We profiled Bohemian Bargains recently to give you an idea of what are the most affordable creative cities. A complement to that is Kiplinger’s 50 Smart Places to Live measured on fun, vibrant, and affordable with a strong economy.  Note that all but one are college towns to some degree, according to College Town Life.

1) Nashville, TN 1,398,214
2) Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN 3,138,324
3) Albuquerque, NM 782,916
4) Atlanta, GA 4,765,845
5) Austin, TX 1,415,324
6) Kansas City, MO 1,934,400
7) Asheville, NC 387,970
8) Ithaca, NY 103,641 (pictured)
9) Pittsburgh, PA 2,402,483
10) Iowa City, IA 138,941
11) St. George, UT 110,515 (not a college town)
12) Harrisburg, PA 521,971
13) Lexington, KY 429,410
14) Indianapolis, IN 1,626,173
15) Logan, UT 110,632
16) La Crosse, WI 129,118
17) Rochester, MN 176,606
18) St. Louis, MO 2,754,233
19) State College, PA 144,311
20) Madison, WI 534,567

Note that the larger the city gets, the more focused on specific neighborhoods you have to be. Anyone know what the ‘bohemian bargain’ neighborhoods are in Kansas City?

Check out the full list here.