Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Quotes from the article:
"I love California – I love California,” said Christoph Guttentag, a San Francisco Bay Area native and dean of undergraduate admissions at Duke University, where he has been since 1992. “But the prices are too high, and the commutes are too long.”
^^^One reason for heading south is the vast openness due to lower population numbers. But will the south eventually suffer the same growing pains as the coasts? Will people reverse migrate from the south and how will this affect the overall increase in population? Meaning everywhere is becoming over-populated.
“In the Depression and World War II, you had people leaving the South in very large numbers,” said Jeffrey Passel, a senior demographer at the Pew Research Center. “That’s reversed.”
The main reason is a version of what economists call arbitrage: Growing numbers of people have realized that many of life’s biggest costs — including housing, energy and taxes — are lower in the South, said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, which specializes in regional economic data.
^^^Reason number two people are heading to the south: to save a buck. The question is, will the south become the new American epicenter of trends and change with the influx of intellectuals and progressive thinkers. I remember feeling guarded in expressing my true opinions in living in the more conservative south. I went to volunteer during the 2012 elections and the only clue to the headquarters locale, was a "blue" door. I felt like Hester Prynne.
The absence of good train and bus options across much of the South is a flip side of its lower taxes. Many areas lack the money to expand or repair mass transit.
Whatever the drawbacks, many of the Southern migrants say they are happy with their move. In particular, they say that places like Atlanta, Nashville and the Greenville area of South Carolina still have their original advantages – lower cost of living and slower pace of life – but have also become more cosmopolitan. The options for good food, music and art, among other things, have blossomed.
^^^Lack of transportation options could potentially mean more taxes once all those tax and spend types come to town. Save your money so you can move back to where you really want to be if life down south becomes too expensive. IJS.
This speaks volumes about the Northeast and none of it is good. People go on and on about how supposedly great it is yet young people in working class families leave NY, NJ, and New England constantly because they can't afford it let alone get established just starting out. I've met more then a few guys when I was in the Army from NYC and Boston who joined the army primarily just so they could save some money for a few years and move out of never come back to NYC and Boston. They lacked opportunity in those cities with the high cost of living compared to elsewhere in the country they were basically stuck in a dead end until they enlisted...I've always found that more than a little troubling. It's definitely not what I would view as progress.
There are people who genuinely struggle then there are people who make stupid financial decisions and grow debt, on top of high taxes and COL, putting an even bigger strain on them. I have some of these in my own family. As you may be able to tell, I have a lot of types in my own family. There is a keeping up with the Jones's mentality in the urban Northeast. Looking like you have money matters to many - even if you don't. Flashy cars, accessories, homes and second homes. That's fine if you can afford it but if you can't you're putting more of a strain on yourself, already living in an expensive area. Some who struggle live above their means and some do not and simply have a hard time making it here.
There are wealthy towns with actual wealth then there are areas of poverty or areas with people who SEEM to have money, with people who barely survive month to month on what they make and half-furnished McMansions with a Mercedes in the driveway Other aspects like education level also directly correlate with whether or not you can "make it" here. It depends on a lot, there is no typical situation, but the fact is it's harder to live comfortably in an expensive area. You have to make the right financial choices, though, that's for sure. Many Americans in general IMO don't make the right financial choices.
Whoever made the comment about the Northeast corridor and coastal California being the most desirable places to live in the country, simply because that's where the most expensive properties were sold in 2014, is just wrong.
First of all, many of them might simply choose those places because of proximity to work location or business activities. Second, the prices being so high aren't necessarily reflective of desirability, but rather, limited supply. And third, lower income or middle class people who choose cheaper places in the South might actually find the South more desirable than the Northeast corridor and coastal California anyway.
Yes. There are zero metro areas on that list from Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire. The list represents metro areas with median home values that are below the national median home value of $173,900, according to the 2013 American Community Survey (U.S. Census).
Which is a good thing if your young getting established with a family.
Which is a good thing if your young getting established with a family.
It is a good thing, but one problem around here is that people concerned with image may stretch themselves to live in a more expensive area and automatically have financial problems. People need to live within their means and worry less about image. Nothing wrong with starting out in one of these areas and if you make the money, moving to a more expensive, maybe higher-end area if you can and want to. But many want that expensive, higher-end area and dream home right out of the gate. Instant problems.
This is a very American mentality, though, IMO. Flashiness, materialism. I know it's just TV but does anyone watch HGTV and shows like House Hunters, My First Place etc? So many newlywed young couples want their dream home - granite countertops in bathrooms and kitchen, hardwood floors, big yard, big home - 5 bedrooms, master suite with a double sink, brand new kitchen with stainless steel, etc. But then the real estate agent brings them down to reality and shows them what they can really afford and they get angry. America.
There are people who genuinely struggle then there are people who make stupid financial decisions and grow debt, on top of high taxes and COL, putting an even bigger strain on them. I have some of these in my own family. As you may be able to tell, I have a lot of types in my own family. There is a keeping up with the Jones's mentality in the urban Northeast. Looking like you have money matters to many - even if you don't. Flashy cars, accessories, homes and second homes. That's fine if you can afford it but if you can't you're putting more of a strain on yourself, already living in an expensive area. Some who struggle live above their means and some do not and simply have a hard time making it here.
There are wealthy towns with actual wealth then there are areas of poverty or areas with people who SEEM to have money, with people who barely survive month to month on what they make and half-furnished McMansions with a Mercedes in the driveway Other aspects like education level also directly correlate with whether or not you can "make it" here. It depends on a lot, there is no typical situation, but the fact is it's harder to live comfortably in an expensive area. You have to make the right financial choices, though, that's for sure. Many Americans in general IMO don't make the right financial choices.
I agree with you about the keeping up with the Jones's mentality however even if you don't try to keep up with the Jones's unless you make a good buck it's possible you will have to leave NYC, NJ, Boston, etc. because you won't be able to afford it. The guys I met were born in Boston and NYC so they had no choice in the living there part.
It is a good thing, but one problem around here is that people concerned with image may stretch themselves to live in a more expensive area and automatically have financial problems. People need to live within their means and worry less about image. Nothing wrong with starting out in one of these areas and if you make the money, moving to a more expensive, maybe higher-end area if you can and want to. But many want that expensive, higher-end area and dream home right out of the gate. Instant problems.
This is a very American mentality, though, IMO. Flashiness, materialism. I know it's just TV but does anyone watch HGTV and shows like House Hunters, My First Place etc? So many newlywed young couples want their dream home - granite countertops in bathrooms and kitchen, hardwood floors, big yard, big home - 5 bedrooms, master suite with a double sink, brand new kitchen with stainless steel, etc. But then the real estate agent brings them down to reality and shows them what they can really afford and they get angry. America.
Personally I wish people would watch old school property virgins where the lady would take them to an area with homes they could not afford and let them think they could afford it then told them the real price crushing there hopes and dreams of keeping up with the Jones's. It brought them back to reality...well for most of them at least.
I do agree with you though. I remember watching these shows and these people wanted this huge brand new kitchen in this rich area that they could barely afford at best if not outright could not afford and of course to top it all off they wanted to live next to best restaurants and clubs in the area. I just always shook my head at that thinking "your going to be poor due to your large mortgage and won't have any money left at the end of the day. How the hell do you think you are going to have money to go out on the town constantly?" I don't know if I would say that is the main reason for things being so overpriced in the Northeast though. Honestly I do view the rising cost of living as a way of intentionally kicking people out of the northeast through economics.
In fact, your coast is being destroyed by all the sprawl being built all over it by retirees moving there. In a few years your coast from NC to GA will be over developed and too crowded. Then the retirees will look for somewhere else to wreck.
As much as I hate to admit it as a native SC'er, you're spot on here.
As if anyone willingly moves to Greenville, SC from LA, SF, or Seattle? Let's get real here -- people move to the South because it's cheap or they were transferred there for work. And for most the part, most people forced to leave the West Coast, leave "kicking and screaming" -- just like the family interviewed for the article originally from Seattle.
As if anyone willingly moves to Greenville, SC from LA, SF, or Seattle? Let's get real here -- people move to the South because it's cheap or they were transferred there for work. And for most the part, most people forced to leave the West Coast, leave "kicking and screaming" -- just like the family interviewed for the article originally from Seattle.
Exactly. The South isn't hell or anything, it can be a decent place to live. But people move there generally because it's cheaper, not because it's more desirable.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
There is a keeping up with the Jones's mentality in the urban Northeast. Looking like you have money matters to many - even if you don't. Flashy cars, accessories, homes and second homes. That's fine if you can afford it but if you can't you're putting more of a strain on yourself, already living in an expensive area. Some who struggle live above their means and some do not and simply have a hard time making it here. 
