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The super high unemployment rate in Las Vegas indicates that there's much more going on behind the scenes and automatically negates a lot of those basic COL benefits. Plus Vegas is still a seedy city full of transient get rich types. The social scene reflects that where a night out is with a bunch of drunken tourists or befriending shady fly by night "professionals" in the city. I've known many many people who have lived and worked in Vegas too.
The unemployment is not super high. That is places like inland CA..
The rate in fact without the construction industry is at or below the nation average.
The professionals in the city are very much the same as in any southwestern city...neither my doctors or lawyer or accountant are the least bit unusual...and they are all well credentialed professionals.
Las Vegas is a little less transient than Dallas TX. You find Dallas hopelessly transient.
Locals deal with drunken tourists only as a part of their well paid jobs. The local community has its own rather normal social life...though the strip adds to opportunity to exceed that if the rare urge occurs.
And from your views you obviously are expert on the wrong part of Las Vegas. I would expect you are in contact with that same social group wherever you live. The lower end search each other out.
Given how subjective any of this is I highly doubt you could "prove" your belief to the satisfaction of a majority of folks. I think you have a reasonable case w.r.t Philadelphia's position in the Northeast but the a lot of the other regions in the country are lower cost and can also offer urban amenities. Much of the midwest comes to mind immediately: Chicago, Minneapolis, Milwaukee etc and the sunbelt has always been historically one of the cheapest regions to live in with some areas that also support more than just suburbs.
In general downtowns have been strengthening over the last decade and that trend seems to be continuing so your choices and opportunities to live an urban lifestyle are expanding.
Ben
Interesting - The NY Times continues to indicate that salaries are a bit lower and the cost of living higher in Dallas than in Las Vegas.
Obviously a different data base.
Lots of sites indicate that housing costs in Dallas are substantially less than Las Vegas. That is hopelessly untrue. The best virtue of Las Vegas right now is low housing cost. 30 or 40% less than Dallas at the moment.
Detroit. It's a metro area of about 5 million and has all of the amenities that go along with a metro of such a size. Yet, the cost of living (especially property values) are about as cheap as they get.
Detroit. It's a metro area of about 5 million and has all of the amenities that go along with a metro of such a size. Yet, the cost of living (especially property values) are about as cheap as they get.
That is true in Cleveland as well. I don't think there is anyplace in America where you can purchase a beautiful Art Deco 2,000+ SF home for as cheaply as you can in Detroit or Cleveland. You can own a small mansion for a quarter mill!
That is true in Cleveland as well. I don't think there is anyplace in America where you can purchase a beautiful Art Deco 2,000+ SF home for as cheaply as you can in Detroit or Cleveland. You can own a small mansion for a quarter mill!
I've never lived in Cleveland, but always felt it was an underrated city after several great times there.
Chicago while a great city, and my hometown, isn't as cheap to own in the nicer areas that are around the amenities as some people might think, or make it seem.
That is true in Cleveland as well. I don't think there is anyplace in America where you can purchase a beautiful Art Deco 2,000+ SF home for as cheaply as you can in Detroit or Cleveland. You can own a small mansion for a quarter mill!
Yeah, pretty much any major Great Lakes metro will offer quite a bit at a pretty affordable price/cost of living.
The ones on my radar have been mostly rust-belt or former rust-belt cities which have good bones, but have been emaciated over the last few decades. I think there's been a slow turn for them, but they are turning for the better for the most part with the population loss either plateauing or slowing and likely to return to a period of modest growth. These cities are generally in fairly high tax states, but there are trade-offs (or potential trade-offs for when they get their ducks in a row) for those high taxes and the cost-of-living is fairly low in them.
Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Philadelphia, Atlanta to me.
Last edited by Heyooooo; 11-08-2012 at 05:58 PM..
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