Americans are rethinking where they want to live • Hacker News Board

Re: Americans are rethinking where they want to live

#31

Post by nickysielicki » Mon, Dec 13, 2021, 5:03 PM UTC

larrymyers wrote: post #10

My family and I decided to stay on the north side of Chicago, a very high cost of living location, despite no longer needing to head downtown every day for work. Why not move outside of Chicago where our cost living would be substantially lower? * We wanted to keep our kids in the same school, which is walking distance. * We like being walking distance to the grocery store, doctor's offices, etc. * Our kids can walk…

I grew up in the north suburbs of Milwaukee. Did you consider it? Outside of keeping your kids in the same schools (and the schools north of Milwaukee are great), it hits all the same marks and it’s a LOT cheaper.

Re: Americans are rethinking where they want to live

#32

Post by dmode » Mon, Dec 13, 2021, 5:03 PM UTC

This article and similar ones have been written at least a 1000 times for the last decade with a clear political tinge. The poster child is always around how people want to move to Florida and Texas. But somehow it forgets to include Washington and Seattle which has probably seen the biggest tech migration and grown into the second biggest tech hub in the country, far greater than Austin or Miami (hyped up constantly). I guess it doesn’t fit with the narrative ? My working hypothesis is that people in general want to live in California like places, if they can afford it.

Re: Americans are rethinking where they want to live

#33

Post by anthk » Mon, Dec 13, 2021, 5:03 PM UTC

As an European, I love the American culture. But if you had the European standards on healthcare (The Spaniard one it's great), America would enter in a 2nd golden age.

Re: Americans are rethinking where they want to live

#34

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Dec 13, 2021, 5:03 PM UTC

panzagl wrote: post #21

systemvoltage wrote: post #3

COL/SOL in California is appalling. SOL continues to degrade here to the point where certain parts of Bay Are (Oakland, Hayward) look more like Syria than first world nation. Trash is everywhere, even in nicer neighborhoods. Not a single park here in East Bay without encountering a homeless person. And, then I meet people here that continue to defend 1) Food is amazing 2) SF sucks! Oakland is the best place ever 3) W…

Oh goody, another Californian who is fed up with the trash heap they've created and is moving to Colorado. Can't wait for another local business to be replaced by a car wash or a Pollo Loco.

[deleted]

Re: Americans are rethinking where they want to live

#35

Post by Tiktaalik » Mon, Dec 13, 2021, 5:03 PM UTC

> First, people have been leaving large, dense, expensive urban cores for smaller, less-dense cities and suburbs.

This trend is going to make reducing CO2 emissions even harder.

Re: Americans are rethinking where they want to live

#36

Post by lbriner » Mon, Dec 13, 2021, 5:04 PM UTC

larrymyers wrote: post #10

My family and I decided to stay on the north side of Chicago, a very high cost of living location, despite no longer needing to head downtown every day for work. Why not move outside of Chicago where our cost living would be substantially lower? * We wanted to keep our kids in the same school, which is walking distance. * We like being walking distance to the grocery store, doctor's offices, etc. * Our kids can walk…

> isn't just people optimizing for the size of a house and low cost of living

An important point!

I moved recently to a small village from a large town in the UK mainly so that I could afford a good size of house compared to what I could afford in the town. Despite never considering my self a "city boy", I have found the move very challenging. I initially thought it was isolating because of lockdown but then realised that the pace here is very slow and I find the lack of activity troubling. I just have to get used to driving to everything, something I have never had to do before.

Re: Americans are rethinking where they want to live

#37

Post by goostavos » Mon, Dec 13, 2021, 5:04 PM UTC

larrymyers wrote: post #10

My family and I decided to stay on the north side of Chicago, a very high cost of living location, despite no longer needing to head downtown every day for work. Why not move outside of Chicago where our cost living would be substantially lower? * We wanted to keep our kids in the same school, which is walking distance. * We like being walking distance to the grocery store, doctor's offices, etc. * Our kids can walk…

+1. Walkability is the main thing that keeps me in the city. A very large part of me wants to go back to the suburbs, rent a house, have a yard, garage -- space in general. However, every time I actually visit someone in the suburbs, the long drive there, watching things get more and more spread apart until it's just strip malls, grocery stores, and subdivisions, really saps the excitement out of having more space for me.

Re: Americans are rethinking where they want to live

#38

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Dec 13, 2021, 5:04 PM UTC

Benlights wrote: post #19

systemvoltage wrote: post #3

COL/SOL in California is appalling. SOL continues to degrade here to the point where certain parts of Bay Are (Oakland, Hayward) look more like Syria than first world nation. Trash is everywhere, even in nicer neighborhoods. Not a single park here in East Bay without encountering a homeless person. And, then I meet people here that continue to defend 1) Food is amazing 2) SF sucks! Oakland is the best place ever 3) W…

What does SOL stand for?

[deleted]

Re: Americans are rethinking where they want to live

#39

Post by asimpletune » Mon, Dec 13, 2021, 5:05 PM UTC

I'm also sure a small percentage of people from the USA may even rethink living there.

Re: Americans are rethinking where they want to live

#40

Post by sanderjd » Mon, Dec 13, 2021, 5:05 PM UTC

Tiktaalik wrote: post #22

> First, people have been leaving large, dense, expensive urban cores for smaller, less-dense cities and suburbs. Second, people and companies have been moving to warm, low-tax states in the South and Southwest. Seems like there could be a convergence of the demographic trend of millennial family formation with pandemic related increase in people's perception of the value of square footage that is pushing people towa…

I think your last paragraph is interesting and the crux of the question. I think all else equal that people will prefer detached homes. But I also think that all else is not equal; there is a trade-off between that and access to amenities without driving. I think a smaller but still large set of people place high value on that. Large townhomes with nearby amenities (restaurants, libraries, coffee shops, work spaces, schools, parks, rec centers, etc.) could be a sweet spot for a large number of people.