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.
While Im not shocked at Kansas City being low as I would never consider it a "wish list" type city, people are definitely missing the boat on it. It is a great place to live. Especially the Northland.. Very affordable. Good schools. Very manageable weather. It's going to be 60 today!
As for the Sun Belt, a lot of that booming prosperity was fueled by a housing bubble and those home prices are never going to be that high again... say goodbye to the malls, construction jobs, barista jobs and various "scenes" that rely on real estate generated business. The West is going to start to revert to what it was -- which is VERY NICE -- but a lot of people are also going to lose their jobs (the California unemployment rate is just awful) and swarm into other Western states, bringing their problems with them. kind of like a reverse Dust Bowl.
When Americans think of where they most want to live, they imagine a fantasy world where there is fantastic scenery, less taxes, more open spaces, lots of malls, "nightlife," big concert acts coming through, warm weather (or, if there is a winter, the sort of idealized, picturesque winter where you sit around chugging mugs of hot chocolate with ski bunnies at the lodge), nearby outdoor activities, big new homes, and (although they usually won't admit it) not so many black and brown people. Denver fits a lot of that (although maybe people aren't thinking it through that there are indeed lots of brown people in Colorado!) In the old days that dream would have been California, but too many people are too acquainted with the too many complexities of California living. Probably in 20-30 years, Denver will be just as complicated.
I've lived in the Denver area for almost 30 years, such predictions are regularly made. It hasn't happened yet. I'm still waiting. I don't understand northeasterners (which I used to be) who don't want people to try to better their lives. YOU don't have to move here! Why do you care if someone else does? As for the thinly-veiled accusations of racism about the people who move here, what I noticed when I came here was and still is that there is little overt racism. Way less than in the northeast and midwest!
While Im not shocked at Kansas City being low as I would never consider it a "wish list" type city, people are definitely missing the boat on it. It is a great place to live. Especially the Northland.. Very affordable. Good schools. Very manageable weather.
Much of this is subjective. I find the weather here to be far too hot and humid from June until the end of September. Violent crime is skyrocketing and the city is rated as one of the worst places for crime. Good schools is debatable. While there are good school districts in the KC area, overall it is average at best. I doubt there are very many high school graduates in the KC area that can make it to Ivy League schools, Duke, Carnegie-Mellon etc.
It does have its good points. If you like man made culture and entertainment it does offer quite a few things to see and do. If you are like me though and prefer the outdoors then it is lacking aside from a few decent parks in the metro area. Perhaps if the people were a little more willing to accept outsiders I would consider it to be a better place to live. I have noted that people in the rural cities and towns like Leavenworth, Harrisonville, Richmond and Lexington are friendlier than most of the people in the immediate KC metro area.
Ive lived all over the US and moved to Rockport TX not for a job. Its 20-25 minutes from Corpus, a nice mix of people because they come for the ocean - birds and the wildlife area. No polluting industry allowed. Sort of different from many parts of Texas and very slow paced.
]
A friend of mine told me that some years ago, he had narrowed his search down to Rockport and Victoria. He asked people in Rockport, what is the best thing about it, and they said "It is on the ocean". Then he asked what is the worst thing about it it? "It is on the ocean". He chose Victoria.
The cities I saw last year were Nashville and Knoxville. These cities do have some older historic neighborhoods, but quite a bit of sprawl- especially along the Interstate corridors. I just felt like when I visited those cities that any and all development was emphasized, and not much at all was conserved. I still think the house sizes are one of the huge differences between the south and the northeast. I am not denying people the right to a big house, but anything over 3000sq ft seems like conspicuous consumption to me.
One of the items that NH REALLY EMPHASIZES is the conservation ethic. Many landowners have partnered with the Nature Conservency to put a conservation easment on their land. This means that the landowner uses the land like he has been doing, but it can not be subdivided or further developed into smaller parcels. This preserves the rural nature of smaller communities, and acts as a buffer to other developments. Even in a small city like Concord, NH (population 50,000) you only have to go a few miles from town before you are in the countryside with access to many hiking trails via conservation land. This is one feature that really enhances my quality of life.
That is all fine and I'm glad for you...it still doesn't address the way you paint the entire southern region with the same brush - and it just isn't valid. OK, you saw some houses in Nashville and Knoxville. You saw a tiny portion of each of those cities, and a tiny portion of the state of Tennessee, and an even tinier portion of the Southeastern U.S. I just don't see making judgements based on that very limited experience.
It would be a more valid comparison to look at suburban developments in each region...or urban developments in each region...or homes of a particular decade in each region. I think you would find the style and construction of homes to be very similar.
When we lived in the Albany, NY area for a year in the late 80s, we thought the new houses being built there were HUGE! Probably around 4000-5000 sq. ft.
When we lived in the Albany, NY area for a year in the late 80s, we thought the new houses being built there were HUGE! Probably around 4000-5000 sq. ft.
Exactly...suburban housing from the 80s is very similar everywhere, as is suburban housing from the 30s - which of course is all considered urban housing today.
That is all fine and I'm glad for you...it still doesn't address the way you paint the entire southern region with the same brush - and it just isn't valid. OK, you saw some houses in Nashville and Knoxville. You saw a tiny portion of each of those cities, and a tiny portion of the state of Tennessee, and an even tinier portion of the Southeastern U.S. I just don't see making judgements based on that very limited experience.
It would be a more valid comparison to look at suburban developments in each region...or urban developments in each region...or homes of a particular decade in each region. I think you would find the style and construction of homes to be very similar.
Well, I do think that houses have gotten larger over time. However, I think the trend toward smaller houses will have to be a demand requested by more consumers. The big home builders are not building many ranch houses anymore, and I am sure the market exists for them.
One of the reasons why houses are smaller in the northeast is because of the high energy costs, especially for heating. Another reason for smaller houses is because electricity costs also tend to be higher. It is just more fiscally efficient to have a smaller house.
We just debunked the idea that houses are smaller in the NE. You pay for heating, you pay for cooling. I don't know who really WANTS smaller homes. As I said before, I wouldn't want to go back to one bathroom houses, or a house w/o a family room.
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.
