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We've all been reading the threads here and possibly newspaper articles about it elsewhere. But the overcrowding of particular metro's like the Front Range of Colorado, the Austin metro area, and several others unnamed here have pitted long time residents against newcomers.
Rising rents, traffic congestion, culture clash,. etc all due to too many people wanting to be in one particular region.
After thinking about moving from where I've been currently living for the past, five years, I'm beginning to think against it and just stay put in either my current small city or just somewhere else within NM.
Call it a conscious choice, or being a complete sissy, but I just don't think it's right to add to the problems I keep reading up on in areas that have grown too large and popular within a short amount of time.
Most people make a big move for two reasons: love or work. A smaller number move for other reasons, generally to get away from some unpleasant personal circumstances. As long as job prospects in certain cities are strong, people will move there, meaning your individual decision won't make any difference one way or another.
But if you move for love or other personal reasons you may be able to choose to live somewhere less crowded where newbies won't have as much of an environmental or even cultural impact
The overcrowding of many cities is a result of FOMO by Millennials. Most people my age believe that they can only be happy living in a handful of cities. As 20 somethings, the grass is always greener on the other side, and we will rationalize any negative aspect of a place in order to validate our decision. We also get validation by all of our jealous friends on social media, and Instagram likes.
Honestly, I never see the cities like Portland, Austin, Denver, etc every really collapsing, but I do see them having sharp drop offs in growth as the COL becomes out of reach for basically everybody. In 5-10 years, there will be new trendy destination cities that will offer so much more for a fraction of the price of the current trendy cities. Millennials will also reach a point to where they cannot get ahead, and will have to leave their dream city in order to start their adult life.
We will have to see what changes after the next recession. My guess is that people will start chasing the low COL cities again...just as people did after the last recession when Denver, Portland, Austin were a steal compared to most other places.
The overcrowding of many cities is a result of FOMO by Millennials. Most people my age believe that they can only be happy living in a handful of cities. As 20 somethings, the grass is always greener on the other side, and we will rationalize any negative aspect of a place in order to validate our decision. We also get validation by all of our jealous friends on social media, and Instagram likes.
Honestly, I never see the cities like Portland, Austin, Denver, etc every really collapsing, but I do see them having sharp drop offs in growth as the COL becomes out of reach for basically everybody. In 5-10 years, there will be new trendy destination cities that will offer so much more for a fraction of the price of the current trendy cities. Millennials will also reach a point to where they cannot get ahead, and will have to leave their dream city in order to start their adult life.
We will have to see what changes after the next recession. My guess is that people will start chasing the low COL cities again...just as people did after the last recession when Denver, Portland, Austin were a steal compared to most other places.
The overcrowding of many cities is a result of FOMO by Millennials. Most people my age believe that they can only be happy living in a handful of cities. As 20 somethings, the grass is always greener on the other side, and we will rationalize any negative aspect of a place in order to validate our decision. We also get validation by all of our jealous friends on social media, and Instagram likes.
Honestly, I never see the cities like Portland, Austin, Denver, etc every really collapsing, but I do see them having sharp drop offs in growth as the COL becomes out of reach for basically everybody. In 5-10 years, there will be new trendy destination cities that will offer so much more for a fraction of the price of the current trendy cities. Millennials will also reach a point to where they cannot get ahead, and will have to leave their dream city in order to start their adult life.
We will have to see what changes after the next recession. My guess is that people will start chasing the low COL cities again...just as people did after the last recession when Denver, Portland, Austin were a steal compared to most other places.
Absolutely! That's why I no longer live in one of them.
Most people make a big move for two reasons: love or work. A smaller number move for other reasons, generally to get away from some unpleasant personal circumstances. As long as job prospects in certain cities are strong, people will move there, meaning your individual decision won't make any difference one way or another.
But if you move for love or other personal reasons you may be able to choose to live somewhere less crowded where newbies won't have as much of an environmental or even cultural impact
I've been wishy-washy with moving to the Denver metro for the past, few years now. I've gotten a few job offers there, but the biggest, other thing that might be stopping me is the affinity I've developed for NM. An under-the-radar state, plenty of small towns, and even ABQ is a step back in speed compared to the rush of the Denver metro.
I guess after five years of living in a small town, I've grown sensitive to large, urban area activities to a degree. I feel a move to Albuquerque would be a nice transition back into the fold.
Boulder has grown on me though. The Thursday night, social bicycling scene there is out of this world!
The overcrowding of many cities is a result of FOMO by Millennials. Most people my age believe that they can only be happy living in a handful of cities. As 20 somethings, the grass is always greener on the other side, and we will rationalize any negative aspect of a place in order to validate our decision. We also get validation by all of our jealous friends on social media, and Instagram likes.
Honestly, I never see the cities like Portland, Austin, Denver, etc every really collapsing, but I do see them having sharp drop offs in growth as the COL becomes out of reach for basically everybody. In 5-10 years, there will be new trendy destination cities that will offer so much more for a fraction of the price of the current trendy cities. Millennials will also reach a point to where they cannot get ahead, and will have to leave their dream city in order to start their adult life.
We will have to see what changes after the next recession. My guess is that people will start chasing the low COL cities again...just as people did after the last recession when Denver, Portland, Austin were a steal compared to most other places.
I'm already well into what would be considered "adult life". At the highest paying point my line of work could offer and such. Nice cities like the one's you're describing are great for getting away to if you're a small towner like myself. Then of course there's also the education aspect as far as better offerings of classes and such at the local colleges go.
But to actually move and live in one kind of sucks the joy out of the whole experience.
The only real thing motivating my potential job switch is a bit anger related.
Okay with my job, okay with the area, but older parents that have no sense of budget and still need help are a burden ripe for a nursing home.
Perhaps it's time to reiterate staying where I've been and permanently cut mooching family out of my life. Last thing I need to do is pull off a move for the sake of some one other than myself.
I'd rather keep my rural identity and be like the "McCloud" character from McCloud!!
I've noticed that areas with fewer newcomers are actually more open and accepting since there is less pre-existing tension and group identity between natives and newcomers. In Louisiana and southern West Virginia people don't really complain about Yankees moving in the way people in Georgia and North Carolina do. I've noticed in these places, newcomers just learn to adapt to the local culture and assimilate. There isn't enough of them to force their way onto the natives like how Charlotte is being swamped by liberal non-Southerners. IN WV in particular you just learn to respect the local culture and not complain, not impose your ways (if you don't naturally fit in, which some people do) or you are just miserable and end up leaving.
Places with the most tension are also where the newcomers are politically and culturally very different from natives such as the Colorado Front Range which the OP mentioned, parts of Oregon overrun by Californians, and the Sunbelt areas of the South. I do have friends from Maryland and PA who are very accepted in South Carolina after it became clear they are not stereotypical Yankees, these are people who are middle class/working class, Christian, conservative and respect Southern interpretation of history and the Confederate flag despite not originally being from the south.
The overcrowding of many cities is a result of FOMO by Millennials. Most people my age believe that they can only be happy living in a handful of cities. As 20 somethings, the grass is always greener on the other side, and we will rationalize any negative aspect of a place in order to validate our decision. We also get validation by all of our jealous friends on social media, and Instagram likes.
Honestly, I never see the cities like Portland, Austin, Denver, etc every really collapsing, but I do see them having sharp drop offs in growth as the COL becomes out of reach for basically everybody. In 5-10 years, there will be new trendy destination cities that will offer so much more for a fraction of the price of the current trendy cities. Millennials will also reach a point to where they cannot get ahead, and will have to leave their dream city in order to start their adult life.
We will have to see what changes after the next recession. My guess is that people will start chasing the low COL cities again...just as people did after the last recession when Denver, Portland, Austin were a steal compared to most other places.
Just sharing my opinion, and it may be a bit biased since I am a defender of the Midwest... but I have to believe the Midwest will eventually become a hotspot. Why? The current hotspots are becoming or already are unaffordable for most millennials. We know LA, SF, SD, NY, DC, Boston, and Seattle are too expensive. They work for millennials who don't want families and are well paid or for millennials who have families but have two high incomes. That is NOT most millennials. Like prior generations, most are middle class or lower middle class and want or already have families. Denver, Portland, Miami, and Austin are cheaper than the aforementioned but are getting very expensive. Sun Belt cities are still largely affordable, but are getting more expensive as they become more crowded and desirable. Think Dallas, Las Vegas, Houston, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Atlanta, Nashville, Charlotte, Tampa, and Raleigh. The problem is, even though these cities are becoming more expensive, wages aren't as high as they are in the traditionally expensive cities (with the exception of oil and gas workers in Texas). You will typically make just as much in the Midwest but will find more affordable COL. I believe that people will eventually realize they can't necessarily choose where to live based on weather. To me, cold winters (and STL winters aren't even cold tbh) sounds a lot better than living paycheck to paycheck. People will ultimately move where the job market and housing affordability have the most congruency. I see places like Des Moines, Omaha, Grand Rapids, Madison, Indianapolis, and Columbus continuing to grow and gain more amenities that will make them attractive to a larger crowd of people. Meanwhile, classic inland cities like Pittsburgh, Detroit, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, and the Twin Cities will rebound. Some, like Pittsburgh and the Twin Cities, are already great places to live. People don't flock to them, because they're not "warm and sunny and by the ocean OMG". But once the Sun Belt phase has run its course and it is no longer affordable, people will look for places that have affordable housing, good jobs, and good schools. The Midwest has all of that. Plus, the cities have character, good architecture, history, and all the amenities of coastal cities without the high cost. They don't have warm weather, mountains, or ocean, which is a shame... but we all make sacrifices.
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