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America, Stop Moving West

burgesspowell.medium.com

21–30 of 86 posts

Re: America, Stop Moving West

#21

Having moved from Boston to California — I’m never going to miss frozen hair, chipping ice off the sidewalk, and going for walks in shopping malls.

Right, like, suggesting people move to Albany or Pittsburg or Worcester, without mentioning that the winters are incredibly tough and that colder climates are another aspect of global warming, strikes me as incredibly naive.

“Incredibly tough” is overstating a bit. Winter isn’t that bad in any of those places. Not like Saint Paul or Maine or parts of Canada.

Re: America, Stop Moving West

#22
post #18

> For the climate-friendly but less glamorous northern cities like Albany, Worcester, and Pittsburg, a successful marketing campaign could make them the climate-proof cities of the future. Putting aside any of the climate change arguments, suggesting that successful marketing could make Albany a “city of the future” is absurd. I don’t know what you would have to pay me to be willing to live in Albany, ever, let alone…

> but if I’m going to have to live in a shithole, I’d rather be in Michigan or Minnesota That's as crass as when the 45th president of the US described entire countries like that.

clearly you've never been to Albany or Somalia /s

Re: America, Stop Moving West

#23

Having moved from Boston to California — I’m never going to miss frozen hair, chipping ice off the sidewalk, and going for walks in shopping malls.

You might miss the air quality however.

Yeah. I miss a lot of things. The crisp air, making snowmen, sledding, fall colors, the intellectual culture, the sense of history... I am not at all saying that there’s nothing to miss.

Re: America, Stop Moving West

#24
post #17

Having moved from Boston to California — I’m never going to miss frozen hair, chipping ice off the sidewalk, and going for walks in shopping malls.

The article repeatedly calls out Miami for being the hottest city in the country. I've never been to Miami, but it looks like averages in the 70s and 80s year-round. I'd take that any day over having to put up with the blizzards, shoveling snow off my driveway and car, etc. that I did in Omaha.

Miami is sickeningly hot in the summer, regardless of what the numbers say.

Re: America, Stop Moving West

#25

> For the climate-friendly but less glamorous northern cities like Albany, Worcester, and Pittsburg, a successful marketing campaign could make them the climate-proof cities of the future. Putting aside any of the climate change arguments, suggesting that successful marketing could make Albany a “city of the future” is absurd. I don’t know what you would have to pay me to be willing to live in Albany, ever, let alone…

"if I’m going to have to live in a shithole, I’d rather be in Michigan or Minnesota"

Minnesota is a shithole? As a Minneapolis resident for 20 years now, that's news to me.

Re: America, Stop Moving West

#26
post #18

> For the climate-friendly but less glamorous northern cities like Albany, Worcester, and Pittsburg, a successful marketing campaign could make them the climate-proof cities of the future. Putting aside any of the climate change arguments, suggesting that successful marketing could make Albany a “city of the future” is absurd. I don’t know what you would have to pay me to be willing to live in Albany, ever, let alone…

> but if I’m going to have to live in a shithole, I’d rather be in Michigan or Minnesota That's as crass as when the 45th president of the US described entire countries like that.

[deleted]

Re: America, Stop Moving West

#27
Americans Have Options. So Why Do They Go West and South?

I spent about seventeen years in the north. I came pretty close to offing myself due to seasonal depression. There's a not-insignificant chance that New Orleans will end up drowning before the end of my expected GenX lifetime but I'm still gonna enjoy the rest of life several orders of magnitude than if I'd stayed in Boston or Seattle. Even if it ends in that flood.

Re: America, Stop Moving West

#28

> For the climate-friendly but less glamorous northern cities like Albany, Worcester, and Pittsburg, a successful marketing campaign could make them the climate-proof cities of the future. Putting aside any of the climate change arguments, suggesting that successful marketing could make Albany a “city of the future” is absurd. I don’t know what you would have to pay me to be willing to live in Albany, ever, let alone…

I grew up in the midwest, and it's not a shithole. You completely forgot Minneapolis/St. Paul, Milwaukee, Madison, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Des Moines, Omaha, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toronto (not US, but still very much in the mix here), hell there are dozens of small, really cool college towns in there too.

I left for personal reasons, and because I prefer super large cities but man... you're writing off A LOT of people.

Also, Colorado is not the Midwest.

Re: America, Stop Moving West

#29

> For the climate-friendly but less glamorous northern cities like Albany, Worcester, and Pittsburg, a successful marketing campaign could make them the climate-proof cities of the future. Putting aside any of the climate change arguments, suggesting that successful marketing could make Albany a “city of the future” is absurd. I don’t know what you would have to pay me to be willing to live in Albany, ever, let alone…

> housing isn’t affordable because it doesn’t have to be.

The high price of housing means there's a shortage. There would be arbitrage available but in many places housing is not being allowed to be built.

I live in a luxury apartment, alone, just outside DC on a junior SWE salary with most of my paycheck left over because the county I live in actually builds.

Re: America, Stop Moving West

#30

Having moved from Boston to California — I’m never going to miss frozen hair, chipping ice off the sidewalk, and going for walks in shopping malls.

I get a perverse sense of joy from showing up at work with a frozen beard after riding my bicycle over the packed snow in the bike lanes.

Wouldn’t dream of taking a walk in a shopping mall even in the dead of winter. I’d go for a hike in the Fells instead, with a couple of layers and some ice traction on my boots.

You’d have to pay me a fair bit to move to California. Maybe I’m just weird? Lots of people seem to like it here though.

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