Some people don't need wages. Freelance can move there and live confortably, with customers elsewhere in Europe.. This article made me seriously think about spending a few weeks working from there.
You dont have to work for a local company to enjoy life in a certain place. Especially when you are a programmer or similar which allows for telecommuting.
In some ways, it's better to at least be cheap: Italy, where I (an American) am is not cheap any more, but it still doesn't pay well, so you feel kind of trapped in the middle.
Au contraire, that's the perfect cities for startups since they bring the work with them. Why do you think Berlin is becoming the Silicon Valley of Europe? Because for a long time there were not many jobs and rents were low, making a perfect vacuum for tech companies to move into.
On the other hand Stockholm is struggling because despite world class tech talent and high salaries apartments are almost at New York level.
