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That's fine but any of us can cherry pick whatever towns or in each metro we want. I didn't specify only PG, that's only one piece of the metro, I also mentioned Prince William, VA. I'm from PG, but even to me the ideal inner suburbs of DC are mostly outside of PG County, so bringing in Chillum and Suitland to this doesn't change my opinion. Just like I would never choose to live in the much parts of the BX, I would never choose to live in Chillum or Suitland, or Oxon Hill. Alexandria and Montgomery County provide urbanity, walkable, and relatively safe neighborhoods with an abundance of transit, and you can find pockets of them with lower middle class diverse population. I would choose to live there, just as I would choose to live in a Brooklyn, Manhattan, Jersey City, Hoboken etc.
NYC beats all of these on urban options and/or amenities so that point is taken. But for a lower middle class person who could only afford up to a certain budget, a place like an Upper Marlboro gives you a much more pleasant way of life than the BX.
I didn't really cherry pick i pretty much did the whole inner PG from north to south. Whats different looking than that other than the brick garden style apartment buildings? I did PGH because you lived inner ring suburbs and PG has the affordable ones.
I see what you're saying about MoCo and Alexandria though.
Boston has 117 such homes for sale, granted the city has a ton of units it builds/perseveres or converts to affordable housing and sells that aren't listed on sites like zillow https://www.zillow.com/homes/Boston,-MA_rb/
So in DC and NYC you don't need to leave the city really as lower middle class. Id be willing to bet there are a good number of options under 300k as well. In Boston and Sf you most likely will be in the burbs. SO this is essentially a NYC vs DC thread.
Boston vs SF should be a separate thread
Last edited by BostonBornMassMade; 01-08-2020 at 09:23 AM..
SF due to the insane income potential. Would rent with room mates, 2+ room mates making an additional $70 - $80k would make it fairly doable.
OP posted talking about family of four making 70k. Lower Middle class individual is more like making 40-50k. Working class being 30-40k and near poor/poor is under 30k.
But nobody moves, or desires to move, to New York for comfort, space, and suburban delight. People move to New York to be a part of a giant social experience in one of the world's most compelling cities. Why move to DC suburban sprawl when you can so much more easily move to Raleigh or Atlanta suburban sprawl? That's kind of the open question here.
correct! but i would think that if youre a family of 4 just trying to make it... the lack of comfort in NYC might wear on you.
This is where i find Boston is the happy medium betweenurbanity and coziness/comfort-the problem is the options are more scarce- but the 300k house is definitely there as is the 3br for 1800-1900
Location: That star on your map in the middle of the East Coast, DMV
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Originally Posted by ForeignCrunch
But nobody moves, or desires to move, to New York for comfort, space, and suburban delight. People move to New York to be a part of a giant social experience in one of the world's most compelling cities. Why move to DC suburban sprawl when you can so much more easily move to Raleigh or Atlanta suburban sprawl? That's kind of the open question here.
Correct, but we're talking about the cities in this thread and that comparison you created. Out of these four, I'd choose a McMansion in Upper Marlboro with a front, back, and side yards, square footage galore, clean streets, and quiet nights, that I can own for 300k. Rather than either own or rent half if not 1/3 the space in the Bronx higher crime, less clean streets, etc., even with better food options, and more amenities or transit.
correct! but i would think that if youre a family of 4 just trying to make it... the lack of comfort in NYC might wear on you.
This is where i find Boston is the happy medium betweenurbanity and coziness/comfort-the problem is the options are more scarce- but the 300k house is definitely there as is the 3br for 1800-1900
OP posted talking about family of four making 70k. Lower Middle class individual is more like making 40-50k. Working class being 30-40k and near poor/poor is under 30k.
In that case, NYC. It would suck but it's the most hospitable to lower incomes of any in that list.
This discussion certainly makes me feel so fortunate to live in Pittsburgh.
Our household income is <$70,000/year, which is still higher than our city's median household income by just a tad. I'm an analyst with our city's police department. My fiance works for a bank. We both only have Bachelor's Degrees, but we both want to pursue Master's Degrees here.
We live comfortably here in a 1-BR apartment in a safe neighborhood within walking distance of both of our offices. We can go see a movie; order Postmates; take an UBER; buy a gift for a friend or some fresh flowers for our apartment; etc. without flinching. Our rent is just under $1,000/month. Seeing some on here saying they wouldn't/couldn't be "happy" living on a sub-$75,000/year household income makes me realize just how stratospherically-expensive the rest of the country is becoming relative to real wage growth. I wish residents in our cities could band together and demand better compensation for their talents and efforts.
To answer this question directly? NYC without a doubt. You don't need to live in Manhattan or Brooklyn or Hoboken or somewhere else "trendy". Many non-trendy areas are still expensive for sure; however, you can still find places to live with under an hour commute each way into NYC that would be affordable to someone in the lower-middle-class.
This discussion certainly makes me feel so fortunate to live in Pittsburgh.
Our household income is <$70,000/year, which is still higher than our city's median household income by just a tad. I'm an analyst with our city's police department. My fiance works for a bank. We both only have Bachelor's Degrees, but we both want to pursue Master's Degrees here.
We live comfortably here in a 1-BR apartment in a safe neighborhood within walking distance of both of our offices. We can go see a movie; order Postmates; take an UBER; buy a gift for a friend or some fresh flowers for our apartment; etc. without flinching. Our rent is just under $1,000/month. Seeing some on here saying they wouldn't/couldn't be "happy" living on a sub-$75,000/year household income makes me realize just how stratospherically-expensive the rest of the country is becoming relative to real wage growth. I wish residents in our cities could band together and demand better compensation for their talents and efforts.
To answer this question directly? NYC without a doubt. You don't need to live in Manhattan or Brooklyn or Hoboken or somewhere else "trendy". Many non-trendy areas are still expensive for sure; however, you can still find places to live with under an hour commute each way into NYC that would be affordable to someone in the lower-middle-class.
Admittedly it's been a long time since I've heard of a rent for less than $1k a month.
Admittedly it's been a long time since I've heard of a rent for less than $1k a month.
It’s very common for a lot of places between the Rockies and just this side of the east coast.
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