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Old 09-06-2017, 08:21 PM
 
68 posts, read 83,736 times
Reputation: 72

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Working Class can’t afford the American Dream in Pittsburgh

According to this study, the typical working class family in Pittsburgh needs an extra $20,600 per year just to break even on a reasonable standard of living.

From the article:

Each bubble represents a city. The color corresponds to the amount of money a typical working-class family would have left over at the end of the year after paying for their living costs, like housing, food and transportation. The darker the shade of red, the worse off you are. The darker the shade of green, the better off you are. The size of the bubble also fits on a sliding scale—large and dark red means the city is totally unaffordable. Bigger dark green bubbles likewise indicate a city where the working class can get by.

https://howmuch.net/articles/where-t...afford-to-live

It's time to face the cold, hard reality that Pittsburgh is becoming unaffordable to all but the affluent.
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Old 09-06-2017, 09:06 PM
 
68 posts, read 83,736 times
Reputation: 72
Those are middle class homes. A working class family may find it hard to save up enough for a down payment without sufficient savings.

How does someone save to buy a home if they have next to nothing left over at the end of the month?

Raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour is how we fix the problem.
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Old 09-06-2017, 09:26 PM
 
Location: Pittsburgh's North Side
1,701 posts, read 1,591,620 times
Reputation: 1849
Quote:
Originally Posted by jfds View Post
Raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour is how we fix the problem.
Well, okay. There's plenty of data supporting the fact that American workers are taking home much smaller portion of the GDP than could be considered healthy or sustainable, and that corporations are raking in disproportionately high profits thanks to stagnant wages and reckless tax cuts. I can see that, and the fight for 15 is part of this conversation.

I'm not sure I follow, however, how this is specific to Pittsburgh. We have a reasonably low cost of living compared to most cities this size. Sure, a working class family would struggle to buy middle class real estate here, but that's true virtually everywhere. Or were you using Pittsburgh as an example for some other reason that isn't quite clear?
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Old 09-06-2017, 10:15 PM
 
5,894 posts, read 6,855,137 times
Reputation: 4107
Quote:
Originally Posted by jfds View Post
Those are middle class homes. A working class family may find it hard to save up enough for a down payment without sufficient savings.

How does someone save to buy a home if they have next to nothing left over at the end of the month?

Raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour is how we fix the problem.
If your income is low you only have to come up with 3% as a down payment on many homes here. That being said, home ownership isn't a particular good idea anyways if your income is low anyways.
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Old 09-06-2017, 11:06 PM
 
Location: Pittsburgh
3,298 posts, read 3,867,682 times
Reputation: 3141
Raising the minimum wage won't lower the cost of housing. We have a city full of old overpriced houses that need a lot of work. I could get the same for less in other Rust Belt cities. SCR will be living like a king if he gets a decent job in one of those cities.
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Old 09-06-2017, 11:42 PM
 
4,823 posts, read 4,917,778 times
Reputation: 2162
Quote:
Originally Posted by jfds View Post
Those are middle class homes. A working class family may find it hard to save up enough for a down payment without sufficient savings.

How does someone save to buy a home if they have next to nothing left over at the end of the month?

Raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour is how we fix the problem.
How does someone save to but a home if they have next to nothing left over at wend of the month? You get a 2nd job. Or, you look outside the city in lower cost areas. Or you keep saving so you can swoop in when the current housing bubble pops, provided you don't lose your job in the ensuing economic depression, again.
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Old 09-07-2017, 12:37 AM
 
8,924 posts, read 5,590,757 times
Reputation: 12559
Sometimes you have to choose house over area. Few people can have exactly size home they want in the exact area they want.
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Old 09-07-2017, 04:42 AM
 
Location: Etna, PA
2,860 posts, read 1,885,813 times
Reputation: 2747
Quote:
Originally Posted by jfds View Post
Raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour is how we fix the problem.
And what about those of us who are already making $15/hour?
This is going to have an adverse impact on our quality of life, because we're going to be impacted by the inflationary effect on the prices that this police would create.
I'm sick of the pseudo-Communist Progressives trying to pry some of the crumbs out of my hand to redistribute them to people less responsible than me.

Quote:
Originally Posted by bluecarebear View Post
Raising the minimum wage won't lower the cost of housing. We have a city full of old overpriced houses that need a lot of work. I could get the same for less in other Rust Belt cities. SCR will be living like a king if he gets a decent job in one of those cities.
Oooohhhh, a double-blasphemy!
Railing against minimum wage and saying some housing here is overpriced!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kamms View Post
Or, you look outside the city in lower cost areas. Or you keep saving so you can swoop in when the current housing bubble pops, provided you don't lose your job in the ensuing economic depression, again.
OMG, another double-blasphemy!
Suggesting that people look outside of the Most Holy, Pure, and Enlightened City of Pittsburgh for their housing and suggesting that said City is in a housing bubble!

I need a "safe space" to recover from all of these microaggressions.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tominftl View Post
Sometimes you have to choose house over area. Few people can have exactly size home they want in the exact area they want.
Indeed. Like buying a house in Etna. Better governmental services provided, better school district, lower taxes, and I paid literally a third for my house than what I would have paid if it was located across the river in Lawrenceville.

There still is affordable housing in the Pittsburgh region, in convenient locations.
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Old 09-07-2017, 04:48 AM
 
6,357 posts, read 5,022,890 times
Reputation: 3309
Quote:
Originally Posted by jfds View Post

How does someone save to buy a home if they have next to nothing left over at the end of the month?
some rough, quick numbers of what can be saved or gained monthly:

use a trac fone instead of a smart phone: $80

use birth control: $100 minimum, per child, per month, over a decade (price of birth
control negligible)

bye/use smaller cars: $20

a second job, a few hours a week, as security guard, cleaner, etc. (they are out there):
$70

stay with family: $40

it's a struggle, but possible. live like a pauper - not that you go out in public in what you slept in (in this town, it looks like a lot do do that), but i disagree that all hope is lost to buy a house. it may take years, but its possible.

i was thinking about this this morning, in fact. its not ENTIRELY the cost of things...its LIFESTYLE. In post war US, families cohabitated until the children married off, whereas now young people are out on their own at 20, or younger (this is an illustration - not a mandate). A radio was entertainment for young people then - now hundreds is spent on personal electronics.

sorry, i just can't get on board with this malaise about home ownership, and i'm not even quite there yet for myself, in fact, but that is my own fault.

*dismounts from his high horse*
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