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Ask HN: What sucks about where you live?

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Re: Ask HN: What sucks about where you live?

#31

Post by gnulinux »

snarf21 wrote: post #27
gnulinux wrote: post #19

Boston, MA People drive extremely bad. Like when I say bad, I'm not talking about US-level bad. It's universally bad bad. I grew up in Istanbul, Turkey and people drive there better. As a reference, I lived half a decade in the Bay Area, and compared to Bostonites, people there are driving experts. But what's so bad about people's driving? They're fast all the fucking time, even in streets they're supposed to go 20,…

Interesting, I did not have those issues when I lived in Boston. I wonder if it is more of an area by area thing.

My office is in Kendall Square (near MIT), my house is in Central Square (Cambridge) and I spent most of my time in Fenway, downtown and Harvard. As a reference. But in my experience, this is a systematic issue in Boston Area.

Also, I'm a biker, I don't drive (I don't even have a drivers license in the US, I hate driving, but I know how to drive and have drivers license in other countries), if it matters.

Re: Ask HN: What sucks about where you live?

#32

Post by rebornshellfish »

I no longer live in the UK, but it's the country I have the most experience with. Here's what sucks:

1) Overpopulation. Especially in England, especially in Southern England. One of the highest population densities in the world, and it really shows on the roads, trains and in how compact everything gets built. (Unlike the Netherlands which has similar population density, there are far fewer people on bicycles due to worse infrastructure.)

2) Unwise immigration policy that has ruined many of the most affordable parts of cities that would otherwise be desirable places for young people to live.

3) Stagnant and outdated culture. It's kinda pathetic in the 21st century that there's still a monarchy and unelected House of Lords. And that people actually defend it on the basis of "tourism". Also, the FPTP electoral system for the House of Commons creates an environment in which only majority/conservative viewpoints get represented politically. In the UK I felt like the political system was run by older generations for their own benefit only; there is very little of a culture in the UK of caring about or investing in the young. The tuition fees debacable is only the icing on the cake of this cultural tendency which runs pretty deep.

4) Government services such as healthcare and education vary enormously in quality from region to region, and the quality is usually pretty poor by international standards. The wealthy get private health insurance and send their children to private schools, which aren't an option for those not able or interested in paying twice.

5) Housing prices. Even engineers can't buy houses in the South. Also, a lot of the housing stock is fairly old.

6) Surveillance state and general unwarranted cultural paranoia. CCTV capital of the world.

7) Failed welfare state (there are A LOT of homeless, and a big underclass population) and failed labour movement (the only jobs which have unions are public sector jobs).

Re: Ask HN: What sucks about where you live?

#33

Post by kodablah »

instaheat wrote: post #8

Dallas/Ft. Worth Since DFW is so spread out, many suburbs don't have public transportation or limited transportation. I cannot take a bus door to door to my office. I would have to drive to a "park and ride" location to begin my commute. There are no bus stops/lines near my home. I suppose this would be a welcome change for someone living in NYC. Everywhere takes 15-30 minutes to get to. We don't measure distance in…

> Since DFW is so spread out, many suburbs don't have public transportation or limited transportation.

Depending upon your outlook, this can also be seen as a positive as the maintainability of very-infrequently-used public transportation in very spread out suburbs can have much higher cost than benefit as opposed to the inner cities. If you crave culture, it's not for you, but if you crave peace and quiet you will be happy (outside of the city of course).

> I am struggling to find other things to complain about...

Liquor laws, bar laws, and gambling laws are some. But in the scheme of things, yes, very few things to complain about.

Re: Ask HN: What sucks about where you live?

#35

Post by DamnInteresting »

Salt Lake City, UT:

1) Very poor air quality in winter due to inversions.

2) The local popular religion (Mormonism) has an outsized influence on legislation, so there are weird laws surrounding alcohol, business on Sundays, use of downtown property, etc. Outside of SLC proper people assume everyone is Mormon, and one's religion (or lack of it) can affect job opportunities, etc.

3) The city is extremely car-centric, with large blocks and narrow sidewalks. there are few places where it is pleasant to walk or linger outdoors.

4) Public transit is not great, but still better than some US cities. This seems to be slowly improving.

5) Homeless communities are concentrated around a few service locations, so certain parts of the city can seem overrun and unsafe, especially public parks. Panhandling is everywhere.

6) Local culture breeds busybodies; neighbors will complain to the city if they deem your grass is too tall, etc. There is also a lot of casual racism; for example, neighborhoods with a majority Latino population are considered "bad" despite having no higher crime, attractive houses, etc.

Gripes aside, SLC is mostly a great place to live. There is beautiful scenery, reasonable housing, lots of restaurant variety, and so on. But nowhere is perfect.

Re: Ask HN: What sucks about where you live?

#36

Post by poulsbohemian »

bufferoverflow wrote: post #2

You forgot the environment. NYC is full of garbage, not enough parks, and the rivers are so dirty, you're not allowed to swim in them. It's noisy and full of stress. That's why I moved to Hawaii and never looked back. Working remotely is a lot of fun, and is just healthier, both environment-wise and mentally.

Everyone I've ever spoken with about real life in Hawaii has said: 1) Schools are not good, IE for those with kids 2) Food, gas, etc are expensive 3) Tensions with native Hawaiians, ie: "this is a locals-only beach" 4) Island madness is a real thing (desire to be somewhere not surrounded by water, experience an actual change in weather, etc)

Have you found that to not be the case?

Re: Ask HN: What sucks about where you live?

#37

Post by gk1 »

Baltimore:

- Murder capital of the US. Although the murders are often gang-related, it's a proxy metric for the amount of violence and crime in the city, any many innocent people are affected.

- Very bad public school system.

- Very high property tax rate, especially for what you're getting (see: comment about public school system). At 2.2% the rate is higher than NYC and matches that of some of the nicest areas Maryland and New Jersey with superb school districts. It's a huge deterrent to purchasing a home.

There a lot of good things about Baltimore, too, but you didn't ask about them. :)

Re: Ask HN: What sucks about where you live?

#38

Post by matt_morgan »

I lived in NYC for 27 years until 12/2017. You nailed it. I had to laugh at the furniture issue. SO MANY STORES in NYC sell giant-sized sofas etc. Who buys them? Not NYers, I guess.

I moved to Lower Merion, a 1st-ring suburb of Philadelphia. What sucks here:

1) can't walk anywhere. Some people can but we can't. Even when they can, it's not like they have choices of places, mostly.

2) Poor diversity. It's almost all white. It was sad to leave our son's great public school in NYC to come to a similarly great public school in PA, with 95% white classmates. But we are able to find small pockets of diversity--like in his karate class.

Re: Ask HN: What sucks about where you live?

#39

Post by aphextron »

poulsbohemian wrote: post #36
bufferoverflow wrote: post #2

You forgot the environment. NYC is full of garbage, not enough parks, and the rivers are so dirty, you're not allowed to swim in them. It's noisy and full of stress. That's why I moved to Hawaii and never looked back. Working remotely is a lot of fun, and is just healthier, both environment-wise and mentally.

Everyone I've ever spoken with about real life in Hawaii has said: 1) Schools are not good, IE for those with kids 2) Food, gas, etc are expensive 3) Tensions with native Hawaiians, ie: "this is a locals-only beach" 4) Island madness is a real thing (desire to be somewhere not surrounded by water, experience an actual change in weather, etc) Have you found that to not be the case?

>Everyone I've ever spoken with about real life in Hawaii has said: 1) Schools are not good, IE for those with kids 2) Food, gas, etc are expensive 3) Tensions with native Hawaiians, ie: "this is a locals-only beach" 4) Island madness is a real thing (desire to be somewhere not surrounded by water, experience an actual change in weather, etc)

From my 3 years living there I'd say this is spot on. It's pretty bi-modal though, people tend to love it or get completely fed up within a couple years. The key is being able to hop on a plane and go somewhere 2-3 times a year. If you can't afford that it gets miserable.

Re: Ask HN: What sucks about where you live?

#40

Post by ghaff »

snarf21 wrote: post #27
gnulinux wrote: post #19

Boston, MA People drive extremely bad. Like when I say bad, I'm not talking about US-level bad. It's universally bad bad. I grew up in Istanbul, Turkey and people drive there better. As a reference, I lived half a decade in the Bay Area, and compared to Bostonites, people there are driving experts. But what's so bad about people's driving? They're fast all the fucking time, even in streets they're supposed to go 20,…

Interesting, I did not have those issues when I lived in Boston. I wonder if it is more of an area by area thing.

Boston has a reputation for aggressive drivers and I think there's definitely some reality to the stereotype. That said, just about everyone from cars to bikes to pedestrians has a somewhat casual relationship to traffic laws. The fact that a lot of streets are narrow and come together at all sorts of angles. It's not an easy city to drive in. On the other hand, I drive (and walk) in the city fairly regularly and don't find it to be extraordinarily difficult or dangerous.
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