This article mentions "hot cities" including Austin, which not too long ago was just another small eclectic city with steady growth. Once it grew large enough and provided the ingredients to hold it's own, industry wise, against other "hot cities" it became what it is today. Austin was just a little weird city in Texas when I grew up in Dallas, but now it's up there with the big boys. What this tells me is there are many Austin like cities out there waiting to be discovered and grow in a similar way. I believe, in large part, Austin's recent growth and success is attributed to the very problems presented in this article. As long as the economy keeps pushing in this direction, the more of these smaller cities will grow to compete.
The Middle Class Can't Afford to Live in Cities Anymore
21–30 of 363 posts
Re: The Middle Class Can't Afford to Live in Cities Anymore
#22I'm a founder bootstrapping a startup, so at the moment both my income and my assets are very well short of middle class. Nonetheless, I can afford to live in London Zone 2 -- a ten-minute walk away from Tower Bridge -- because I'm happy to live communally with a handful of excellent flatmates. There's nothing wrong with this arrangement, and I think it's an arrangement that will only grow in the future. I'm seeing the property development and and rental industries evolve to accommodate it. This is good.
That's not to defend the way that most of the property industry has become simply a vehicle for financial speculation, which is to the benefit of nobody who isn't at the apex of the financial services industry.
Re: The Middle Class Can't Afford to Live in Cities Anymore
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
>those cities don't have the same job markets Fair enough, but mid sized cities have jobs for plumbers, electricians, government employees, secretaries, marketing people, accountants, college professors, construction, biologists, vetrenarians, etc. The title, "The Middle Class Can't Afford to Live in Cities Anymore" is absurd.
But a lot of those professions can't afford rent inside the city and are forced into unwieldly commutes and lose out on the benefits of being in a city
The whole point of smaller cities is, they are more affordable. Those professions will have a better time of it than in a larger city.
Re: The Middle Class Can't Afford to Live in Cities Anymore
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
But a lot of those professions can't afford rent inside the city and are forced into unwieldly commutes and lose out on the benefits of being in a city
The whole point of smaller cities is, they are more affordable. Those professions will have a better time of it than in a larger city.
But what happens when very few of those professionals can afford to live in the big ones?
Re: The Middle Class Can't Afford to Live in Cities Anymore
#25This article fails to mention that the middle class can't afford to live in the "nicest parts" of cities, but many cities have other areas as well. Take NYC for example. Sure, if you want to live in the Chelsea or West Village neighborhoods in Manhattan, it's going to cost you. But there are tons of available houses in Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx that are plenty affordable. The other day I saw a house for sale in…
> But there are tons of available houses in Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx that are plenty affordable. The other day I saw a house for sale in a decent part of Queens for $240k - definitely affordable for middle class.
Do you have kids? Because this glib reaction signals that you don't, or you'd be aware that the areas you are touting as affordable have terrible public schools. That's why they're relatively cheap. That, and the hour-plus commutes (each way) to where most middle-class jobs are.
Re: The Middle Class Can't Afford to Live in Cities Anymore
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
>those cities don't have the same job markets Fair enough, but mid sized cities have jobs for plumbers, electricians, government employees, secretaries, marketing people, accountants, college professors, construction, biologists, vetrenarians, etc. The title, "The Middle Class Can't Afford to Live in Cities Anymore" is absurd.
But a lot of those professions can't afford rent inside the city and are forced into unwieldly commutes and lose out on the benefits of being in a city
Sure they can, have you never lived in a mid sized city? Those horrendous commutes are more common to large cities that can't support the population demand. Mid sized cities don't have that problem as much.
There are plenty of suburbs within a 10-20 minute driving distance from the city. Also, businesses operate in those surrounding suburbs.
I like mid sized cities. Not too large, not too small, but just right.
Re: The Middle Class Can't Afford to Live in Cities Anymore
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
>those cities don't have the same job markets Fair enough, but mid sized cities have jobs for plumbers, electricians, government employees, secretaries, marketing people, accountants, college professors, construction, biologists, vetrenarians, etc. The title, "The Middle Class Can't Afford to Live in Cities Anymore" is absurd.
But a lot of those professions can't afford rent inside the city and are forced into unwieldly commutes and lose out on the benefits of being in a city
The average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in San Antonio is $1200 (the seventh largest city in the nation). The median home price is $228k, so with a median income of $51k that means the average person would be paying 21% of their gross income towards housing costs, well within the range of "affordable."
Re: The Middle Class Can't Afford to Live in Cities Anymore
#28Strange, I'm middle class and I live in a city. There are other cities than NYC, SF, LA and Boston.
What about places like Canada? Where your only real options are Toronto and Vancouver. Other places are lonely and small. Personally I'm into music. Composing, playing shows, going to the symphony, the opera, the ballet. Sure, I could leave Toronto, except now I'm in the middle of nowhere where there are no jobs and no culture. Now what? I'm sure it's similar for others in the US.
Montreal? Very cheap to live, probably the most cultured city in Canada. I'll admit the job situation isn't great there but that's why it's cheap. Calgary and Edmonton both have top notch symphonies, the world class Alberta Ballet, and burgeoning music scenes. Much cheaper than Vancouver or Toronto.
There are huge, huge affordability problems with Vancouver and Toronto, but they're hardly your only choices.
Re: The Middle Class Can't Afford to Live in Cities Anymore
#29Strange, I'm middle class and I live in a city. There are other cities than NYC, SF, LA and Boston.
What about places like Canada? Where your only real options are Toronto and Vancouver. Other places are lonely and small. Personally I'm into music. Composing, playing shows, going to the symphony, the opera, the ballet. Sure, I could leave Toronto, except now I'm in the middle of nowhere where there are no jobs and no culture. Now what? I'm sure it's similar for others in the US.
Montreal.
Re: The Middle Class Can't Afford to Live in Cities Anymore
#30This article fails to mention that the middle class can't afford to live in the "nicest parts" of cities, but many cities have other areas as well. Take NYC for example. Sure, if you want to live in the Chelsea or West Village neighborhoods in Manhattan, it's going to cost you. But there are tons of available houses in Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx that are plenty affordable. The other day I saw a house for sale in…
Link to that Queens listing? Or one like it? Not that I don't believe you but... I kind of don't believe you.
There's no reason to disbelieve him when you can disbelieve the price. It's probably some agent pricing the listing below the seller's floor with the hope of generating lots of interest and a bidding war.
Listing prices are pretty useless. Better to look at the prices homes actually sell for.