The "other" Decatur... what's the difference?

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by RainyRainyDay

But aries4118 is evidently a professional educator. (At least formerly; whether or not they are currently employed in education is unclear, in my reading). I've always vaguely thought of aries as male, but for no good reason, I realize - now that the subject has arisen. The zodiacal pseudonym might be more suggestive of a woman, but I wouldn't take that as definitive.

BTW, I favor the writing style that employs the third person plural pronouns for an individual of indeterminate or unknown gender. This is approved by at least some style books. It's better "he or she" (or should we prefer "she or he"?) or the ugly "s/he".

But, Ariens (Aries people) are known for being aggressive and forthright...not overly female traits...especially in the educational profession!

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by stvincent

I don't think you can consider Decatur proper upper middle class. Just middle class at best. And it's not overwhelmingly white. It is majority white but there is a good number of Blacks and immigrants in Central and North Decatur as well.

Have you checked house prices in 30030 and 30033 lately? "Middle class at best"?

[cmtiger]

Yep, can't get much here within the city for less than 400K - is that "middle class at best"?

That plus ... with 400K you have about a $9K tax burden per year.

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by cmtiger

Yep, can't get much here within the city for less than 400K - is that "middle class at best"?

That plus ... with 400K you have about a $9K tax burden per year.

Testify, sister...at this rate I'll be lower middle class in no time.

[RainyRainyDay]

Ideas on what constitutes "middle class" or a "reasonable house price" are all over the map, it seems. I believe I've seen plenty of posts that indicate a belief anything less than $400K or $500K for a home would be positively a slum. It puzzles me that so many people can afford the down payments or mortgages on homes that cost that. Must be a lot of money sloshing around in the USA, I guess.

But on the other hand, teachers (surely they ought to be middle class?) make so little money. Median household incomes are pretty modest in most zip codes. $88K in my zip (30075) for example, and that's relatively high I think. It's a puzzle.

[postprime]

Originally Posted by RainyRainyDay

Ideas on what constitutes "middle class" or a "reasonable house price" are all over the map, it seems. I believe I've seen plenty of posts that indicate a belief anything less than $400K or $500K for a home would be positively a slum. It puzzles me that so many people can afford the down payments or mortgages on homes that cost that. Must be a lot of money sloshing around in the USA, I guess.

But on the other hand, teachers (surely they ought to be middle class?) make so little money. Median household incomes are pretty modest in most zip codes. $88K in my zip (30075) for example, and that's relatively high I think. It's a puzzle.

I've wondered about the same thing. We are a bit above the median you mentioned, with no consumer debt, no kids, and would not even consider a house priced over 300k and would consider 250k a stretch. I guess a lot of people must be house poor and hoping appreciation will cover their debt load.