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.
I'm 42 and would rather live in a city. However, its clear that cities are booming. Real estate prices are booming and there is little outflow from the cities. That said, its expensive. And suburbs are soul-crushingly depressing, plus suburbs are massively subsidised and inefficient (although if a suburb had a walkable town center and rail service that would massively help).
I'll live in the country before I'll live in a nonwalkable postwar suburb
Well, I'm not saying move to Arizona (never been there) but I can say the big cities suck... clean air .. fumes from bumper to bumper traffic, living like a bunch of sardines, look out your window right into someone else's window. There's no way in hell I'd live in the city.
Spoken like someone who doesn't live in a city.
Look, I get the attraction of country living. We vacation in rural areas every year and its a beautiful, relaxing time and something all of us look forward to. Country living isn't for us, but may be once our kids are grown and move away.
My husband grew up in the country and absolutely hated it as did his brother. We live in a mid sized city while his brother lives in Philadelphia. They hated growing up in the country because it was a very insular experience. They had to drive upwards of 15 miles to get to a grocery store. Twenty to get to a library and even further to get to a movie theater. There were no restaurants or even convenience stores in the area. Even going to a friend's house required planning and either a ride from parents or extremely long walks.
Living in the city is much more convenient. We love that our kids can walk to and from school, practices, friends' houses, etc. Its a 5 minute drive to the library or a 15 minute bike ride. Grocery stores, library, movie theater and convenience stores are just blocks away from our home.
My point is...there are good and bad points to any mode of living and we have to prioritize for ourselves what we value. City people are no better than country people and vice versa. FWIW, one of my in-laws had her home robbed in broad daylight and she lives a good 25 miles from any thing you could even call a town, let alone a city.
[quote=Miami Temple;47649245]People are leaving the cities proper for the suburbs and others to locations where the cost of living is lower and where taxes are lower and there is less violence. Take Chicago where there is tremendous violence and because not only is the city flat broke the whole state is and they are talking about raising taxes including property taxes. Why would anyone stay with this mismanagement of government at all levels. Their pensions are bleeding and it is only a matter of time before they cut benefits and raise taxes. Most of California is in the same shape.
Check out Dallas and Houston in debts. Pensions, bonds ETC. AIN'T JUST DA NORTH ANY MORE.
Houston pension funds themselves report debts of $3.2 billion, but the real market value of Houston’s unfunded pension liability is $13.7 billion, according to a study published this year by Joshua Rauh, a finance professor and Hoover fellow at Stanford University.
Houston’s debts include $11.2 billion in outstanding bonds. If you subtract the city’s capital assets, such as buildings and roads, which aren’t likely to be sold off, and then compare the remaining liquid assets against non-pension debts, Houston is in the hole by $12.3 billion.
Add in the real pension debt, and you’re looking at a $26 billion debt for one city.
A major credit rating agency dinged Houston for its rising pension costs and lagging revenues, revising the city's general obligation debt outlook to "negative".
This is a city of BOOMING POPULATION that can't build a city from ditches in streets to full curbing? Developers must in new infill. Most don't anyway. Build new denser blocks with the street ditches intact.
regarding a possible municipal bankruptcy has brought an unwanted—but also necessary spotlight—on the pressing “Texas-size” fiscal predicament Dallas City Hall finds itself in.
“Dallas has a problem that could bring it to its knees
Moody’s reported that Dallas was struggling with more pension debt, relative to its resources, than any major American city except Chicago.
Dallas retirees concerned with the fund’s investments have withdrawn $220 million out of the city’s police and fire pension fund, which now needs a one-time infusion of $1.1 billion from the city just to keep treading water.
That amount is roughly equal to the city’s general fund budget. And local officials have no way to pay that.
Point is Chicago had decades building theirs and not booming in population as the sunbelt darlings. Though Chicago's core has been in boom stage.
Chicago does not deserve all the heat anymore. Even with President Obama over his Presidency. Finger pointing it as his hometown (it isn't) putdown is over.
Ironically, Chicago :
- rebuilt its expressways,
- can do Grand New Parks with attractions built in its Core
- builds underground parking garages in its core
- still maintain a city with full streets w/curbing and Street Sweeping service in all its neighborhoods
- besides a relatively clean Big city overall vs. others. The city has arguably the CLEANEST manicured Core in the Nation.
- beautifies its Core with lush greens in warm months and even tropical-like flowers.
But anyway, it's still broke, as is much of the nations and states. Chicago just still finds ways to maintain its over re-make and restoration. Not to would not maintain the great advancements its Crew especially has seen.
Boston can't build enough new housing units fast enough to keep up with demand. Its population is rising.
If big cities were truly in decline, why then is the cost of living (mainly tied to housing) continuing to increase? It seems the rising housing costs are connected to a great demand with inadequate supply. It might be accurate that some people may be getting priced out and are moving elsewhere. There are however even more people in line ready to take their place.
It's going to be interesting to see how the drying up of federal funding to large cities will affect the crime rates there. I know that Trump has cut federal funding to NYPD.
Location: Live:Downtown Phoenix, AZ/Work:Greater Los Angeles, CA
27,606 posts, read 14,610,214 times
Reputation: 9169
Quote:
Originally Posted by NY_refugee87
In my honest opinion... Rural living is the best.
Born and lived in Poughkeepsie until 7.
Moved upstate. To a town of 2,000 3k acres for a back yard. 1,200 developed the rest un touched.
Pre safe act, shoot guns in the woods.
Quads. Dirt bikes. Snowmobiles. Mud bogging. Hiking. Racing down unpopulated back roads. Deer, duck, and turkey Hunting. Fishing.
Crossing into states where fireworks were legal bring them back blow stuff up.
Jetskis and boats in the summer on the lake and Hudson river.
Plow a circle out when it snowed, grab a ton of pallets from lowes, home depot, walmart have a bonfire. Put a couple cases of beer in the snow. Had a mini mountain to hike up, snowboard down. Logging trail led to the crest, had an old lifted K20 I used to take up there cleared out a spot in the summer poured concrete in. Would grab a floor jack and jack the rear end up set it on blocks had a long cable slightly frayed from a few flat bed trucks and a wrecked YZ125. Planted the forks into the ground at the bottom of the hill, filled with concrete. Yanked the back tire off hooked that cable around the rim, the other end around a back tire on the old chevy, leave it in 1st adjust the idle screw on the carb to 1200rpm that was my ski lift snow board or ride a car hood down, walk over strap back into the board or sit back down on the car hood, grab ahold of the cable and back to the top. Used big pine tree and oak tree branches as idler pulleys until it started to saw into the branches.
(I miss snow. If it snowed in Florida and had mountains, it would be perfect)
Then the cityoits moved up and did nothing but complain... Wah boohoo your truck is too loud, I'm afraid to go jogging I might get shot by a hillbilly, wahh boohoo...
Bought a house 10 feet from a lake. Then the lake slowly was developed. Was surrounded by cry babies. Thats ok I got even with them. Come up Friday night from the city, dumb car alarms go off all hours of the night. Spot lights on all hours (no nyc resident can handle dark nights in the sticks) Saturday night blast that robot music til 4 in the morning, drinking, raising hell. I'd be out mowing my lawn at 8. When the neighbors complained, it was their first and last time. I went to the shop, hooked up the trailer and the stock car (12:1 big solid lifter cam small block chevy exhaust travelling to glasspacks) returned by 9. They still were sleeping/recovering from a hearty party.
Take the hood pins out remove the hood fire it up warm it up. Then "set the dwell" at 3500 when the glasspacks would really be rapping
Thats how cops get involved and when they agree the quiet time which the cityoit town board members established was between 11pm and 8am... Makes your cityiot neighbors put a for sale sign on their house and never return .
They used to really cry when I'd jump on my Harley boohoo we came up here for peace and quiet! Yeah. I don't care. Here's a quarter call someone who does. Lake would freeze over thick, could find me blazing across it on a snowmobile, banshee with studded tires, or slingin donuts with my truck. They'd call the cops for that too. You can go through the ice! Umm its been -30 to -50 for the last 2 weeks. An ice auger bottoms out and still cant get through to touch water out in the middle of the lake. Shut up. For alot of fun, put studded tires on the front of the stock car and plow a path to the lake. Had an ex girlfriend tow me around on the lake with the quad wearing ice skates that was fun. Most fun was going to empty parking lots when it snowed hook tow ropes to the hitch get a few friends and sleds and tow them around on unplowed parking lots.
I had more fun in the sticks from 7-28 years old than what any city or suburb has to offer. Especially in the winter.
Oooo fine dining... Ooo plays and opera... Ooo art galleries.... Ooo night clubs... My night club was the bed of a pickup truck, a custom audio system with a sliding back window, and neon lights tucked under the bed rails... Tell me you couldn't drink like that. Pfft. 2 half kegs in the big tool box and handles of JD Rum Gin and those smirnoff ice and twisted tea things the girls liked, covered in ice. No dress code at my parties. No meat head bouncers to throw you out either. Had a friend who worked at a detailers shop grab empty 55 gallon drums we cut the lids off thats where the red solo cups and empties went. Never left a mess anywhere we partied. Usually was out in the woods somewhere. Bring a tent and place your keys in the lock box. Once the drinks start flowing nobody is leaving. Used to keep the CB and police scanner going to make sure we were good. If the girls didnt have jeeps we'd truck them up. A great time was had by all.
People are leaving some big cities and moving to other big cities.
Rural areas are dying.
Suburbia is rekindling, like Roseville, California. Lots of mid-sized suburban cities with increasing population. Chandler, AZ, for example.
Migration favors the South, warmer areas, cheaper areas.
Parts of the Northeast are losing a lot of population.
As for me? I hate suburbia. Too much of the US is a monolithic suburbia, sparse, separate. That's what I love about Europe, the densely-populated, beautiful old cities with efficient public transport. Sadly, we all know Europe is crumbling as well. Not all of it, but too much. Prague is still OK.
You have to find the gems. Tallahassee, for example, is sort of a hidden gem. Maybe Mobile, Alabama. I can't think of much else... Too many American cities are showing increasing drawbacks. It's heartbreaking.
The country is stressed. The economy is limping. People are spending more time indoors, on the computer, isolated, alone.
Counter-culture is dead. The American spirit is on life support.
Look, I get the attraction of country living. We vacation in rural areas every year and its a beautiful, relaxing time and something all of us look forward to. Country living isn't for us, but may be once our kids are grown and move away.
My husband grew up in the country and absolutely hated it as did his brother. We live in a mid sized city while his brother lives in Philadelphia. They hated growing up in the country because it was a very insular experience. They had to drive upwards of 15 miles to get to a grocery store. Twenty to get to a library and even further to get to a movie theater. There were no restaurants or even convenience stores in the area. Even going to a friend's house required planning and either a ride from parents or extremely long walks.
Living in the city is much more convenient. We love that our kids can walk to and from school, practices, friends' houses, etc. Its a 5 minute drive to the library or a 15 minute bike ride. Grocery stores, library, movie theater and convenience stores are just blocks away from our home.
My point is...there are good and bad points to any mode of living and we have to prioritize for ourselves what we value. City people are no better than country people and vice versa. FWIW, one of my in-laws had her home robbed in broad daylight and she lives a good 25 miles from any thing you could even call a town, let alone a city.
I live about 18 miles outside the city and although we have to drive to go out but if I want to swim or relax in the jacuzzi I step out my back door. I like it. I grew up in the suburbs and had a lot of fun snowmobiling, biking, playing sports too. I'm not into living on top of each other. We are close enough to, far enough away but I don't like driving in the city because of the traffic. You are right, there are good and bad about both but for one to think they are better than the other is obnoxious.
Less wealthy are moving out. Big cities are for rich people. Wait until they have no waiters for the fancy restaurants, no police or firefighters or mechanics.
Not everywhere. There are plenty of cities that are thriving and have folks at all income levels in them. New York City and San Francisco are rarities, not the general rule.
Life in the city is a lot more than restaurants; there's always a lot going on, and living in the middle of it is both easier and cheaper than making a commute to the city to be a part of the activities. The young especially love the excitement of life in a big city.
They always have.
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.
snow board or ride a car hood down, walk over strap back into the board or sit back down on the car hood, grab ahold of the cable and back to the top. Used big pine tree and oak tree branches as idler pulleys until it started to saw into the branches.
