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We're three pages in and not one person has suggested that they are just happy where they are and that fact doesn't make them morally or intellectually deficient in some way? Even the people saying they understand the decision seem to be throwing subtle insults at them, like they just don't know any better or are ignorant or fearful. Maybe they just like it there.
I think that goes without saying, and most posters on this thread understand that. It takes all kinds to make the world go 'round, and there IS nothing wrong with wanting to simply stay put. Thank gawd there are people who feel that way, because if there weren't, there would be ghost towns (and ghost cities) all over the country and in other parts of the world.
Having said that, I don't like the implication that people who DO choose to leave one particular area - for whatever reason - are doing so only for money. That's kind of insulting to the tens of millions of immigrants to this country, including my parents, who settled here for reasons far more significant than "the almighty dollar," as one poster disrespectfully put it.
Seems to me that subtle insults are being hurled from both sides on this thread.
Grass isn't greener can have many facets (is life ever really perfect?) but you never know unless you take that leap. Unfortunately, risks never come with guarantees.
Along this 'life isn't greener' line...my brothers and I grew up in small town Oklahoma. They stayed home and got jobs after high school but I joined the Navy and then went to College in another state. Now when I go back to that small town all I see is change -- and not for the better. Stores closed. Factory closed. Neighborhoods in decline.
But because they have stayed there and the change occurred so slowly they don't really see the degree of change that I do. To them it is home and they don't see any advantage to moving elsewhere. If you don't get out and look around you really don't know if it's greener elsewhere or not.
No better way to do that than to save your dimes and do some travelling. Go to places you would like to live, not just theme parks or resorts like Sandals.
my wife and I travel when we can afford to, and I found So Cal to be very much to my liking, even though it was at times when I visited, crowded, and not everyone was nice.
Common sense. Yes it's crowded. It's gonna cost me more. But it's time for me to ask for more as a professional as well.
Along this 'life isn't greener' line...my brothers and I grew up in small town Oklahoma. They stayed home and got jobs after high school but I joined the Navy and then went to College in another state. Now when I go back to that small town all I see is change -- and not for the better. Stores closed. Factory closed. Neighborhoods in decline.
But because they have stayed there and the change occurred so slowly they don't really see the degree of change that I do. To them it is home and they don't see any advantage to moving elsewhere. If you don't get out and look around you really don't know if it's greener elsewhere or not.
This is how my wife and I feel when we visit family in Tennessee. Stores we used to go to, restaurants we ate at, are now closing, and there's no replacement coming into the building. Schools are falling apart, there's not much money in the small town we lived in, and luckily we got out while we're still young. In a matter of just 2 years, every time we have visited, she asks me if it was this bad when we left, and I tell her yes, she just couldn't see it when that was the day-in, day-out world we inhabited.
Maybe not....just saying!
Always root for those who chose to stay and make their homes in a tougher place. And sometimes if you have a job that pays great in an industry that hasn't died it may indeed pay off to stay there.
But if socially, economically, educationally, politically, philosophically.............
A few reasons:
Cost of living. When we look at where business is booming like say the Northeast, it is very expensive to live there especially in the cities while more suburban, even rural areas are cheaper to live in.
Family. Maybe they live where they do due to close ties with the family or perhaps they don't make enough to live in an apartment, even divided three or four ways and can only live with parents.
Risk vs. Reward. We often hear many tout the Dakotas and Texas for the "boom in oil" but we forget that unless you have a warchest or no someone, you'll likely be on the streets in weeks if you can't find anything. Is the risk of being homeless worth the money it takes to fully uproot? It's not like the 1800's when people could move from one side of the US to the other and actually support themselves. Most people don't have farming skills and those that do, may not have the money to continue to pay for it along with electricity and other needs today.
Seems to me that subtle insults are being hurled from both sides on this thread.
Nothing subtle about mine. Emigrations has a history of disparaging people who choose to live in northeast TN. The region doesn't meet his ideals economically so therefore people must be ignorant not to leave, yeah, that get's real old when it gets thrown around repeatedly
If you want to go somewhere to make a better life for yourself, fine, but don't imply that the people who don't follow in your footsteps are stupid because they don't care about being able to make money to the same degree you do. Especially if you obsess over it to the point that you make thread after thread about it on CD.
I think that goes without saying, and most posters on this thread understand that. It takes all kinds to make the world go 'round, and there IS nothing wrong with wanting to simply stay put. Thank gawd there are people who feel that way, because if there weren't, there would be ghost towns (and ghost cities) all over the country and in other parts of the world.
Having said that, I don't like the implication that people who DO choose to leave one particular area - for whatever reason - are doing so only for money. That's kind of insulting to the tens of millions of immigrants to this country, including my parents, who settled here for reasons far more significant than "the almighty dollar," as one poster disrespectfully put it.
Seems to me that subtle insults are being hurled from both sides on this thread.
DubbleT is right. To be fair, improving their finances IS the point the OP is making (and has made many times before on other threads). He is highly critical of his friends and relatives who refuse to take his advice that they will never better themselves unless they leave East Tennessee. And his idea of bettering himself is clearly, first and foremost, making more money than he could make in the area where he was raised and his parents still live.
Because there is more to life than work. I can't imagine someone choosing to live in Detroit, but rural Tennessee or the mountains of Colorado could be charming, especially if you grew up there. And low COL. Some move away but return after retirement.
DubbleT is right. To be fair, improving their finances IS the point the OP is making (and has made many times before on other threads). He is highly critical of his friends and relatives who refuse to take his advice that they will never better themselves unless they leave East Tennessee. And his idea of bettering himself is clearly, first and foremost, making more money than he could make in the area where he was raised and his parents still live.
Okay. I haven't read his other posts/threads. Sorry.
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