accounts for the rental stats.) As we all look toward what's next in the world, now's the perfect time to start plotting your next act.

The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is the world's biggest balloon festival. | Rebecca Harris/Unsplash

Albuquerque, New Mexico Metro area population: 561,000

Median 1BD rental: $724

Next time the powers-that-be create a show based in the ABQ, they should seriously consider the addictive qualities of green chile as a plot device. You know you’ve attained hero status when you can eat it three times in a day: on some eggs for breakfast, a bowl of it at high noon, and a heavy dose for your burger at dinner. When that spice hits, it might just send you into a creative euphoria. Ok, maybe that's an over-statement, but try Frontier or Sadie’s and you won’t want to ever leave town again. If New Mexican cuisine doesn’t make you feel as though you’ve been transported to another country altogether, the city’s Pueblo Revival architecture and striking Sandia Mountains will. Albuquerque, the state’s biggest city, has made leaps in recent years toward being as diverse and cosmopolitan as you’d expect from a major US hub. It's a place with a wealth of craft breweries, excellent restaurants, and endless opportunities to explore the desert landscape, whether you're seeing it from a trail, via kayak along the Rio Grande, or from the comfort at one of the aeronautical wonders of the world's largest hot air balloon festival, October's Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. -- Colin St. John MORE: Get a scenic tour of New Mexico's most gorgeous places

Cheekwood-Art & Gardens is one of Nashville's expansive greenspaces | Joshua Ness/Unsplash

Nashville, Tennessee Metro population: 673,000

Median 1BD rental: $952

Nobody really needs to co-sign on Nashville's coolness. Its musical reputation is unmatched. Its bar scene is legendary. Its food is world-class without the stuffiness that comes with that designation. Tech startups manage to thrive without inherent douchiness. Art is everywhere. And since it's actually affordable, getting in on the action is doable. One of the best parts about Nashville is that a lot of its finest gems are totally free. It’s called the Music City for a reason; the place holds 120 live music venues, and some of the best shows you’ll see are the ones at little hole-in-the-wall honky-tonks (but still opt for the big shows at Nashville Opera and Jazz Workshop, at least once). You can also spend days exploring its 3,000 acres of biking, walking, and even horse trails, which are just part of the city's landscape. And then there's the food. Celeb chefs make a home there for the same reason others want to: quality of life. And hot chicken. -- Liz Newman MORE: Get to know Nashville's best food and fun with Thrillist's local edition

Baltimore, Maryland Population: 594,000

Median 1BD rental: $951

Typically portrayed in monochromatic images of concrete and formstone, Baltimore is actually full of color and bursting with creative energy. Take in Billie Holiday and Divine murals, kaleidoscope swirls on buildings, rainbow row houses, primary color pops on bridges, and chaotic layered street art almost everywhere you look. Follow @thebmorecreatives for proof: Here, the (relatively) low cost of living combines with a unique spark that inspires everything from the local musicians being spun on WTMD to the artists who make up the Charm City Craft Mafia. The city's also simply packed with outside-the-box museums. The American Visionary Art Museum is focused on the self-taught artist, the Baltimore Museum of Art pledged to only buy work from female artists, the Walters Art Museum developed an app for virtual tours, and the Creative Alliance throws epically weird parties (even online!). No wonder this is a place that counts among its luminaries everybody from John Waters and Joyce Scott to modern masters Kondwani Fidel and artist Amy Sherald, who was commissioned to paint the official portrait of Michelle Obama. With inspiration all around and residents who embrace the eccentric, consider Baltimore the creative heartbeat of the Mid-Atlantic. -- Jess Mayhugh

Bend is Oregon's high-desert hub for art and culture | Visit Bend Oregon

Bend, Oregon Metro population: 105,000

Median 1BD rental: $864

Bend frequently pops up in “the next Portland” conversations thanks to its wealth of excellent (and game-changing) breweries, stellar restaurants, and highly creative spirit. But while this high-desert mountain town’s the fastest growing place in Oregon, it’s still very much its own thing, not some satellite Stumptown. It’s vast and breathtaking, a place where mountain peaks like Bachelor and the Three Sisters cast shadows onto tumbleweeds; where volcanic scree fields paint the hills of the Deschutes National Forest red; and where rivers and cliff faces are magnets for kayakers and climbers. Small artist enclaves like the town of Sisters have bred creative spirit across generations (the thriving cannabis community helps). And while housing prices have risen in recent years, it’s still on the lower end for livability in the region. Maybe it’s time for Portland to aspire to be “the next Bend.” -- Andy Kryza MORE: Bend's been a craft-beer innovator for more than 30 years

Fort Collins offers the best of Colorado at a fraction of the price | Odell Brewing Co

Fort Collins, Colorado Population: 173,000

Median 1BD rental: $962

When you’re having trouble coming up with a new subject for a painting or are experiencing writer’s block, what to do? Drink beer, of course. And you’d be well-suited, here, as Fort Collins is one of the finest ale towns in the land, with the likes of New Belgium, Odell, Ft. Collins Brewery, and Funkwerks cooking up world-class suds. The town’s dispensaries, gorgeous vistas, and college-town lifestyle (Colorado State University is a major player here) are sure to get the creative juices flowing. The city still has an under-the-radar affordability, allowing for a full Colorado experience -- think great weather, hiking, fishing, biking, skiing, rafting, golfing, watching ThunderCats DVDs under the influence… all with a cost of living at a fraction of Denver, Boulder, Aspen, or Vail. Plus, you won’t catch any holier-than-thou ego trips that you might find in some of Colorado’s more expensive places. This is a place where you can do your own thing and wave your freak flag without fear of comeuppance. -- Colin St. John MORE:Fort Collins is a great jumping-off point to see the best of Colorado

Madison, Wisconsin Population: 264,000

Median 1BD rental: $846

In Madison, long a hotbed of fiery politics, you’ve also got a battleground for the direction of middle America. This is a city that stakes out big ideas, defends them ferociously, and maybe puts on some public theater, in the cold, when the legislature disagrees. It's also, it's worth mentioning, a very pretty town. This city named for a president, where 39 streets are named for the men who signed the Constitution, is about much more than the capitol building. Walk out its doors, a mile from the University of Wisconsin campus, and you’ll be on State St, the de facto main drag for college student shenanigans and a haven for live music, restaurants, and art -- including the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. If you’re in a pensive mode, duck into Paul’s Book Store, a 1954-vintage repository of used books, or saunter past the offices of the century-old liberal magazine The Progressive. And while the college crowds can take over the streets, you can always get away from people in general -- the city, concentrated on an isthmus between two large lakes, includes three more lakes within its borders. -- Sam Eifling MORE: Milwaukee's the perfect day-trip destination from Madison

In Philly, lifers and transplants alike are welcome to experiment, collaborate, and thrive | Leo SERRAT/Unsplash

Asheville, North Carolina Population: 94,000

Median 1BD rental: $900

Often dubbed “Beer City, USA,” Asheville continually clocks most breweries per capita because while the city may not be huge, its craft beer scene certainly is -- and it’s only growing, punching well above its weight with thirtysome breweries -- not bad for a place where the OG, Highland Brewing, is only 25 years old.



Along with beer, creative types in particular will appreciate the River Arts District, where illustrators, printmakers, sculptors, painters, and other artists make the magic happen. Don’t sleep on the queer feminist collective behind Firestorm Books & Coffee, a bookstore, co-op and event space that hosts events such as writing workshops for and by queer authors, tarot circles and community services. Comedy and indie music thrive at The Orange Peel, where locals receive some special perks. And, of course, there's endless inspiration to draw from the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. -- Liv Lawson MORE:These are Asheville's best breweries

Detroit, Michigan Population: 667,272

Median 1BD rental: $691

Contrary to visitors’ Instagram feeds, Detroit's inspires creativity beyond black-and-white ruin porn. The D's been through a lot, but there is perhaps no more resilient city in America, and that strength manifests in endless forms, like its ever-changing, globally influential music scene. Art deco and brutalist architecture cohabitate, industrial and lakefront beauty blend, and culinary innovators walk in stride with old-school coney shops. Detroit's a city of sprawl, with a 4.3 million-strong metro area spanning hipster strongholds, immigrant enclaves, and tight-knit inner-city neighborhoods whose decimated pockets belie a huge sense of community. Creatives are drawn by the promise of cheap real estate and artistic freedom, and while sometimes that can cause disruption -- cue any number of think pieces about Shinola -- Detroit works extra hard to ensure that newcomers are part of its evolution, not its transformation. Once you're a Detroiter, you're always a Detroiter. -- Andy Kryza

Downtown Tucson is the desert city's art center | Tucson Downtown

Tucson, Arizona Population: 551,000

Median 1BD rental: $719

Tucson could have given us the Sonoran dog -- a bacon-wrapped street dog forged in nearby Sonora and packed into a bun filled with burrito toppings -- and been content with this one true masterpiece. But this funky little town is chockablock with art, drawing equally from indigenous cultures, its Mesoamerican geography, trippy desert landscape, and the fact that heat and desolation can really bring out the weirdness in people. Home to the University of Arizona, the city nurtures a vibrant downtown arts scene, with the contemporary Tucson Museum of Art forming the backbone of a flourishing community of painters, glass-blowers, and jewelers. When the heat drops at night, that same downtown comes alive with bars, breweries, and upscale restaurants embracing the uniquely Tucson convergence of Mexican and Arizona influences, a Tex-Mex adjacent dose of green chiles, open-faced quesadillas (cheese crisps), and those exquisite hot dogs. Tucson also happens to host one of the country's biggest annual gem & mineral shows each winter, when the city is taken over by rockhounds from around the world. -- Andy Kryza

Richmond, Virginia Population: 232,000

Median 1BD rental: $909

This Old South town has basically become the Brooklyn of the Southeast. Most of that is because of Carytown, also known as the museum district, home to the 1920s Byrd Theater ($4 movie theater that plays new releases). Then there’s the Jazz Festival and Richmond Mural Project, an annual event when artists outfit the city in more than 100 murals. But here’s the clincher: Richmond has the southern hospitality, the art, the food, yet it’s still in Virginia. Meaning you get acres of shoreline, river rapids, mountains, and perhaps most importantly, affordable prices. The average home in Richmond is around $242k; if you aren’t packing for your move right now, maybe this will help: it’s the town that birthed Jimmy Dean the Sausage King. Eat your heart out, Abe Froman. -- Liz Newman

The Salt Lake City Library is a work of art unto itself | Michael Hart/Unsplash

Salt Lake City, Utah Population: 213,000

Median 1BD rental: $879

SLC has slowly been shedding its rep as a hipness vacuum. Yeah, the laws say that the barman will probably measure your shot at the local tavern and, no, you can’t really escape places like Temple Square, but every hero needs an enemy! Have you seen SLC Punk!? This is a town where, oddly, the reputation of the prudish outweighs the fun stuff. Go ahead and curse, drink coffee, not pay the tithe, and live in your cheap house. Being the hip, creative type in a town where you’d least expect it is, well, creative in and of itself. Plus, Salt Lake boasts that huge body of water (right next door) and some of the best skiing in the world just an hour away. It’s a distinctly gorgeous place and, if you want some time to work on the next version of Under the Banner of Heaven, just get a gig working the lift lines at Park City. -- Colin St. John

Iowa City is home to the country’s oldest (and best) creative writing programs, the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. | Eduardo Medrano/shutterstock

Iowa City, Iowa Population: 76,000

Median 1BD rental: $859

Home to the country’s oldest creative writing program and what’s considered one of the top graduate writing programs in the US, it’s little wonder why Iowa City is a haven for writers. Students make up about half the population here, which is actually great for residents: A local university means access to free or cheap musical performances, book readings, and workshops. Arts Iowa is a wonderful resource for theater, dance, and art events, and film buffs will feel right at home thanks to FilmScene, a nonprofit and cinema screening indie, foreign and documentary films. Bonus: Concessions serves wine and beers exclusively from Iowa breweries on tap. Though you’ll probably want a car if you’re not a student, the city is pretty easy to get around using public transportation, by bike or on foot. In fact, downtown Iowa City is home to the Ped Mall, a -- you guessed it! -- pedestrian mall where you can shop, eat, and enjoy live music performances throughout the summer when writer’s block strikes. -- Liv Lawson MORE:Iowa's full of gorgeous lakes and hidden treasures

Browse the city market in Kansas City | Zachary Spears/Unsplash

Kansas City, Missouri Population: 505,000

Median 1BD rental: $751

Kansas City offers a chance to enjoy some of life’s better indulgences: jazz, barbecue, and affordable rent. The Missouri city (not to be confused with its Kansan counterpart) offers world-renowned tastes of both music and meat throughout town, but particularly in and around the 18th Street and Vine district, a historic neighborhood which has seen a lot of recent investment. Kansas City was named a “City of Music” by UNESCO in 2018, somehow the only city in the US to own that distinction. It’s only appropriate that you hit Blue Room Jazz Club in the American Jazz Museum, or the Mutual Musicians Foundation, a recognized historic landmark in its own right. It's also got a world-renowned barbecue scene known for burnt ends, fatty end cuts of brisket that go toe-to-toe with the pitmasters of Texas in both the quantity of pits and the quality smoked within. Traversing between BBQ pits, breweries, and venues has never been easier, either: the city recently implemented a RideKC system that includes a standard bus, bus rapid transit, and a streetcar that looks closer to a light rail. -- Howard Oates

Reno is like a safari for great street art | Courtesy of Reno Tahoe

Reno, Nevada Population: 260,000

Median 1BD rental: $900

Reno is so much more than a mini-Vegas. Sure, you could spend your days in dank dark casinos, but you’ll miss out on hundreds of street murals around the city, many by local artist Erik Burke or curated by Art Spot Reno, an online events’ calendar that evolved into an officially recognized nonprofit. The volunteer organization leads Art Walk Reno (a two-hour Downtown gallery tour on the first Thursday of every month) and offers a free interactive map for touring the city's murals on your own. Or just hit up Nevada Museum of Art, the state's only accredited art museum. The home base for many desert-bound Burners, Reno puts on fantastic shows, with great restaurants barking at the door of Vegas' culinary renaissance and a solid brewery scene nobody seems to have noticed yet. And if the stunning Tahoe-Pyramid trail between Reno and nearby Tahoe doesn't inspire your artistic side, maybe you belong in that dank basement casino after all. -- Andy Kryza