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Affordable Housing Draws Middle Class to Inland Cities

nytimes.com

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Re: Affordable Housing Draws Middle Class to Inland Cities

#91

Post by perrylaj »

bkjelden wrote: post #82
perrylaj wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if I am a minority that puts a high value on the California climate? All of the cities listed are great. I lived in Portland for 3 years and loved the city, Seattle was great too. Spent time in TX and Chicago, though not years. Great towns, but I feel like I'll keep coming back to CA for the weather. Portland was far too dark and dreary for 9 months of the year. TX was too humid, and Chicago too cold/windy i…

Some people really value the variety in weather that the interior of the country provides. I live in the midwest right now, and whenever I contemplate moving to the west coast, one of the things I would dislike the most is giving up having 4 distinct seasons. The first warm days of spring, crisp fall mornings, "its so hot out we have to go swimming at the lake" days in summer, and the first snow of the year - these a…

I love the idea of that, just suppose it didn't feel that way in practice. Tad jealous to be honest!

Re: Affordable Housing Draws Middle Class to Inland Cities

#92

Post by nitrogen »

roel_v wrote: post #86
VLM wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"and quite possibly more." There's an understatement. This is a problem with recruitment to the coasts. I can't tolerate the hit in the quality of life that moving to Mountain View would require. They offered me like $50K more than I am currently getting, which sounds nice, but to live the same lifestyle with respect to house and school district would have taken at least $100K more per year probably more like $150K m…

"All I want is an acre of suburban land" Maybe slightly OT, but wtf do you do with an acre of land? Have horses or an orchard? 'An acre' seems like many people's ideal size, but 1/5th of an acre would already be too much work for me.

There are landscaping options that don't require a lot of maintenance, and an acre is just big enough to make a private micro-park that you can feel lost in if you have enough trees. There's also the option of growing a sizable vegetable garden for unbeatable quality fresh food.

Re: Affordable Housing Draws Middle Class to Inland Cities

#93

Post by mturmon »

modfodder wrote: post #34
thrownaway2424 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being from OKC and with plenty of family still left that I still visit frequently, I can say I heartily endorse moving there if, and only if, you: 1) Can tolerate daily encounters with racist and homophobic statements and words like nigger and faggot being thrown around by ~everybody. 2) Think it's funny when the local paper actually uses the word "Osamacare" in print. 3) Enjoy minor earthquakes.

As an Okie (now living in NY), the last two are very accurate. Can't say I've heard much on 1) but polite or quiet racism is definitely prominent. The state hates Obama, hates renewable energy (even though it could be a leader in both wind and solar energy), and hates rational thinking. If you're not a church goer or conservative, imho, it's not an enjoyable place. You will be outnumbered 90-1. And once you've lived…

Oklahoma is one of the reddest states in the nation. Oklahoma has voted for the Republican candidate in every election since 1952, with the exception of 1964 (Goldwater/LBJ). It's an important data point, and you will see it reflected in many peoples' attitudes. (I have family there and visit every couple of years.)

Re: Affordable Housing Draws Middle Class to Inland Cities

#94

Post by yardie »

jdminhbg wrote: post #37
yardie wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm actually impressed. Most of the news I hear out of the midwest is how the libertarian movement has stripped most municipalities of money to make any improvements.

Might be time to start looking into more diverse news sources.

I watched Fox News for an hour. Does that count? I probably won't do it again because after an hour I felt like hulk smashing the television.

So who do you recommend?

Re: Affordable Housing Draws Middle Class to Inland Cities

#95

Post by davidw »

micro_cam wrote: post #52
vlucas wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly, the climate is not that great - we have both extremes (really host in the summer, and snow/ice in the winder), and I do really miss the beach - that is the #1 thing I miss about CA. Central Oklahoma is also fairly flat, so if you like mountains in the distance and a little colder climate, Boulder may be more your thing. The key for me is how much impact I can have here. I feel like Boulder already has a lot…

Boise, Bozeman or Missoula are mountain towns with young tech/startup cultures where you can still have a huge impact.

Yeah, the midwest is a step too far for me. I've got to have some mountains... some... something.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Oklahoma/@35.856529,-97.81... randomly grabbed from outside of Oklahoma City. Looks mind-numbingly boring.

Ft Collins in Colorado looks like a calmer, more affordable place than Boulder.

Re: Affordable Housing Draws Middle Class to Inland Cities

#96

Post by leonroy »

eastbayjake wrote: post #30

After living in the Bay Area for a year, I find myself frequently opening my laptop for "real estate porn": going to Realtor.com and looking at listings in the cities mentioned in this article, just sitting there and oogling the home prices outside of California. For the price of a crappy 1BR condo in SF you can buy a 6BR Tudor mansion in Detroit: http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1002-Semino...

I do the same but looking at homes in the Bay Area. Cannot believe that mansion in Detroit. That would be $6m or more in SF.

It's interesting seeing old films or pictures from San Francisco. The city has clearly had its ups and downs. If the 1906 earthquake had not happened I wonder how different it would be compared to today.

Re: Affordable Housing Draws Middle Class to Inland Cities

#97

Post by bryanwb »

doesn't this article fly in the face of an hn-posted article last week that asserted the suburbs are a Ponzi scheme? One could reason that that these inland cities are growing because they are still in the early stages of the Ponzi scheme.

I live in Europe and I feel pretty confident that American cities will become more like Paris, Rome, London and not less. That means the poor live on the periphery and the middle and upper class live close to the center.

Re: Affordable Housing Draws Middle Class to Inland Cities

#98

Post by tomohawk »

yardie wrote: post #94
jdminhbg wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Might be time to start looking into more diverse news sources.

I watched Fox News for an hour. Does that count? I probably won't do it again because after an hour I felt like hulk smashing the television. So who do you recommend?

Just about anything other than TV news.

TV news is designed to inflame, not inform. In the limited time they have, they can't help but be biased in some way.

Re: Affordable Housing Draws Middle Class to Inland Cities

#100

Post by VLM »

roel_v wrote: post #86
VLM wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"and quite possibly more." There's an understatement. This is a problem with recruitment to the coasts. I can't tolerate the hit in the quality of life that moving to Mountain View would require. They offered me like $50K more than I am currently getting, which sounds nice, but to live the same lifestyle with respect to house and school district would have taken at least $100K more per year probably more like $150K m…

"All I want is an acre of suburban land" Maybe slightly OT, but wtf do you do with an acre of land? Have horses or an orchard? 'An acre' seems like many people's ideal size, but 1/5th of an acre would already be too much work for me.

Small orchard, far enough away that loud neighbors are quiet, don't have to look out my window directly into my neighbors facing window 5 feet away. Also ham radio antennas.

It does get kind of park like as per other responses. The kids can simultaneously set up the badminton court, the swing set, and the pool and still have space to run around.

It wouldn't be worth the money at $1500K/acre but at $15K/acre its pretty reasonable as an extra luxury. For the price of a couple nice gaming PC I can buy enough land to not be packed like sardine next to my neighbor, its worth it to me.

WRT maint we go low maintenance so its not bad. Perennials instead of annuals. Mulch so that it'll last and look good for five years at a time rather than fix it every year. You don't have to mow ornamental bushes and the slower growing ones only need to be pruned once or twice a year. "Stuff that grows slowly in general" requires less maint time. You don't mow herb gardens or vegetable gardens although veg gardens are a severe labor cost (like the whole rest of the yard put together scale of cost) There are old retired guys in the neighborhood who try to turn their yard into a golf course or something by working seemingly full time on gardening, I donno about those guys. If you go for a relaxed low maint design the yardwork is a decent workout, not a back breaker.

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