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Old 12-05-2009, 07:47 PM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,616 posts, read 77,608,316 times
Reputation: 19101

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Quote:
Originally Posted by toredyvik View Post
hi.
Hello!
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Old 12-05-2009, 08:18 PM
 
Location: Northern Virginia
274 posts, read 708,952 times
Reputation: 99
How much did we get then?

Quote:
Originally Posted by normie View Post
Trust me, we're not going to get 4 inches.
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Old 12-05-2009, 08:31 PM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,616 posts, read 77,608,316 times
Reputation: 19101
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jlyles View Post
How much did we get then?
Ouch! No need to say "told ya so" to Normie!
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Old 12-05-2009, 08:36 PM
 
Location: Springfield
2,765 posts, read 8,328,564 times
Reputation: 1114
Quote:
Originally Posted by ScranBarre View Post
Ouch! No need to say "told ya so" to Normie!
Hey Scranny, when did you decide to move to Pittsburgh ?
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Old 12-05-2009, 09:11 PM
 
43,011 posts, read 108,040,030 times
Reputation: 30721
Quote:
Originally Posted by VRE332 View Post
Hey Scranny, when did you decide to move to Pittsburgh ?
Pittsburgh has always been his first preference. He simply ended up in Virginia due to forces beyong his control.
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Old 12-05-2009, 10:09 PM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,616 posts, read 77,608,316 times
Reputation: 19101
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hopes View Post
Pittsburgh has always been his first preference. He simply ended up in Virginia due to forces beyong his control.
It was called I didn't think all of Fairfax County was an incessant sprawl. I thought I could have moved here with a chipper outlook on life and been reasonably content, but by and large after living here for nearly seven months now I'm still not seeing a good "bang for your buck" factor in living on a shoestring budget and getting traffic congestion, dreary architecture, NIMBYism, and unfriendliness as my "payoff." At least with Pittsburgh I could cut my salary by 10%, cut my cost-of-living by 50%, and live in a 1-BR apartment within walking distance to Downtown instead of a 1-BR apartment 20 miles outside the District where there's not even a convenient Metro station anywhere nearby. Guess what? I could look at old brick rowhomes everyday instead of Brady Bunch-like 1970s-era apartment clusters too! Moving here was definitely the biggest mistake of my life.
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Old 12-06-2009, 03:27 PM
 
257 posts, read 565,840 times
Reputation: 80
Quote:
Originally Posted by ScranBarre View Post
It was called I didn't think all of Fairfax County was an incessant sprawl.
How hard did you look before making that assumption?

Quote:
I thought I could have moved here with a chipper outlook on life and been reasonably content,
In more recent posts, you said you moved here expecting to hate it but would try to make the best of it.

Quote:
but by and large after living here for nearly seven months now I'm still not seeing a good "bang for your buck" factor in living on a shoestring budget and getting traffic congestion, dreary architecture, NIMBYism, and unfriendliness as my "payoff."
Serious question, is this the first time you've lived on your own and worked full time? Did you make assumptions about your spending habits that were a bit too optimistic? When I first started participating here regularly, I remember you had said that you weren't "slummin' it" but that you were doing just fine. But then I also took one look at your posted budget and realized that you were, in fact, stretching it. A lot.

Quote:
Moving here was definitely the biggest mistake of my life.
So then why'd you do it? Seriously -- reading most of what you've wrote over the last several months, a critical look at "the facts" (you, your age, your income...) would have told me that this wouldn't be "ideal" for you. But I think you put on the rose colored glasses, hoping everything would be "perfect." And, I'm afraid you're doing the same thing with your pending Pittsburgh move. (In one thread you posted a proposed budget, and it was clear to me that you made some rather aggressive assumptions that are unlikely to hold true.)

Although... I did live here for a few years after college, and I made less money than you do now. I was not a big fan of the area, and welcomed an opportunity to get the heck out of here. Moving back here, well, let's just say it's a lot better when you can afford it.
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Old 12-07-2009, 04:56 AM
 
43,011 posts, read 108,040,030 times
Reputation: 30721
Quote:
Originally Posted by anonymous703 View Post
So then why'd you do it? Seriously -- reading most of what you've wrote over the last several months, a critical look at "the facts" (you, your age, your income...) would have told me that this wouldn't be "ideal" for you. But I think you put on the rose colored glasses, hoping everything would be "perfect." And, I'm afraid you're doing the same thing with your pending Pittsburgh move. (In one thread you posted a proposed budget, and it was clear to me that you made some rather aggressive assumptions that are unlikely to hold true.)
He researched Pittsburgh for years, but ended up there for whatever reason. Even if his budget was unrealistic or he is stretching it too far with over spending, I guarantee you that his money will stretch father in Pittsburgh. Coming from a higher cost of living area, he'll do just fine.

Most people have NO CLUE that Pittsburgh is very affordable. It's clear that's the case for you too. I found ScranBarre's budgets you reference. His assumptions about Pittsburgh were not aggressive. You can decent one bedroom apartment in the city for $600---even less in some neighborhoods. Even if he keeps his car, he'll save a fortune in gasoline savings by living in the city where there is frequent public transportation and many walkable neighborhoods with restaurants, stores and entertainment.

Housing prices in Pittsburgh range from being 75% to 174% cheaper than housing in Virginia (you can verify by selecting random cities and towns Virginia for an internet cost of living calculator.)


(I accidently stumbled upon this thread because I love making fun of southerners and snow. )
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Old 12-07-2009, 07:50 AM
 
Location: Central Maine
1,473 posts, read 3,200,853 times
Reputation: 1296
About four wheel drives. I've lived in northern Maine for about 10 years (and in Maine for about 40 more) and owned four wheel drives. For about 98% of the drivers, four wheel drives are worse than front wheel drives. First of all, four wheel drives are only better in deep snow. That being snow over 6 inches (on the road) driving at maximum speed about 25 -35 mph. The main advantage to a four wheel drive is that they get going easier and are higher off the ground. A huge disadvantage is that they handle completely differently than a normal vehicle and stop worse. Unless you've driven in heavy snow for a long time, you are worse off. The biggest disadvantage (and this applies to everyone) is that they encourage overconfidence. In Maine, at least 60% of the vehicles I see off the road are SUV's and pickup trucks. Here, I can't tell you how many people in my office proudly spout that they own an SUV for the snow. It's funny.

I drove from Caribou to Van Buren, Maine everyday on snow covered roads and in several blizzards to work in a Toyota Camry. A friend of mine died in a car accident on that road driving a Ford Explorer.
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Old 12-07-2009, 08:25 AM
 
12,905 posts, read 15,658,187 times
Reputation: 9394
Quote:
Originally Posted by bangorme View Post
I drove from Caribou to Van Buren, Maine everyday on snow covered roads and in several blizzards to work in a Toyota Camry. A friend of mine died in a car accident on that road driving a Ford Explorer.

I know the roads you are speaking of. I lived in Caribou for one VERY long year of my life (driving a Nissan Sentra of all things). The drive from Caribou to Presque Isle could be quite scary and it sort of stopped me from continuing my college education!

I will say though that I found the driving in Caribou to be much easier than driving here in snow/slush. The snow was so dry and it's so darn COLD there that I was always able to get good traction it seemed.
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