Exactly! People read "affordable location" and think it means somewhere boring and depressing, like Youngstown or Peoria. There are numerous, wonderful US cities where you can buy a respectable place for under $200,000 - they're just not on the coasts or in the sun belt. Move to West Rogers Park in Chicago and walk to the best Indian food you've ever had, or Brewer's Hill in Milwaukee and walk to a vegan brewery where all beers are $5. If you like the small-town feel, try Holland, MI or Stevens Point, WI. If the winters get you down, you can fly to Maui in January from O'Hare for $400 round-trip, or you could just wait 20 years for CO2 to do its thing.
IMO this only changed in the US over the last 5-6 years and accelerated because of COVID and remote tech work. The stigma persists from before when the US had only a handful of fun, young, urban areas to live in. When I entered the workforce there were only a few choices. Now I could see myself living in a whole bunch of places were I starting out my career.
