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The low taxes are why the school system sucks there. Mississippi is ranked 49th on the list of 'most educated states' and West Virginia is ranked 50th.
Yes, but West Virginians despite a "school system" that sucks pay much less of their incomes on mortgages then people on the educated coasts.
I am sure the liberals in California are convincing themselves of that when they are on the 91 in bumper to bumper traffic at 5am in the morning trying to get to the office in Irvine by 7am or the liberals in Irvine who pay $1,000,000 for a small single-family home with $10,000 in property taxes and a 10% state income tax rate for middle-class.
They also have hardly any taxes compared to the coasts either. I just looked at a home online, 3 bedroom family sized house in Martinsburg with $900 in property tax and it is near a commuter rail to Washington DC
2,000 square foot house in Wheeling, WV near Pittsburgh $400 in property tax.
Yes, but West Virginians despite a "school system" that sucks pay much less of their incomes on mortgages then people on the educated coasts.
I am sure the liberals in California are convincing themselves of that when they are on the 91 in bumper to bumper traffic at 5am in the morning trying to get to the office in Irvine by 7am or the liberals in Irvine who pay $1,000,000 for a small single-family home with $10,000 in property taxes and a 10% state income tax rate for middle-class.
They also have hardly any taxes compared to the coasts either. I just looked at a home online, 3 bedroom family sized house in Martinsburg with $900 in property tax and it is near a commuter rail to Washington DC
2,000 square foot house in Wheeling, WV near Pittsburgh $400 in property tax.
But skimping on education is penny wise and dollar foolish. It saves a bit to have lousy failing schools, but then you end up with poor education and poor opportunities to make more money and do more with your life.
I don't know why you're comparing CA and WV as if there aren't other rural states out there. Vermont is as rural as WV and has way less pollution, better schools, better healthcare access and no I'm not in bumper to bumper traffic when I go to work. Yes we pay for it with taxes but while I'd like our property taxes to be lower, I wouldn't support doing it at the cost of having schools like those in MS. Not even all of CA is like LA or such. CA has vast rural areas because it's an enormous state. Not my choice for a place to live for a lot of reasons but we don't have to pretend all of CA is LA or San Francisco.
Yes, that's what I've always wondered: how good is a "good" job if you have to pay 3x for a house and spend 20% of your conscious life sitting in traffic?
I really don't envy all of the debt slaves on the coasts, even if there are higher-paying jobs there. The pay differential does not usually cover the differential in COL.
I live in MA and it's very expensive. i have to leave for work at 5:30AM in order not to deal with the traffic. Everything here is expensive. And things are really fast here. I cannot tell if that's due to the region or getting older, but time slips by quickly these days. OTOH, my kids will have an excellent education from K-12 through college. That alone is a deal breaker for the likes of Mississippi or WV. We care about our environment, drinking water, healthcare, etc. My job is pretty cool as well. It's good. So, there are pros and cons for both regions.
Do you think that Charleston, WV and Los Angeles, CA are fair comparisons?
Nobody thinks that. What's that saying? Torture the numbers long enough they'll confess to anything. Los Angeles has 5 times the population of WV.
lovecrowds is mining the data for outliers, whether he acknowledges it or not.
One might as well compare Beverly Hills (34K) with Charleston (51K) - they're at least in the same order of magnitude - but that would probably not look that great for Charleston.
Yes, but West Virginians despite a "school system" that sucks pay much less of their incomes on mortgages then people on the educated coasts.
I am sure the liberals in California are convincing themselves of that when they are on the 91 in bumper to bumper traffic at 5am in the morning trying to get to the office in Irvine by 7am or the liberals in Irvine who pay $1,000,000 for a small single-family home with $10,000 in property taxes and a 10% state income tax rate for middle-class.
They also have hardly any taxes compared to the coasts either. I just looked at a home online, 3 bedroom family sized house in Martinsburg with $900 in property tax and it is near a commuter rail to Washington DC
2,000 square foot house in Wheeling, WV near Pittsburgh $400 in property tax.
I've been to Wheeling; it's depressing. Not that I like megapolitan California commutes, either, but at least a lot of communities in CA are reasonably prosperous, have good schools, etc.
Yes, but West Virginians despite a "school system" that sucks pay much less of their incomes on mortgages then people on the educated coasts.
Well, that makes sense. The intelligent people in the next generation are going to get the heck out of WV anyway, and those who remain don't need no fancy book learnin' to flip burgers and run a Wal-Mart checkout. So why waste good education on the overachievers who'll skedaddle anyway?
Yes, but West Virginians despite a "school system" that sucks pay much less of their incomes on mortgages then people on the educated coasts.
I am sure the liberals in California are convincing themselves of that when they are on the 91 in bumper to bumper traffic at 5am in the morning trying to get to the office in Irvine by 7am or the liberals in Irvine who pay $1,000,000 for a small single-family home with $10,000 in property taxes and a 10% state income tax rate for middle-class.
They also have hardly any taxes compared to the coasts either. I just looked at a home online, 3 bedroom family sized house in Martinsburg with $900 in property tax and it is near a commuter rail to Washington DC
2,000 square foot house in Wheeling, WV near Pittsburgh $400 in property tax.
Why aren't you living in WV rather than in AZ then?
I have to admit I have spent much time in Rural America but also much time in places like California and Colorado which are filled with overwhelmed people trying to live a millionaires lifestyle at the end of the day.
Most are just trying to live middle-class lifestyles. California and Colorado, though expensive and cumbersome, offer plenty of middle-class jobs, whereas places like Mississippi and West Virginia don't.
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But at the end of the day, people in West Virginia have a non-existent commute, very little pollution, low electric bills from all the coal and most of them have houses paid off with hardly any property taxes.
As long as you don't mind being in West Virginia, that's a great deal. But not a lot of people are stampeding over there, for a variety of reasons.
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Love seeing the 91 from Riverside into Orange County at 5am packed with miles long traffic jams as West Virginians will be in bed for a couple more hours with their non-existent commutes
I'm not a fan of big commutes, either. What a waste of time and resources.
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California chasing fantasies by either paying a million plus for a small house or commuting in bumper to bumper traffic for hours each way thinking that they will all be rich executives some day.
2,100 median mortgage payment in California, 900 in West Virginia
Most Californians in the rat race are just middle class, but they stay there because that's where the jobs and opportunities are. I agree that the mortgage payments are scary high, but for those lucky enough to have a home that they're paying mortgage on, they will probably get back a decent return on investment when they sell. Many communities in MS and WV have stable or declining home prices.
The low taxes are why the school system sucks there. Mississippi is ranked 49th on the list of 'most educated states' and West Virginia is ranked 50th.
That's not why and California isn't too hot either.
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