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View Poll Results: Cities that offer the best class mobility?
New York City 2 8.33%
Los Angeles 0 0%
Chicago 1 4.17%
DC 2 8.33%
Atlanta 2 8.33%
Seattle 3 12.50%
Houston 3 12.50%
Dallas 2 8.33%
San Francisco Bay Area 2 8.33%
Austin 1 4.17%
Kansas City 1 4.17%
St. Louis 2 8.33%
Cleveland 1 4.17%
Cincinatti 2 8.33%
New Jeresy 0 0%
Richmond (Virgnia) 0 0%
Miami 0 0%
Portland 0 0%
Voters: 24. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 11-21-2013, 07:04 PM
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
5,281 posts, read 6,570,655 times
Reputation: 4405

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I am not talking about places with the "best" economy. Nor places with the most Fortune 500 companies. I'm talking about places where someone can be born from the slums, be dirty poor, and work their way up to different class levels. You know the American dream of someone being able to look at their old neighborhood from a high rise condo.

So I wonder which city offers the dream of moving between class levels the most. In my opinion, I think West Coast city has a more constant upper class, with very few people moving between class levels. Many of the people who get ahead on the West Coast are generally from middle-upper middle class background, were able to attend high end universities, and get well paying jobs in their professional career.

When I was in NYC, I often met people who were born in the projects are tough neighborhood, work their way up, and had great professional careers. I've found a lot of this in Atlanta too.

So which cities offer the best class to class mobility.

EDIT: Looks like I mispelled the title. Is there anyway I can edit this?

I mean "Which cities are easiest to go from lower to middle/upper class"
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Old 11-21-2013, 07:17 PM
 
Location: Finger Lakes Region, New York
132 posts, read 544,697 times
Reputation: 148
Let's see, in order for this to happen you would need:
- A good enough and diverse economy
- Access to good, inexpensive public universities
- A low cost of living
- A lack of old money, who might not care too much for new money (nothing against old money -- most symphony orchestras
would be nothing without them)

Some places that might fit this criteria:
Minneapolis-St.Paul, MN
Sacramento, CA
Denver, CO
Tucson and Phoenix, AZ
Dallas and Houston, TX

Maybe Atlanta, but I'm not familiar with how social hierarchy involving class functions in the Deep South in terms of economic mobility and new money.
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Old 11-21-2013, 07:22 PM
 
Location: The Land of Reason
13,221 posts, read 12,289,795 times
Reputation: 3554
Quote:
Originally Posted by mayonaise View Post
Let's see, in order for this to happen you would need:
- A good enough and diverse economy
- Access to good, inexpensive public universities
- A low cost of living
- A lack of old money, who might not care too much for new money (nothing against old money -- most symphony orchestras
would be nothing without them)

Some places that might fit this criteria:
Minneapolis-St.Paul, MN
Sacramento, CA
Denver, CO
Tucson and Phoenix, AZ
Dallas and Houston, TX

Maybe Atlanta, but I'm not familiar with how social hierarchy involving class functions in the Deep South in terms of economic mobility and new money.
AND a area where people are open to new things and not be constricted by an overly racist environment.
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Old 11-21-2013, 07:24 PM
 
Location: Finger Lakes Region, New York
132 posts, read 544,697 times
Reputation: 148
Quote:
Originally Posted by simetime View Post
AND a area where people are open to new things and not be constricted by an overly racist environment.
Alright, I'll scratch out the AZ and TX locations.

My revised list:
Minneapolis
Denver
Sacramento

How come none of these are choices in the poll?

Last edited by mayonaise; 11-21-2013 at 07:26 PM.. Reason: typo
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Old 11-21-2013, 08:16 PM
 
Location: The Land of Reason
13,221 posts, read 12,289,795 times
Reputation: 3554
Quote:
Originally Posted by mayonaise View Post
Alright, I'll scratch out the AZ and TX locations.

My revised list:
Minneapolis
Denver
Sacramento

How come none of these are choices in the poll?


I dunno
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Old 11-21-2013, 08:22 PM
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
5,281 posts, read 6,570,655 times
Reputation: 4405
Sacremento doesnt have a great economy or a lot of jobs. People drive 3 hours to the bay area each way for a reason
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Old 11-21-2013, 08:22 PM
 
Location: Tampa - St. Louis
1,270 posts, read 2,172,554 times
Reputation: 2135
I think class mobility in America is so closely correlated to race, educational attainment, and where you start in life. It really doesn't matter where you live.
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Old 11-21-2013, 08:40 PM
 
Location: Los Altos Hills, CA
36,641 posts, read 67,303,265 times
Reputation: 21179
Quote:
Originally Posted by branh0913 View Post
I am not talking about places with the "best" economy. Nor places with the most Fortune 500 companies. I'm talking about places where someone can be born from the slums, be dirty poor, and work their way up to different class levels. You know the American dream of someone being able to look at their old neighborhood from a high rise condo.

So I wonder which city offers the dream of moving between class levels the most. In my opinion, I think West Coast city has a more constant upper class, with very few people moving between class levels. Many of the people who get ahead on the West Coast are generally from middle-upper middle class background, were able to attend high end universities, and get well paying jobs in their professional career.

When I was in NYC, I often met people who were born in the projects are tough neighborhood, work their way up, and had great professional careers. I've found a lot of this in Atlanta too.

So which cities offer the best class mobility
Actually the West Coast fares well in this regard.


http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/...ticleLarge.png
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Old 11-21-2013, 09:00 PM
 
92,591 posts, read 122,890,392 times
Reputation: 18208
Equality of Opportunity

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/22/bu...ters.html?_r=0

Upward Mobility Is No Less Common in

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/20...ward-mobility/

Last edited by ckhthankgod; 11-21-2013 at 09:16 PM..
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Old 11-21-2013, 10:18 PM
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
5,281 posts, read 6,570,655 times
Reputation: 4405
I have a hard time believing Seattle is very mobile. In my tile living there I noticed thatany of the poor were poor for multiple generations. And the professional class were at that class level growing up. I'm guessing this 5% measurement doesn't tell the entire story.
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