Nearly six in 10 US young adults live within 10 miles of where they grew up • Hacker News Board

Re: Nearly six in 10 US young adults live within 10 miles of where they grew up

#271

Post by idiotsecant » Fri, Dec 09, 2022, 4:43 PM UTC

canniballectern wrote: post #101

cletus wrote: post #80

So my family has long described ourselves as nomadic. We just seem to get the wanderlust and want to pick up and move after some years in some place. I myself have lived in 5 different countries so far. My great-grandfather (who died long before I was born) was a fairly extreme example of this. Shortly before WWI he decided to jump on a boat in Germany and immigrate to Australia (coming originally from the Baltic sta…

> what is it about some people who seem to be constantly restless while others seem content to staying pretty much exactly where they were born IMO the main factors would be your economic situation and your relationship with your family. People with little money and tight family ties probably wouldn't be keen to move very far, whereas someone with a bad or indifferent relationship to family and the means to head else…

I don't think it's just this, I wonder if there is maybe a certain genetic factor as well. My anecdote is not data but I know that I left home at 17 with a tank of gas and some clothes and ended up living half a continent away in a totally new situation entirely on my own. I came from a completely stable and supportive home environment, I just wanted some adventure. I don't think I'm the only one with this experience or even particularly rare.

Human communities have always needed a majority of members who are focused on family, community, and stability, but they've needed a minority of members who are more interested in the horizon - these people are the traders, explorers, settlers, etc and I wouldn't be surprised if there is some reproductive advantage (maybe your offspring are more likely to have a diverse genetic composition or something) I wonder whether there might be a genetic contributor toward wanderlust.

Re: Nearly six in 10 US young adults live within 10 miles of where they grew up

#272

Post by unity1001 » Fri, Dec 09, 2022, 7:19 PM UTC

casey2 wrote: post #251

unity1001 wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The thing is, America is very big. For perspective, America is just shy of the square mileage of all of Europe - but America is just one country... and it has half the population of Europe. Every time Americans use that argument to defend anything that is wrong with the US policy, it looks crazy to people who are looking at the situation from another place around the world. Neither size nor population are arguments…

Efficiency doesn't matter when billions just goes poof. Accountability is much more important. You are also making the mistake of using gpd as a measure of productivity. It's not, it's just a measure of nickel and diming.

That has nothing to do with the way a society's economic output is measured.

Re: Nearly six in 10 US young adults live within 10 miles of where they grew up

#273

Post by nop_slide » Fri, Dec 09, 2022, 7:48 PM UTC

atomicnumber3 wrote: post #78

nerdjon wrote: post #53

This just seems insane to me. I purposefully graduated early from highschool (1 semester less and it only worked because of where my birthday was) to move 853 miles from where I grew up to where I currently live. My partner did a similar move (before we met). When I talk to most of my friends it is a similar story. I just can't imagine not wanting to explore a new area and have distance from your parents. I love my p…

Here's my 2c (I'm 30 for the record): I was born in a flyover state. There's ~no coding jobs here, and the ones that are here, pay pittances compared to anywhere not adjacent to a (feed)corn field. I moved 250 miles away (to the other side of my state... dang is the US huge) to take a tech job that payed closer to what coastal companies will pay. The next step was probably to move to Seattle or SF and take a "real" t…

As a new father I'm dealing with this scenario in my head. We only live 3 hours from our parents but the topic of moving back has come up multiple times.

I feel like I would lose a little bit of my soul moving back to my hometown, but like you said the support network is extremely important.

Not sure what we're going to do.

Re: Nearly six in 10 US young adults live within 10 miles of where they grew up

#274

Post by tsol » Fri, Dec 09, 2022, 10:22 PM UTC

terminal_d wrote: post #231

tsol wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's strange the level of distrust in the west over institutions that the majority of the world find completely uncontroversial. It takes a village to raise a child, and in a world without villages families are the biggest support system most people have. I have a feeling this is another instance of the minority being louder than the majority.

> institutions that the majority of the world find completely uncontroversial Not even remotely true. And yes, as de-facto "management", most of the blame is on these "institutions".

Where in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, etc do they not value family highly? It's the traditional culture in most countries

Re: Nearly six in 10 US young adults live within 10 miles of where they grew up

#275

Post by refurb » Sat, Dec 10, 2022, 1:18 AM UTC

marssaxman wrote: post #268

refurb wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait, I thought people didn’t want to live in the suburbs? You saying if they built low rise medium density housing in the ‘burbs people would live there? What’s the point?

Some people would prefer not to live in the suburbs, but do so anyway, because they can't afford anything else. If it were legal to build low-rise, medium-density housing throughout the cities , more people would choose to live there, rather than the suburbs, because commuting sucks and city amenities are great. Instead, restrictive zoning codes set aside large swaths of the city for single-family homes; the large pl…

I disagree 100%. I would agree some people prefer the city and can’t now.

We have suburbs because people want them.

The best example is when I lived in Singapore. Great public transit and high density housing. No need for a car.

When I talked to Singaporeans, most dreamed of owning a single family home (a landed home) with its own yard and a car. And we’re talking 90% preference.

Re: Nearly six in 10 US young adults live within 10 miles of where they grew up

#276

Post by marssaxman » Sat, Dec 10, 2022, 2:23 PM UTC

refurb wrote: post #275

marssaxman wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some people would prefer not to live in the suburbs, but do so anyway, because they can't afford anything else. If it were legal to build low-rise, medium-density housing throughout the cities , more people would choose to live there, rather than the suburbs, because commuting sucks and city amenities are great. Instead, restrictive zoning codes set aside large swaths of the city for single-family homes; the large pl…

I disagree 100%. I would agree some people prefer the city and can’t now. We have suburbs because people want them. The best example is when I lived in Singapore. Great public transit and high density housing. No need for a car. When I talked to Singaporeans, most dreamed of owning a single family home (a landed home) with its own yard and a car. And we’re talking 90% preference.

Perhaps you're right. Why don't we put it to the test? If I'm right, the current US regime of restrictive zoning is causing serious harm, and ought to be repealed; if you're right, however, the market is already doing a good job of satisfying demand, which means restrictive zoning is merely an unnecessary administrative burden. Either way, we would come out ahead by liberalizing urban zoning codes.

Re: Nearly six in 10 US young adults live within 10 miles of where they grew up

#277

Post by mistrial9 » Sat, Dec 10, 2022, 5:44 PM UTC

082349872349872 wrote: post #218

mistrial9 wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

no thanks for this simplified explanation -- "regular old European conspiratorial anti-whatever" is not the same as being suspicious of debt-and-foreign-trade driven core economies. There are winners and losers -- Farmers and their communities are sometimes the losers when you get cheap fruit from 5000km away, and lend money to people for basic needs from centralized and international banking.

One may be suspicious of debt-and-foreign-trade, but: are there (or have there ever been) any successful autarkic economies?

this question is either naive or not sincere. Instead of empty symbolic theory, look at the real history of real people in place and time. All food and territory systems involve "trade" -- a specialists' word on a display shelf adds nothing to real inquiry IMO

Re: Nearly six in 10 US young adults live within 10 miles of where they grew up

#278

Post by 082349872349872 » Sat, Dec 10, 2022, 8:14 PM UTC

mistrial9 wrote: post #277

082349872349872 wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One may be suspicious of debt-and-foreign-trade, but: are there (or have there ever been) any successful autarkic economies?

this question is either naive or not sincere. Instead of empty symbolic theory, look at the real history of real people in place and time. All food and territory systems involve "trade" -- a specialists' word on a display shelf adds nothing to real inquiry IMO

It was naive: I agree farmers and their communities are sometimes (in times after both industrialisation and the "green revolution", even often) the losers, but the best solution to that problem of which I am aware is "take some of the benefits of development and use that to compensate losers". I know of no examples of competitive autarkic economies, so unless you have any, that couldn't be a better solution.

And of course, if you have an even better solution than autarky, I'm all ears.

(more background: I'm partial to Jane Jacobs' theory that market agriculture has throughout history been subject to the vagaries of fortunes in nearby trade centres. If you have evidence that this theory is mistaken, I'm also willing to revisit that belief)

Re: Nearly six in 10 US young adults live within 10 miles of where they grew up

#279

Post by saraton1n » Mon, Dec 12, 2022, 6:36 PM UTC

fdsfdxfvcx wrote: post #89

saraton1n wrote: post #34

I was a military child, and so I moved around my whole life. My best friend has lived their whole life in the city I live in now. Sometimes I get a little jealous because I don't have any heart-connection to any place. Most of the friends I regularly talk to are people I've met within the last 5 years, and I still don't have any still-standing friendships from the time before my dad retired. But also, I cannot imagin…

had that too, the place my dad retired to became my "hometown" having said that, as i got older and started having kids, i did move back to that hometown. i honestly did enjoy moving every 1-3 years as a kid, but my wife had a similar experience and did not enjoy it. now my kids have a home town and can see both sets of their grandparents every week or so. its also pretty cool taking my kids to the same restaurants a…

Yea, my brother has wholly set his roots down there, and so I know my family will be settling here somewhat permanently, which is odd to me because I know this isn't the place for me. But, my brother has a kid and I'm much less likely to, so it makes sense my parents want to remain close.

I think I'd want to raise the kid with a sense of continuity, but also travel a lot. maybe even move to another country for a bit before returning back to the place i'd picked to raise them. who knows?

Re: Nearly six in 10 US young adults live within 10 miles of where they grew up

#280

Post by saraton1n » Mon, Dec 12, 2022, 6:38 PM UTC

aaronax wrote: post #93

saraton1n wrote: post #34

I was a military child, and so I moved around my whole life. My best friend has lived their whole life in the city I live in now. Sometimes I get a little jealous because I don't have any heart-connection to any place. Most of the friends I regularly talk to are people I've met within the last 5 years, and I still don't have any still-standing friendships from the time before my dad retired. But also, I cannot imagin…

What are the concrete benefits of such a well-rounded background?

i mean, aside from those already listed? every 3 years i had to rebuild my life from scratch. when hard times come, do u want the person who's only ever experienced one way of life? or would you rather be with the person who has continuously had new challenges thrown at them, who has consistently been forced to learn a new way of life?