Least expensive places to live? Let's all think about living THERE and boycotting the expensive ones! (jobs, Budget)
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High salaries produce high housing costs. Low paying jobs tend to produce less expensive costs. The Midwest is probably pretty reasonable. In MO, say in the Springfield area, housing costs are quite reasonable, especially compared to the St Louis area.
If the economy is picking up steam in a place, costs of everything will tend to go up there faster than at other places. The catch is, in the low COL places, jobs will be low paying and/or scarce.
I doubt a boycott of cities or states is practical. For one thing how would you organize that? And, people move where they find employment, unless they have jobs that are worked from their home computers. I guess they would be the lucky ones, wouldn't they?
I live in an expensive area, feel free to boycott living here, more space for me. I've lived in less expensive areas with high salaries, but I choose to live where I live now because I prefer it here.
I live in an expensive area, feel free to boycott living here, more space for me. I've lived in less expensive areas with high salaries, but I choose to live where I live now because I prefer it here.
Another up and coming place - Youngstown OH. Beautiful palatial 1900s - 1920s homes, elegant neighborhoods home of a large research university with Division One athletics and one of the loveliest parks I've ever seen.
Not a McMansion in sight! Just Tudors, American Four Squares, Neo Colonials, and lots of sturdily built homes replete with stained glass, pocket doors and hardwood details.
Decent jobs. Extremely low cost of living. Low cost of a wide variety of houses. Lower traffic. Schools from basic to private academies. Competition in retail resulting in lower cost.
Reasonable apartment rents for all kinds. Mom can get a great one bedroom in a well run senior complex with full bus service and all utilities for $700 or less a month. There are fantastic homes for sale for $100,000-$200,000 (or less) that are not in suburban villages.
Activities are reasonably priced and good. We get tickets to local theater productions and found them excellent. Cabaret Poe was fantastic. Avenue Q, which we saw on Broadway, was just as good here at our local theater with local actors.
It is all in what you want out of life. We do not have what NYC or San Francisco have with the density of diverse groups or what Portland has with all the great public transportation. But we have a well balanced variety of things to do while working and growing a family at lower cost.
Nominations for the least expensive places to live in the US?
I will nominate where I live - Wilkes-Barre and Scranton PA.
It NEVER appears on any of those stupid lists - it seems they only list places in Texas or Oklahoma.
Also, $ 200,000 homes are not inexpensive to me.
So, any places with relatively high salaries and a LOW cost of living.
What if all Americans boycotted expensive destinations?
Since I live in the same area, I'm tempted to say, "Don't tell!!" It's very affordable to live here unless you have appetites that your income won't support.
As far as boycotting expensive destinations, witness what happened when the influx of NY/NJ people opted to move to the eastern Pocono communities, only to find that the commute for work in the city was a killer; that more residents meant need for more public services, which increased those low taxes which drew people here in the first place. Also, many didn't realize that the amenities they enjoyed in their prior homes were provided by independent contractors in the new location and they had to budget for refuse pick-up and snow plowing of their access roads and driveways. New schools had to be built, increasing taxes on all the residents, not just the new folks. Now, realizing that the cost of gas, car maintenance and travel time eats into that low-cost living, many have opted to get out, leaving empty homes and empty schools. Those nice new schools have seen a dramatic decrease in enrollment, to the point where there is now discussion of closing some.
So it's quite alright with me if Wilkes-Barre is off the radar. Even though the casino revenue hasn't yet abolished the property tax as promised, I can still afford my assessments. Sadly, the proposed tax increases in Lackawanna County/Scranton may be driving many homeowners out of that city. Some of them may be coming to the W-B area. Let's just keep out little secret, shall we?
Nominations for the least expensive places to live in the US?
I will nominate where I live - Wilkes-Barre and Scranton PA.
It NEVER appears on any of those stupid lists - it seems they only list places in Texas or Oklahoma.
Also, $ 200,000 homes are not inexpensive to me.
So, any places with relatively high salaries and a LOW cost of living.
What if all Americans boycotted expensive destinations?
The premise of this whole post makes zero sense to me. Please explain the following:
Why do you think we should all boycott parts of the country you deem as expensive and define "expensive".
What do you think is a "relatively" high salary and define what it's relative to.
Why do you think people that live areas you deem as "high salary/COL" are less content with their choice to live there than those in "relatively" high salary and a "Low" cost of living areas?
If a large group of people decided you were correct and that W-B/Scranton was the place to be, do you think the results on your community would be positive or negative?
Thanks.
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