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

Re: Americans are rethinking where they want to live

#271

Post by Tiktaalik » Mon, Dec 13, 2021, 6:13 PM UTC

ben-schaaf wrote: post #66

dublinben wrote: post #11

It bodes poorly for the environment if people are increasingly moving from denser cities to sprawling suburbs. This is in many ways a self-inflicted problem of high-cost cities, but it should be a national priority to reverse this trend.

It's always crazy to hear that suburbs are cheaper. Dense living inherently requires less infrastructure and less transportation, so it should be considerably cheaper. It's only through the subsidisation of suburbia and the low supply/high demand of high density urban areas that this is the case. Car centric suburbs aren't just terrible for the environment, terrible for safety and terrible for transportation; they're…

Suburbs are "cheaper" because it's a ponzi scheme. When older suburbs eventually have to face the bills of renewing their ultra expensive infrastructure costs hollow out and decline, developers simply build a new suburb and people move.

That new suburb is of course in no way economically sustainable.

https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2017/1/9/the-real-reason...

Re: Americans are rethinking where they want to live

#272

Post by ethbr0 » Mon, Dec 13, 2021, 6:14 PM UTC

hagbard_c wrote: post #230

ethbr0 wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just learn the accent before you move there, and don't tell your neighbors where you're from.

Also don't vote for the policies which made you pick up your bags and leave the place you came from or your new place of residence will eventually start to look like the one you left.

Most of the problems people are moving away from have been decades (or even centuries) in the making. Not sure the recently migrating voters should foot the blame for that.

Re: Americans are rethinking where they want to live

#273

Post by lotsofpulp » Mon, Dec 13, 2021, 6:14 PM UTC

mrep wrote: post #205

nradov wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chicago, and the rest of Illinois, is in the middle of an ongoing fiscal crisis with no clear path to a solution. Will you continue to stay while taxes increase and government services decrease?

At least for me, still way way cheaper than the coasts so no plans on leaving yet.

I found the difference in land price appreciation in other more expensive areas (specifically Western and Southern US) more than made up for the extra up front costs. Although it is not "coast" vs "not coast", as NJ/CT land prices changes were in a similar situation to IL land prices.

Re: Americans are rethinking where they want to live

#274

Post by rowanajmarshall » Mon, Dec 13, 2021, 6:14 PM UTC

Jerrrry wrote: post #206

jermaustin1 wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm currently in the process of buying my wife's grandpa's house in rural Louisiana. It isn't on a lot of land (only 1.5 acres), but he's selling it to us "at cost" and that was how much it cost him to build it 20 years ago. We haven't decided if we want to live there full time and give up all the niceties we currently enjoy (a target within 10 minutes vs 2.5 hours, every type of ethnic food you can imagine, etc)., b…

>every type of ethnic food you can imagine I know it's hard to believe, but the only difference between a major metropolis and bum-fuck nowhere is the lack of ethnic food, and less stressful traffic. Almost all modern-niceties have been commodified to even the outer regions of the hills.

As someone from bumfuck nowhere currently living in a megacity, there's more to it than that. Cultural events for one; the difference between a 20 minute train home and a 7 hour drive is pretty significant. Job availability is another one, remote helps but even with COVID we aren't there yet.

Re: Americans are rethinking where they want to live

#275

Post by georgeecollins » Mon, Dec 13, 2021, 6:14 PM UTC

foofoo4u wrote: post #91

I sure am. I live in San Jose (which resides in the Bay Area). Here’s why I am leaving. - $2,700 per month for a 500 sq/ft apartment. - Homeless people everywhere the moment I step foot out of my apartment. - Smells like urine on many sidewalks. - Literally half of the buildings are vacant or abandoned (in downtown). - Human feces on sidewalks and entrance to buildings. - Political and ideological homogeny. Keep your…

Nothing would be better for California in general and the Bay Area in particular for people to move away for a while. The infrastructure of that region is swamped. Everything is overpriced and congested.

I was born in San Francisco a long time ago and it used to actually be a pretty cheap city to live in California once. A lot of LA based law firms would open up offices in San Francisco because it was cheaper to live there then lots of parts of Los Angeles and lots of people thought the city was charming. That's hard to imagine now. To me the charm was hollowed out by it becoming so expensive. So now SF is a boring like Manhattan and Oakland is the Brooklyn of the region.

The only reason anyone pays $2700 for an 500 sq ft apartment in San Jose is because they have a great job near by. I don't want to say anything bad about San Jose but IMO it has always been pretty far down the list of places you want to live in California. You shouldn't have to suffer that much for a job, and it seems like the way things are going you won't have to.

Re: Americans are rethinking where they want to live

#276

Post by jermaustin1 » Mon, Dec 13, 2021, 6:14 PM UTC

dionidium wrote: post #269

erehweb wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you factoring medical insurance into consideration? Can be c. $3K / month for a family.

Retired people typically have Medicare.

People who retire at retirement age. But that age keeps getting bumped up every year, same with social security benefits.

Re: Americans are rethinking where they want to live

#277

Post by bovermyer » Mon, Dec 13, 2021, 6:14 PM UTC

donatj wrote: post #169

bovermyer wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Counterpoint: we live in Edina, a nicer suburb just south of Minneapolis proper. No real crime except for a single hit-and-run by an out-of-towner in the last two years. Walking distance to two grocery stores, several restaurants, and two malls. Affordable utilities and rent.

There was a carjacking at the lunds in Edina two days ago. https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/edina-carjacking-v...

I've been out of town the past few days, so I'm not surprised I didn't hear about that yet.

The circumstances are particularly shocking. A violent carjacking in broad daylight at an upscale grocery? The perpetrators must be a special brand of stupid.

Re: Americans are rethinking where they want to live

#278

Post by dionidium » Mon, Dec 13, 2021, 6:15 PM UTC

sokoloff wrote: post #204

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and live off a VERY modest retirement (WELL under a million saved/invested) for the next 40 years Do you mind sharing how much? I'm curious why most people seem to think $1M is somehow not enough money to retire modestly on. If previous trends continue, you could easily live on >$4K after taxes per month indefinitely. That's almost 50% higher than median wage (after taxes). Median wage = ~$41,000. Even with $0 stat…

The person who accumulated $1M (above real estate equity) likely did so by having a larger than median income over their working life (and likely has an associated higher expense profile). For me, I think a 4% safe-withdraw-rate feels about right. Some argue for 3.5%. Others for 5 or 6%. Each of those has an impact on the cashflow in retirement, but $1M is probably not going to provide a replacement income for the ty…

You can add a couple grand from Social Security and I guess the assumption is also that your house is paid off. Also, you no longer have a commute or any of the related expenses. Given those three things, you can live pretty comfortably. Not lavishly, but quite comfortably.

Re: Americans are rethinking where they want to live

#279

Post by imbnwa » Mon, Dec 13, 2021, 6:15 PM UTC

scottmcleod wrote: post #94

The answer is Miami

What's the climate change outlook in 20 years though?

Re: Americans are rethinking where they want to live

#280

Post by jedberg » Mon, Dec 13, 2021, 6:15 PM UTC

InitialLastName wrote: post #126

throw_away_45 wrote: post #49

My family moved out of NYC during the pandemic. We have a young kid and a dog - so finding a spot which had more space was imperative (given that both our gigs were remote). The few factors for us : * Is the neighborhood family / kid-friendly ? * Is it comfortable ? * Does it have space ? * Does it have some of the conveniences of a city (not a cut-off remote suburb) We moved to TX to be closer to family and it check…

Does "kid friendly" for you include a means for your child to operate independently of you in the time between "go play outside" age and driving age? I ask because I grew up in a suburb where I had the equivalent of a small urban park's playground in my back yard, but the time between that playground being useful and when I could drive were terrible for me and for my parents (who had to drive me to almost anything I…

This is something a lot of parents don't think of! As I keep my eye out for new houses, one thing I noticed is that no one emphasizes walkability in the suburbs anymore. It exists if you know where to look. Where I live now we can walk to some stuff. When my kids are older they will be able to walk or bike to the park, to school, to the shopping center to hang out, and I want to make sure it stays that way.

I certainly don't want to be on the hook to drive them everywhere like my parents were!