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A $10k stipend is available for anyone moving to Cumberland, MD

ci.cumberland.md.us

161–170 of 181 posts

Re: A $10k stipend is available for anyone moving to Cumberland, MD

#161
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like a place I wouldn't mind working if I can find a remote position again. I'm a big introvert, and I would like to move somewhere more greener (getting tired of living in the middle of a bland hot dessert)

At some point, many people start thinking about things like access to good healthcare, various types of trades, ability to travel without it being a huge hassle, etc. Doesn't mean you need to live right around a big city but I doubt I would want every task or appointment to be a big undertaking.

[deleted]

Re: A $10k stipend is available for anyone moving to Cumberland, MD

#162
post #4

I just got back from a visit with family in Cumberland. It's the epitome of rust belt. What used to be a thriving manufacturing area has become an abandoned service-sector economy with low-wage jobs. Property values are dirt cheap, even for nice houses. There isn't much nearby, you have to travel hours from Pittsburgh to even get there by plane. Tales of theft of items like power tools from relatively remote farms ar…

Sounds like a place I wouldn't mind working if I can find a remote position again. I'm a big introvert, and I would like to move somewhere more greener (getting tired of living in the middle of a bland hot dessert)

And live every day as a mark for a robbery? No thanks.

Re: A $10k stipend is available for anyone moving to Cumberland, MD

#163
post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt it. Physicians (and nurse practitioners, etc. at urgent care clinics) could arguably do more remotely but I'm not convinced that reducing the involvement of trained humans would be a positive move.

Think you missed the implied /s here :-)

If you’d suggested LLMs in some way I probably would have caught it.

Re: A $10k stipend is available for anyone moving to Cumberland, MD

#164
post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(desirable coastal cities with young people and vibrant entertainment)

It's a lot more than that but, as you get away from at least medium-sized cities, things get scantier especially if you need specialized care.

It’s a problem in the medium sized cities too? Because many of the smaller rural facilities are being closed down (often in the wake of for-profit buyouts), and then all those displaced patients overrun the remaining facilities in surrounding towns.

Re: A $10k stipend is available for anyone moving to Cumberland, MD

#165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can get always get starlink if the fiber/cable is bad.

Sure, if you don't mind regular drops while you're handed off between satellites, and many areas being oversubscribed so badly that people are getting performance worse than DSL.

Stop living in the past. All that is fixed.

No one's getting worse than DSL performance in the US especially not with regards to speeds

Re: A $10k stipend is available for anyone moving to Cumberland, MD

#166
post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

2 hours from a central hub I'd actually consider a plus. If you travel for work it's bad, but for any personal trip, skipping a connection is pretty valuable. Not just in time, but generally international / longer flights are higher priority, and are less likely to be randomly delayed or canceled.

I was on the far edge of relatively convenient airport access when I was working and traveling a lot (and, at some point, decided my employer was just going to pay for a private car whether they complained or not, which they didn't). Now I travel somewhat less but take fewer discrete trips so just pay my own transportation out of pocket.

Yeah I’m about 2 hours from the nearest real airport and it’s pretty miserable. Anything I can drive in 8 hours or less is faster to drive.

What you don’t appreciate is that it’s not just the added distance, it’s all the extra uncertainty. Losing an extra hour due to getting stuck on the highway behind an accident is a thing you have to account for.

So in the end you end up having to leave like 4 hours or more before your flight.

I live 400 miles in a straight line and I can drive to downtown Atlanta faster than I can fly to the Atlanta airport.

Re: A $10k stipend is available for anyone moving to Cumberland, MD

#167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> built on much flatter parts of those areas Seattle was MADE flat by literally using fire hoses to flatten hills and mountains [0]. That said, I disagree with the role geography has with developing a tech industry - most of it can be directly related to investment put during WW2 and the 1950s into innovation clusters. For example, Seattle and aerospace (Boeing), Bay Area and computers+electronics+nukes (HP, IBM Alma…

I saw an interactive exhibit at Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) in Seattle. It showed how different sections were regraded and you could push buttons where that section of hills and lakes would get lifted or dropped down. This wasn't a computer display, this was a real physical model of the city. The Bay Area really benefits from Stanford and Berkeley being there. You need a steady stream of educated new grads t…

> Museum of History & Industry

Love that museum. Paul Allen really made Seattle such a great city - amazing museums, good sports, amazing biotech research, strong entrepreneurship scene. It's like Boston but better.

> Bay Area really benefits from Stanford and Berkeley

Also UCSF (major biotech hub) and SJSU (major electronics hub - imo EE@SJSU makes EE@Stanford look like child's play).

Re: A $10k stipend is available for anyone moving to Cumberland, MD

#168
post #12
post #4

I just got back from a visit with family in Cumberland. It's the epitome of rust belt. What used to be a thriving manufacturing area has become an abandoned service-sector economy with low-wage jobs. Property values are dirt cheap, even for nice houses. There isn't much nearby, you have to travel hours from Pittsburgh to even get there by plane. Tales of theft of items like power tools from relatively remote farms ar…

How good is internet access there?

If you're in cumberland proper, your main option is cable, which is fine, fast and stable. since the culture is blue collar, their lineman due a perfectionist tier type guys who pride themselves in their craft. they have a guy there who does fibre and is pretty chill but ironically he only runs line rurally (not in the main urban core of cumberland). they have a startup-ish grass roots wireless based internet which is cool but kind of hard to plug into.

They also have various speakeasies fully in the classic unlicensed since but for obvious reasons I won't say where. I would call it a "deregulated" region. Whereas in most of MD you have vehicle emissions and all that redtape, none of it in cumberland.

there are methheads about but police force and community are hand in hand and highly functional

if you're in cumberland proper all you could want is walkable, including an amtrak station that links you directly to DC and chicago, walking distance

there is an aspect of xenophobia but generally if you live there a while, well, if you're willing to live in cumberland that's good enough for most people to welcome you. it does have a small town vibe as far as saying hello to everyone on the sidewalk as such

the other point people who visit may miss about appalachian culture (it is appalachian culture very much so, not maryland culture) is everyone dresses like a methhead, even people who aren't methheads, so take appearences softly.

Re: A $10k stipend is available for anyone moving to Cumberland, MD

#169
post #64

Extrinsic monetary incentives are among the worst ways to stimulate growth. Anyone who would uproot their life for $10k is likely not the right personality to restore prosperity. Other strategies have worked to gentrify depressed neighborhoods, like attracting bohemians or entrepreneurs with lower rents and tax relief, based on a strict qualification process.

cumberland is already quite bohemian. 20k for free, and some houses can be had for that amount, is quite appealing to the home-owning bohemian. the only trick of it - said bohemian probably would need a remote job. not much locally. so the obvious play is to make it a remote paradise and focus the remainder of the economy on supporting both the essentials and the entertainment / night life of said remote worker

Re: A $10k stipend is available for anyone moving to Cumberland, MD

#170
post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(desirable coastal cities with young people and vibrant entertainment)

It's a lot more than that but, as you get away from at least medium-sized cities, things get scantier especially if you need specialized care.

Are we saying anything different?
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