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Find a new city

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Re: Find a new city

#171

Post by DHMO »

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.

HB2 is ridiculousness.

Everyone I know that lives in NC is upset about it. The only bright side is that it hasn't been and can't be enforced.

Many don't know that HB2 also originally included provisions that took rights away from workers to sue for discrimination. Months after, they took that part out, but left the rest of HB2 intact. They could have just killed it, but the legislature was just too fucking stupid.

In 2010, NC got the first Republican majority in their state legislature since 1900. They created HB2 in response to something completely innocuous, went completely off the rails, and have been in no way actually representing NC's citizens.

Despite the NC Republicans Gerrymandering several years ago, they should be soundly defeated in all elections in the near future. It just won't be soon enough.

Re: Find a new city

#172

Post by rayiner »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #167
rayiner wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's interesting. I'm a brown upper middle class male and i've never felt uncomfortable anywhere in the country. That includes rural parts of Illinois, Georgia, and Virginia. Americans are really warm and welcoming if you approach them on their own terms.

The majority of Americans are decent people but at least 10%-20% of them are inveterate racists who are only nice to your face. When these white folks are among "their own" the bigotry comes pouring out of their mouths. Who do you think nominated Trump? We should all be concerned that such a big slice of America sees nothing wrong with promoting a pugnacious narcissist fueled by a message of hatred. Just look at the…

It's entirely possible southerners are just nice to my face. But I don't think coastal folks are any nicer. I grew up in the latte liberal suburbs of DC, and man talk about people who can sit around spewing hate about people different from themselves.

Re: Find a new city

#173

Post by [deleted] »

cocktailpeanuts wrote: post #24
brandur wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a fair point that the only way for these artists to have become successful in a significant way at the time was to move to a town like New York that can supply the necessary patronage, but I'm not sure that I'd characterize the post as "very misleading". Even with the city's money, the artists still did have to do the legwork to create a scene that was worthy of investment. Rich people aren't gullible saps who w…

You know,, Berlin is the capital city of Germany, so your Berlin example exactly supports my point. People who are motivated to succeed naturally flock to a city with access to the largest audience, as long as they can afford it, since that raises your chance of success. I was just pointing out this Patti Smith person is completely mistaken about what made herself successful, she thinks it's all her doing but she's f…

[deleted]

Re: Find a new city

#174

Post by solresol »

merpnderp wrote: post #132
honkhonkpants wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're not going to murder you, but in Oklahoma City a gay or trans person will be constantly told how people are going to pray for them. It's obnoxious.

That sounds really oppressive. Perhaps instead of moving, just tell people no thanks, f off, or mind your own business. And who are these people constantly saying they'll pray for them? A trans person walks into a store and people just start annoying them?

Perhaps a better answer than "f off" or "mind your own business" would be "thank you, I'm sure we'll both be blessed by your prayers" even if you don't particularly believe it to be true. It's an answer that will eventually break down barriers over a few years rather than reinforce stereotypes.

As for being oppressive -- it's far better for people who disapprove of you to be saying "I'm going to pray for you" rather than have them say "I'm going to run you out of town at gunpoint and set fire to your house". The latter is the default response for most cultures and most religions across most of the planet.

Re: Find a new city

#175

Post by erikpukinskis »

thescriptkiddie wrote: post #107
bufordsharkley wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've wanted to look more into CLTs, but haven't yet-- What's stopping CLTs from existing today? Is it merely the novelty and relative complication of the CLT? Or is there policy that makes them impractical?

They do exist. What's stopping them from being more prevalent? Probably the lingering effects of McCarthyism.

I think this is a big part of it. I've been jabbering about collectivism for a decade, and almost everyone's first reaction is to tell me why that can't possibly work and there's a reason for capitalism, and if it made sense a company would do it, yada yada yada.

Re: Find a new city

#176

Post by glitchworks »

fowkswe wrote: post #46

For people looking for that 70s NYC like experience, with proximity to NYC, I HIGHLY suggest checking out the Albany / Troy area. Both are gritty little cities with a bunch of interesting people living there doing interesting shit, all for next to nothing. You can rent a townhouse for under a thousand / month. Shit, you can BUY a gorgeous 19th century townhouse for under a 100k - the same thing that would be 3 millio…

I knew someone was going to be promoting Troy when I read the article :) Lived there for five years, basically the Twilight Zone. Last time I was up there I stayed in a boarding house, because that's still a thing. There are some neat things going on but there's a lot of scammy pseudo-startup stink to the area.

Also the really cheap parts of town are still pretty not-that-safe. It's gotten better but there are parts of Troy you don't want to be in if you're not of the current population. I expect that will change as Brooklyn continues to migrate to the area.

Beware with "cheap" properties bought off the city, the city comes around with their hands out once you've closed. I guess that's everywhere though.

But mostly go visit Trojan Electronics and get a few hot dogs at Famous Lunch. And remember at 10 *F in March you still go stand in line when the Snow Man opens. Go watch a burlesque interpretation of Ghost Busters at the Hangar.

Re: Find a new city

#177

Post by Aloha »

walrus01 wrote: post #148
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…

I'm a white person from the pacific northwest, and Charleston SC is just ridiculous. It's extremely racist (you would not believe the things that the local white population say when there's no minorities around), xenophobic and reliably voted for Strom Thurmond and Lindsey Graham, two of the most race-baiting bible-thumping red state panderers on earth. If you're going to move to a "tier 2" / "tier 3" size city, stay…

I'd argue that white people in the Pacific Northwest are thinking much of those same things - in the South they just say them out loud.

Think about it, how racially integrated is the Seattle (or Portland) metro exactly?

Re: Find a new city

#178

Post by Aloha »

logfromblammo wrote: post #117
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's bad enough when people say "buggy" instead of "cart" or "coke" or "soda" instead of "pop". I can only imagine how much faster my social stamina would be depleted if everyone around me were constantly arguing about whether it would be better if I didn't exist at all, or if I just went far away, never to return.

I travel frequently - I just call it by whatever name its called locally.

Re: Find a new city

#179

Post by Aloha »

honkhonkpants wrote: post #83
merpnderp wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

They're not going to murder you, but in Oklahoma City a gay or trans person will be constantly told how people are going to pray for them. It's obnoxious.

The reply is always "oh, bless your heart, I'll be prayin' for you too!"

Re: Find a new city

#180

Post by cylinder »

SandersAK wrote: post #157
eugenekolo2 wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

NYC wasn't only poor people (it's a major business metropolis of ~10MM people, not everybody is going to be poor), but it was actually affordable on a small income. In fact, most of the US was the 80s, and 90s. Don't know what you mean by the Puerto Ricans who lived there before her, because they're still there. You're right that NYC is still somewhat affordable if you look outside of Manhattan, not Crown Heights tho…

I get that parts of NYC have been affordable at different times, but there are parts that get gentrified and taken advantage of by a very specific class of people (primarily white middle class) who use the depressed value of the area to have more space and time to do arts and culture stuff. I lived in Sunset Park for many many years and saw artists moving into the studios down by the docks. They came from SOHO, DUMBO…

NYC since its founding has been a commercial trading center, not a creative arts hub. I don't understand where the idea that it's a place to be creative came from. There is nothing about NYC that makes me creative (in the producing sense, not consuming) because the city is so exhausting to live in, and so cramped and noisy, that I have no energy to think freely and creatively. In fact the boredom, space and ease of the suburbs leads me to more creativity.
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