Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Find a new city

austinkleon.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 192 posts

Re: Find a new city

#71

Post by api »

rpazyaquian wrote: post #43
initram wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me it's not only about being safe. I don't have to worry too much about that sort of thing because I blend in most places in my country. But I've lived where people had different values than me and it just gets exhausting. Constantly being bombarded with messages you fundamentally disagree with 24/7. Billboards; local TV; newpapers/web sites; overhearing conversations of the people around you; having odd things s…

It does suck. That's a big reason why we can't just concentrate progressivism in pinpoint areas like New England or Washington State. We need sweeping, national change in order for things to really get better.

The urban/rural liberal/conservative cosmopolitan/tribal divide goes back to Roman times at least.

Re: Find a new city

#72

Post by jolux »

smelterdemon wrote: post #61
rpazyaquian wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll admit not knowing much of anything about Detroit, but I'm not sure how Boston doesn't count as a relatively safe place for LGBT individuals.

I'm sure Boston is fine in reality for LGBT individuals, it's just not the first city that springs to mind in terms of progressiveness. It's more stereotypically lunkheaded.

It's fine. MA was the first state to legalize gay marriage, and most of the population lives in and around Boston.

Re: Find a new city

#73

Post by dgacmu »

rpazyaquian wrote: post #64
nostromo wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you actually spent time in Raleigh or Atlanta? The idea that trans people are getting murdered in the street is just not correct. I'm gay and I've spent a lot of fun nights in Boise, Idaho because a gay friend of mine lives there with her wife. We always have a blast. She has a great career in Boise and I don't think she's experienced more homophobia there than when she lived in New York City. (I know she had at…

The difference is that North Carolina has HB2 and Massachusetts does not. Cities are great and all, but don't forget that state and federal laws take precedent over city ordinances.

Building on this, see, for example: http://www.lgbtmap.org/equality-maps/non_discrimination_laws

(Note the states with little warning triangles, indicating that the state has passed legislation that prevents cities or other municipalities from enacting their own non-discrimination rules.)

Re: Find a new city

#74

Post by merpnderp »

rpazyaquian wrote: post #34

This jumped out at me: > “I’m trans, so I need to live somewhere progressive so I feel safe day-to-day and don’t feel like I’m going to get beat up for using the wrong restroom.” This is a pretty damn good reason to live somewhere like Seattle or Boston, and a pretty damn good reason not to live somewhere like (edit:) North Carolina or Tennessee or Georgia. The reality is that many of us are limited by not wanting to…

Oklahoma City has a very prominently placed trans officer. And hate crimes are harshly punished at the federal level. If it is dangerous for trans people outside of dark blue cities, the statistics aren't capturing it.

Re: Find a new city

#75

Post by Apocryphon »

gaahrdner wrote: post #69
Apocryphon wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Detroit is an actual city with deep history. It may be in decline, but it still seems like to have more going on, or at least the potential to have more going on, than small towns. There's likely a lot of other second- or even third-tier cities that are overlooked, but are still more interesting to live in than a town in "Northeast Ohio." Austin, Portland, Boulder are becoming the new NY/SF because of the process of…

Chattanooga?

and Nashville

Re: Find a new city

#76

Post by cbr »

rpazyaquian wrote: post #42
dionidium wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It jumped out at me, too, but as a wild exaggeration that could only be made by somebody unfamiliar with a place like Kansas City. I live in St. Louis where there is a thriving gay community. It's a red state, but urban centers are reliably blue. I know people have this idea that our schools all teach creationism and gays aren't welcome, but it's simply not true.

Kansas City only came to mind cause I was at the last RailsConf and thought that KC was actually in Kansas. Don't take me seriously on that one :p

Most of Kansas City (the metropolitan area) is in Missouri, but much of it is in Kansas. Legally it's two cities, Kansas City, MO, and Kansas City, KS.

Re: Find a new city

#77

Post by akkartik »

rpazyaquian wrote: post #64
nostromo wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you actually spent time in Raleigh or Atlanta? The idea that trans people are getting murdered in the street is just not correct. I'm gay and I've spent a lot of fun nights in Boise, Idaho because a gay friend of mine lives there with her wife. We always have a blast. She has a great career in Boise and I don't think she's experienced more homophobia there than when she lived in New York City. (I know she had at…

The difference is that North Carolina has HB2 and Massachusetts does not. Cities are great and all, but don't forget that state and federal laws take precedent over city ordinances.

For others like me who were not aware of HB2: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/ar...

Re: Find a new city

#78

Post by akshatpradhan »

api wrote: post #71
rpazyaquian wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It does suck. That's a big reason why we can't just concentrate progressivism in pinpoint areas like New England or Washington State. We need sweeping, national change in order for things to really get better.

The urban/rural liberal/conservative cosmopolitan/tribal divide goes back to Roman times at least.

This post reminded me of this interesting 2 min video by ASAPScience about City vs Rural living: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRb52O76HxQ

Re: Find a new city

#79

Post by forgotuser »

bufordsharkley wrote: post #48

This idea that cities reach a point of maximum growth, become unaffordable, and should be abandoned by potential newcomers: this is currently true, but it's a broken system, and it's time we look at ways we can improve it. When a city becomes unaffordable, when rents skyrocket-- those expenses are someone else's windfalls. When people expect the value of real estate to rise and rise indefinitely-- those windfalls are…

I think Community Land Trusts are a great example of the sort of thing people should be looking into as an alternative to the current model. Don't see people talking about them much.

The basic idea is that a nonprofit purchases the land in a community and holds it in perpetuity. It rents the land long-term to residents (and for the most part, they're required to be residents), instead of selling it. It's still possible for residents to purchase homes- they just won't own the land they're sitting on top of. That way, you avoid speculation and skyrocketing land prices. Many CLTs also designate some proportion of the land as "low-income", and set accordingly lower rents for those residents.

Re: Find a new city

#80

Post by alexhutcheson »

bradleyjg wrote: post #62
ryandrake wrote: post #26

I used to live in Nowhere, Florida, and would move back in a heartbeat, but from an employment standpoint it became too risky. Most places outside of The Usual Tech Hubs are one-horse towns when it comes to tech employment, major opportunity risk. If you're a software engineer and live in the Bay Area and suddenly lose your job, depending on the economy you're probably in for a 1-6 month job search at local companies…

> If you're a software engineer I don't think the article is aimed at you or me. It's aimed at young people that want to be artists, musicians, writers, and so on. They don't need to be near tech hubs. He argues it is better for them to create their own new bohemian art communities than fight the high cost of living in NYC and SF. That said, I think there's a case to be made for e.g. the Bronx that he ignores in favo…

> That said, I think there's a case to be made for e.g. the Bronx that he ignores in favor of something like Poughkeepsie.

Housing isn't the only cost that drives people out of NYC. For many, if not most, it's actually the school systems that make people move.

Yes, you can get an excellent education in NYC public schools, but it requires you to work the system (applications at every step of the way), and there is considerable risk of not getting into a great school. Even assuming your child does get into one of the great high schools, they might have a ridiculous commute every day getting to/from work.

This explains why when you cross the city line from the Bronx into Westchester County, home prices shoot up. Anywhere with good schools within a reasonable commute of NYC is going to cost you $$$$.

That's why I'd be fairly pessimistic about the case for the Bronx - it might be a pretty solid option for unattached twentysomethings, but the cost of living for a typical middle-aged engineer is going to be no cheaper than it would be for a company in Manhattan (although they may have an easier commute to the Bronx).

Post reply on HN