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

Rents are dropping across the US

edition.cnn.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

271–280 of 400 posts

Re: Rents are dropping across the US

#271

Post by core-questions »

sharadov wrote: post #182
Androider wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought into this mindset, and regret it. That's what you do when you have kids, move to the 'burbs, right? We moved from a big city to suburban hell a few years after having a kid. In those first years, we took our kid to museums, parks, playgrounds, etc. all over the city. Now there is jack shit to do in the suburb we're in except going to the mall, cannot walk anywhere, have to use the car 100% of the time to eve…

Suburbs suck, mind-numbing pits, I don't know why people with families love them. I think they all secretly hate them, it's just that they want you to share their misery by convincing you to move.

> mind-numbing pits

What's so bad about a nice suburb? By nice, I mean "with parks, and nearby mountains, and community centers", not just cookiecutter crap from horizon to horizon.

Sure, there's no live jazz around, but it's not like the city is so far away that I can't go and get some of that when I want it, and meanwhile I can leave my kid's bike on the lawn overnight and it'll be there in the morning.

Re: Rents are dropping across the US

#272

Post by jackcosgrove »

tayo42 wrote: post #200
nsnick wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with suburbs is they don’t allow kids to get any amount of independence because they must be driven everywhere by their parents. I moved from a US suburb to a small city in Europe when I was 12 and it was liberating. I could suddenly walk or bike downtown alone.

suburbs are different then rural? I grew up in a suburb and walked and rode my bike everywhere. ran around the streets with friends and got into plenty of trouble skateboarding around town. population between 20-30k.

Need to make a distinction between car-dependent postwar suburbs and suburbs with train connections to the city. The latter are older and often have walkable neighborhoods.

Re: Rents are dropping across the US

#273

Post by novok »

cgriswald wrote: post #108
rustybelt wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe just don't lead with "I'm from the big city, hate guns, and love abortion" when introducing yourself to your new neighbors.

Well, no one would actually lead with that, but I've met people in the Bay that have lead with "What are your pronouns?" and "How do you identify?", either of which may make for an awkward (or worse) first impression in a lot of other places.

For people who don't live or haven't been to the bay area recently: Nobody does the 'what are you pronouns?' as a party icebreaker in the average bay area population. The people who do travel in very, very specific social circles.

Re: Rents are dropping across the US

#274

Post by gen220 »

nkozyra wrote: post #228
Androider wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought into this mindset, and regret it. That's what you do when you have kids, move to the 'burbs, right? We moved from a big city to suburban hell a few years after having a kid. In those first years, we took our kid to museums, parks, playgrounds, etc. all over the city. Now there is jack shit to do in the suburb we're in except going to the mall, cannot walk anywhere, have to use the car 100% of the time to eve…

With you on this. There was never a lack of things to do in new York and with a tiny apartment little incentive to stay home. Back in the suburbs now and the kid would spend his Saturdays watching TV if I didn't stop him because the alternative is ... the one playground in driving distance? The movies? Target? People really underestimate the volume of activity you can put in front of a young kid in a city.

Some things I’ve observed about families I know who seem to have suburban life figured out:

- regular (meaning periodic) physical activity is essential, for the adults and kids. Sports leagues, gym classes, whatever. If you’re not into sportsy physical activity, you need a physical hobby like woodworking, gardening, or literally anything to get your blood flowing

- your weekly schedule looks totally different as the seasons change. Skiing in winter, hiking and camping in the fall, beach vacationing in the summer, etc

- regular domestic vacations to escape the boredom, and to make you long for home.

- regular home improvement, to make your life in your house 1% better every month

- regular visits with nearby close friends and family. At least one visit to a close relation every two weeks. Non negotiable, and ideally tied to holidays

- overdo your holidays. Birthdays are huge, winter holiday (Christmas etc) is huge. Thanksgiving is huge. It has nothing to do with the meaning of the holiday and everything to do with getting people together.

These kinds of things are less achievable in the city because you have less money, less space, less autonomy. Just my observations from happy suburban families, I’m curious to see others’ notes.

Re: Rents are dropping across the US

#275

Post by ryanwaggoner »

tartoran wrote: post #160
ghaff wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That and even post-COVID a lot of those bars, restaurants, theaters, and nightclubs may not exist any longer.

Mangattan has been partially a ghosttown even before the COVID pandemic. If you walk around Manhattan, almost half the commercial space is empty, it has been empty for the past few years actually and now getting worse. The bubble is popping On the other hand it might be a good idea to be on the move and buy/rent something cheap.

Have lived and worked in Manhattan for years, and this is an exaggeration. Retail vacancy rate is more like 12-15% in Manhattan, and lower than that city-wide. It’s a problem, but Manhattan was in no way a “ghost town” with half the stores empty before the pandemic.

Re: Rents are dropping across the US

#276

Post by greggman3 »

Androider wrote: post #158
treeman79 wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kids change mindset. Kids love yards. They love the little creek that runs past. I love the safety. Small neighborhood, we all know each other and look out for the kids that run around playing.

I bought into this mindset, and regret it. That's what you do when you have kids, move to the 'burbs, right? We moved from a big city to suburban hell a few years after having a kid. In those first years, we took our kid to museums, parks, playgrounds, etc. all over the city. Now there is jack shit to do in the suburb we're in except going to the mall, cannot walk anywhere, have to use the car 100% of the time to eve…

Maybe you just chose a bad suburb (and maybe the city haters chose a bad part of the city or a bad city)

I grew up in the suburbs. I loved we had a 2 car garage with tools. My dad had a radial saw and built all kinds of stuff. We ran a neighborhood haunted house in it. We also had a pool in the backyard, all our friends came over often. We had a 20x30ft family room that was build to be sound proof so my dad could practice drum playing. It was at the far opposite side of the house from my parents bedroom and they let us use it for slumber parties often. There was a collection of hobby stores a few minutes away by bike. One neighbor had a small farm in his backyard with 4 fruit trees and various stuff in between. I loved all the neighbors. One had a go-kart that we would ride from time to time. My parents entertained often including an 80person new years eve party every other year. Could walk or ride our bikes to school where we launched model rockets and watched people fly radio controlled gliders.

That said I'm not dissing the city. I can't really imagine what its like to be in NYC as a kid but many European cities seem like great places for both adults and kids.

Re: Rents are dropping across the US

#277

Post by gkop »

shostack wrote: post #185
doh wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We just canceled our lease two weeks ago. We had a large apartment in one of the new high-rises in Downtown LA. The last offer was 3 months free and 2 parking spaces free if we stay for 12 month lease, which comes to 34% discount on the rent including parking. Other buildings are offering by default two months rent-free and they will pay the movers if you decide to move in. DTLA is a special place as it has plenty of…

I'm guessing the freebies are to avoid lowering the actual rent due to Prop 13?

I think you mean rent control, not prop 13.

Anyhow this commenter sounds like they know what they're talking about and are saying that landlords in SF cannot beat rent control in this manner: https://socketsite.com/archives/2020/06/complimentary-rent-o...

Re: Rents are dropping across the US

#279

Post by spamizbad »

tayo42 wrote: post #200
nsnick wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with suburbs is they don’t allow kids to get any amount of independence because they must be driven everywhere by their parents. I moved from a US suburb to a small city in Europe when I was 12 and it was liberating. I could suddenly walk or bike downtown alone.

suburbs are different then rural? I grew up in a suburb and walked and rode my bike everywhere. ran around the streets with friends and got into plenty of trouble skateboarding around town. population between 20-30k.

Many HOAs have rules that require children under the age of 13 to be supervised by an adult when outside the home.

Technically this is policy and not law but you could rack up huge fines if you do not supervise your kids. Often times parents trade off and coordinate but it’s still a hassle.

Re: Rents are dropping across the US

#280

Post by pm90 »

01100011 wrote: post #254
bradlys wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And in my circle - none are leaving. We all recognize that leaving the area means leaving job opportunities behind too. We've seen what happens to engineers career trajectory who are remote at an in-person company.

So we can expect the population of the valley to shift towards even more career minded over achievers while normal folks flee. Great.

That’s a disingenuous characterization. SF job market and the Bay Area Technology “Scene” is what attracts a lot of “normal” people. One doesn’t have to be a career minded over achiever to want access to this job market.
Post reply on HN