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Small cities in America’s Mountain West are booming

economist.com

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Re: Small cities in America’s Mountain West are booming

#201

Post by aiisjustanif »

digikazi wrote: post #129
dcolkitt wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree that kids in an urban environment can be very rewarding. I disagree that the urban environment found in the Bay Area is conducive to kids. Visiting the local park is great. Visiting the local park when the walk is littered with human excrement and discarded needles, not so much. No parent in their right mind would ever go on the BART with a child.

Why wouldn't you take your child on BART? I'm not looking for an argument, I'm genuinely curious. I live in the UK but I've never visited the SF area.

I’m not the poster, but personally I would. I go to London quite regularly and usually stop by San Fran once a year (not 2020). I personally find the BART similar to the MARTA (Atlanta) and DART (Dallas).

I don’t know if you live in London, but I would say they compare to the Northern Line it terms of quality. But at the end of the day the real difference is about riders. I would say you do notice more issues like littering (including dangerous litter like needles) and robbery in the US train lines though.

However, just like most public train lines, you have to learn to mind your business, be aware and don’t lallygag. Also, stick to using it during the day.

Re: Small cities in America’s Mountain West are booming

#202

Post by CuriouslyC »

hoka-one-one wrote: post #42
eysquared wrote: post #24

There seems to be a lot of negativity in the comments so far. Is this not the dream that is often touted on hacker news? Work at a FAANG and "retire" somewhere more affordable? I'm personally doing just this. I was lucky enough to land a good job out of college, buy a house in a desired area, and see it appreciate in the last 10 years. This increase plus the birth of my kids left me wondering if there wasn't a better…

Your kids all else equal will be outsprinted by kids who live in more competitive cities. You can decide you don't care about any of that, but understand that type of that decision will ripple through to future generations, e.g. your grandkids will be less educated. The irony is that most educated people living in small towns want to get out, and a generation or two after they do they want to go back. Will the cycle…

Or maybe people can take responsibility for their kids rather than forget them with an underpaid, under-motivated teachers. You can cram 12 years of public school bullshit in 4-6 years, and have 6-8 years to teach them useful things like programming and construction.

Re: Small cities in America’s Mountain West are booming

#203

Post by pyinstallwoes »

arminiusreturns wrote: post #69
pyinstallwoes wrote: post #51

I actually really want to move to a mountain area that is secluded and has nature with snow. The problem is, it's very hard to figure out where to go when all you've lived is in a city or one state. I've researched a lot of properties on zillow but I have no idea how to investigate the proper area. Maybe someone can give me a tip. I like snow, and I like people, I just want enough space to experiment with my own land…

The HOA part really is the hard part, and even beyond that, the local zoning regulations can be arbitrarily infuriating, especially in certain states, and the ones with larger swaths without HOA and crazy regs have many negatives making it very hard to find what you speak of. I've been looking for years. I think a good bet is to find an heirloom house and property and bid on it.

What's your top prospects so far if you don't mind sharing since we have similar desires?

Re: Small cities in America’s Mountain West are booming

#204

Post by leetcrew »

bluGill wrote: post #167
dagw wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I raised a child in the middle of a city from age 0-8 and it was great. So much to do! Parks, botanical gardens, playgrounds, museums, swimming pools, fun fares, concerts and so on, all within walking distance or at worst a short bus ride.

The things you can do in a city are different from the things you can do in the suburbs, are different from the things you can do in rural areas. There are pros and cons of each. Sadly in the US many dense cities have abandoned the things that kids like to do, leaving those who like city things to the suburbs as the best compromise. I know someone who started a children's museum, when she started the city tried to ge…

in my social circle, the number one reason why families leave the city is the abysmal public school system. it's not a big deal to the wealthier families, since they can just send their children to private schools. middle income families usually can't afford that, but they can afford to hop over the county line and send their children to the very good public schools out there.

at least in my area, I wouldn't say the city has "abandoned" families. rather, it has focused mainly on improving public education for children from poor families. this is a noble goal, but it imposes tradeoffs that the middle class families are mostly unwilling to accept. since they have the ability to leave, they do.

Re: Small cities in America’s Mountain West are booming

#205

Post by CuriouslyC »

dcolkitt wrote: post #126
hoka-one-one wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your kids all else equal will be outsprinted by kids who live in more competitive cities. You can decide you don't care about any of that, but understand that type of that decision will ripple through to future generations, e.g. your grandkids will be less educated. The irony is that most educated people living in small towns want to get out, and a generation or two after they do they want to go back. Will the cycle…

Shared family environment (which by definition includes where your parents choose to live) has near zero impact on long term adult outcomes. This has been confirmed again and again by countless twin studies.

And yet, we know anecdotally that certain places produce far more than their share of "talented" people, so I don't think those twin studies are complete or conclusive.

Re: Small cities in America’s Mountain West are booming

#206

Post by Loughla »

watchdogtimer wrote: post #181
giantg2 wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can always move to mountain towns in Appalachia. The population has been stagnate or shrinking over the past decades with the mills and mines shutting down.

Same with rural communities here in the Midwest. We would love to have FAANG refugees move here.

YMMV on this one. In my part of the midwest, home and land prices have almost doubled in the last year, and went up about 6x since we built our house (about 8 years ago).

Two reasons:

(What used to be called) Yuppies moving out here and working remotely to 'get more in touch with nature' (read: start a blog or something about sustainable living that is really only possible if one of you has a 100k+ salary) and investors from out of the area are purchasing land as an investment. Both of these things drive the cost WAY out of the range of what is (a) reasonable, or (b) attainable.

I'm over the whole thing. In an area where the median family income is around 55k/year, anyone that makes double that as a single individual can live like a king. Consequence: none of us that live here can afford the increase in taxes, home values, or property values anymore.

Re: Small cities in America’s Mountain West are booming

#207

Post by pyinstallwoes »

j2bax wrote: post #165
pyinstallwoes wrote: post #51

I actually really want to move to a mountain area that is secluded and has nature with snow. The problem is, it's very hard to figure out where to go when all you've lived is in a city or one state. I've researched a lot of properties on zillow but I have no idea how to investigate the proper area. Maybe someone can give me a tip. I like snow, and I like people, I just want enough space to experiment with my own land…

What region are you currently in?

California - I like Big Bear for instance but not attached to West Coast at all. Also Big Bear doesn't have _too much acreage_ but maybe something to settle in on the meantime. It seems like there's various yellow flags on this region; most concerned with water availability over time.

Re: Small cities in America’s Mountain West are booming

#208

Post by pyinstallwoes »

the_lonely_road wrote: post #153
pyinstallwoes wrote: post #51

I actually really want to move to a mountain area that is secluded and has nature with snow. The problem is, it's very hard to figure out where to go when all you've lived is in a city or one state. I've researched a lot of properties on zillow but I have no idea how to investigate the proper area. Maybe someone can give me a tip. I like snow, and I like people, I just want enough space to experiment with my own land…

The mountains of North Carolina are almost certainly what you are looking for. You will get all four seasons and have lots of diverse beautiful nature around you. I recomend you start with Asheville (probably way too big for you to want to live in since you want to avoid neighbors and HOA) and then start moving WEST on the map from there and you will find what you are looking for.

Thank you kindly, I will investigate that region. When I was browsing Zillow I remember finding a lot of well designed properties in NC and wondered why there was so much good taste centered there. Thanks again.

Re: Small cities in America’s Mountain West are booming

#210

Post by ghaff »

dnndev wrote: post #97
pyinstallwoes wrote: post #51

I actually really want to move to a mountain area that is secluded and has nature with snow. The problem is, it's very hard to figure out where to go when all you've lived is in a city or one state. I've researched a lot of properties on zillow but I have no idea how to investigate the proper area. Maybe someone can give me a tip. I like snow, and I like people, I just want enough space to experiment with my own land…

Only way to find out is take a road trip and stay in each place for a week or so. We did this years ago and you know when you found the right place. Of course do your research first and visit the top 5 locations. What most find is ideally and if you can afford it is two homes. A secluded home and a city home (or beach, etc... whatever you like)

My caveat with two homes (besides the obvious cost) is that there is some overhead associated with owning a place--although obviously less in the case of an urban condo--and just generally reduced flexibility. There's something to be said for just renting a place for a month if you want some variety.

I agree with your general advice. Also just think about what you're looking for. E.g. there are tradeoffs between more resort-y areas and places more off the beaten track.

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