I was in total agreement with this and for fun I did a Zillow search and there are in fact a good many condos that are asking <=$350K. Some of them are even large enough to turn around in too. I have to say I'm a little surprised. None of them are awesome but I've seen many a worse place in The Lower Haight.

Zip codes 78701-78704 are the most relevant. $350k will buy you a house that is falling apart from the 1920s in most cases. It is not “cheap” here by the national standard. Just comparatively to the coasts.

78704 is still the best zip code in the country though

In fairness to the person you are responding to[1], the numbers were probably true 5 years ago, sort of true 3 years ago and only seem completely off in the last 2 years.

[1] I find the term OP to be ambivalent. Like is it the original poster of the whole thread or the original poster you are responding to?

You are correct -- I haven't checked on Austin in quite a while.

However, my point is you don't have to choose between an expensive, top US tech hub and leaving the states entirely if you want a more chill, laid back, and less expensive lifestyle.

There are like 50 other cities in the US that offer all the amenities of a big city, with chill jobs and without the sky-high COL.