$55,000 A Year = Yuppy? (Chicago, Atlanta, Hampton: rent, credit, buy)

[BleedCubbieBlue]

There are a lot of pretend wanna-be yuppies in the city. I think 55k can afford you the ability to look like a yuppie, but you wont fully be one. You may shop like a yuppie, but you wont have it all. Maybe you won't go out and enjoy the urban playground the same way yuppies do. Maybe you'll party it up but then not be able to buy a nice car. And course the biggest yuppie front is living in a very yuppie hood but having ramen noodles for dinner very often.

So in your city-data opinion, what is a good yuppie income for a couple? 55k x 2? 150K? 200K?

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by BleedCubbieBlue

There are a lot of pretend wanna-be yuppies in the city. I think 55k can afford you the ability to look like a yuppie, but you wont fully be one. You may shop like a yuppie, but you wont have it all. Maybe you won't go out and enjoy the urban playground the same way yuppies do. Maybe you'll party it up but then not be able to buy a nice car. And course the biggest yuppie front is living in a very yuppie hood but having ramen noodles for dinner very often.

So in your city-data opinion, what is a good yuppie income for a couple? 55k x 2? 150K? 200K?

I think a couple making $150K qualifies as yuppie.

[Lookout Kid]

It's more of consumption pattern than an income level. For example:

Yuppie car: BMW or Land Rover
Not Yuppie car: Toyota Camry or Chevy Malibu

Yuppie Coffee: Starbucks or Intelligentsia
Not Yuppie Coffie: Dunkin Donuts or the Greek Diner

Yuppie Clothing: Banana Republic or J. Crew
Not Yuppie Clothing: Sears or Rainbow

Yuppie Restaurant: Girl and the Goat or Purple Pig
Not Yuppie Restaurant: Taqueria Los Caminos de Michoacan

Yuppie Apartment: $1400 one-bedroom off of Southport
Not Yuppie Apartment: $600 one-bedroom in Belmont-Cragin

[rzzz]

I definitely see more people who LOOK like yuppies in Chicago than I did in the other cities I've lived in (NYC, SF, Minneapolis, Atlanta). The summertime "Wolf of Wall Street" look book was frankly pretty amusing. Pastel shorts, popped collar polos, boat shoes, etc. Yuppies in other cities have changed their approach and are harder to spot.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by rzzz

Yuppies in other cities have changed their approach and are harder to spot.

Ever been to Boston? That look never went out of style there.

[rzzz]

Yeah, I lived in Boston for four years. I didn't include it in my original list of cities because I am trying to erase the experience from my memory. Boston is the only other place i've seen that look on a large scale.

For a minute dudes in ATL were doing the Carleton Banks thing but it seemed to rapidly mutate into more of a 90s preppy skater type of look.

[Chicago60614]

Originally Posted by rzzz

I definitely see more people who LOOK like yuppies in Chicago than I did in the other cities I've lived in (NYC, SF, Minneapolis, Atlanta). The summertime "Wolf of Wall Street" look book was frankly pretty amusing. Pastel shorts, popped collar polos, boat shoes, etc. Yuppies in other cities have changed their approach and are harder to spot.

That sounds way more like Washington DC, Boston and larger cities in the southeast than anything you see on a large scale in Chicago.

[rzzz]

Originally Posted by Chicago60614

That sounds way more like Washington DC, Boston and larger cities in the southeast than anything you see on a large scale in Chicago.

that's what I thought too

[Aerio]

No, at $55k, you are privileged, not a yuppie.

[TheSunshineKid]

I think 50K can offer the person wanting that appearance/lifestyle as a "borderline yuppie." It depends how one spends that 50K.