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Old 05-05-2011, 01:33 PM
 
16,087 posts, read 41,162,235 times
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Maybe the meaning of maverick has evolved. Do I sound old if I say "burr under the saddle"?
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Old 05-05-2011, 01:50 PM
 
307 posts, read 477,057 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80 View Post

Add on to that "the lifestyle" - two mid range luxury cars (like 5-series BMW or Lexus SUV) plus gas/insurance/ tolls can run $2k per month. Feeding a family of 4 can be another $1k in groceries and $1k+ of eating out each month. Home bills can be another $1-1.5k for electricty, cable, maid, lawn care, etc. If there is a nanny involved due to both parents working, that can run $2.5-5k per month. All that adds up to $8-10k per month. Then add on kids activities (dance lessons, tutors, club soccer teams, church retreats, lunch money, school supplies, etc) all add up too!

The money can go very, very quickly on "normal" things.
I would find these things to be very debatably "normal".
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Old 05-05-2011, 05:44 PM
 
13,194 posts, read 28,298,950 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lakewooder View Post
OK I did use that figure to make a point in another post so turnabout is fair play. That high figure (going up about $200K) has shown up for two consecutive months of real estate reports in the Lakewood Advocate. HOWEVER, you and I both know there are great homes for half that price. They may be smaller, but even the standard size for a real mansion in the old days was not that large...there are people living in guest houses, apartments and duplexes who enjoy many of the same amenities and rewards of the neighborhood.
I do know that there are great homes for half the price. But we can assume that the "average" home buyer in Lakewood would like to live in an "average" home for the area....not be at the bottom end in a tiny 2/2 cottage.

It's no different than the Park Cities in that regard- you "CAN" buy an 1100sf HPISD home on Lovers Lane for $500k, but the "average" shopper wants an "average" HPISD home which costs nearly 2x that and is 3X larger.
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Old 05-05-2011, 05:45 PM
 
13,194 posts, read 28,298,950 times
Reputation: 13142
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr. Jake Oil View Post
I would find these things to be very debatably "normal".
But "normal" depends on what's "normal" for the area/neighborhood. If 70% of your neighbors are living that lifestyle, it's the "norm," whether you subscribe to it or not.
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Old 05-05-2011, 07:07 PM
 
Location: Dallas, TX
2,346 posts, read 6,927,150 times
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You seem to making 2 opposing points here about the Park Cities.

Quote:
Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80 View Post
I think there is more "social pressure" in the new money areas like Frisco, Plano, and Southlake than in Lakewood/ Park Cities/ Preston Hollow.
...

In newer areas where many people are new/ unknown, there seems to be more blatant spending to show where parents & kids fit in.
So, you're saying the CoCo and Southlake people use money to "buy" their way up the social ladder, whereas Parkies don't do that. You've used that argument before when encouraging posters to move to HP/UP - they won't have to open their wallets to get invites to playgroups.

You go on to say this:

Quote:
The in-town neighborhoods are more accepting based on your pedigree (Oh, your maiden name was "xyz"? I grew up with your brother! Oh, we went to SMU together. Oh, you went to Camp Longhorn? So did my wife!, etc) than what you wear/drive/etc. ... The pecking order is more "old money" mentality because so many people have lived in/near the areas their whole life or married someone who grew up there.
Hmmm, that's the dark side of the "we Parkies don't care about money" mindset. Specifically, that your place on the social totem pole is set by who you know (and who your parents know), not what you make. Point taken, but that would seem to make UP/HP a terrible place for "new money" to move to.

So far, I'll buy all that. But wait! (Here's where you are contradicting yourself.) There's an exception to that "HP/UP New Money Freeze-out" status.

Quote:
If I were to rate the ease of moving into an area like the Park Cities/ Lakewood/ PH, I would rank the "situations" in this order:

...

2. Have mega-money and be savy enough to quickly surmise the social ettiquette of the area (ie, NOT ok to buy your 16-y-o a Hummer and if your kid says "I'm rich" you correct him and say "you are not rich. your daddy is rich. you'll need to work hard to have your own").

3. Have average money and have grown up there or married someone who did.....or have attended SMU/ UT/ Camp Longhorn.

...


Again, hmmmm. So mega-money in HP/UP trumps being well-connected in HP/UP. I guess you CAN buy your way up the social ladder in HP/UP - it just takes a lot more $$$ than in the suburbs, and you keep the money in your wallet (except for the $1M+ you blew buying the HP/UP property). Perhaps the two places aren't so different after all.
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Old 05-05-2011, 07:14 PM
 
1,004 posts, read 3,755,171 times
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I don't understand why one cares so much what neighbors think. If they are nice, it's cool and if they are snooty then I just don't talk to them or care. I truly never cared about what car a neighbor drives.....
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Old 05-05-2011, 07:37 PM
 
13,194 posts, read 28,298,950 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Big G View Post
Again, hmmmm. So mega-money in HP/UP trumps being well-connected in HP/UP. I guess you CAN buy your way up the social ladder in HP/UP - it just takes a lot more $$$ than in the suburbs, and you keep the money in your wallet (except for the $1M+ you blew buying the HP/UP property). Perhaps the two places aren't so different after all.
Sure you can. Angie Barrett is a perfect example of that. In the 1980's she was a Neiman Marcus sales girl living a modest life with a hubby & 2 kiddos. By the late 1980's, she was living in a jail cell after being convicted of running a major shop-lifting ring. By the late 1990's, she was married to a big bucks beer distributor and living on Beverly Drive in a $10M home, with virtually unlimited funds to shop for ballgowns to wear to her various charity events.

I don't think I've contradicted myself. Is it "EASIER" to move into the Park Cities with mega money? Sure it is. But it doesn't mean those with "average HPISD" money will be shunned. It just means life won't be as easy and effortless as floating in and being able to do it all.
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Old 05-05-2011, 08:32 PM
 
Location: North Texas
24,561 posts, read 40,285,459 times
Reputation: 28564
Quote:
Originally Posted by galore View Post
I don't understand why one cares so much what neighbors think. If they are nice, it's cool and if they are snooty then I just don't talk to them or care. I truly never cared about what car a neighbor drives.....
I don't get it either. I can afford to buy a Mercedes or a Lexus, but I don't. I don't need a luxury car; my Asian imported sedan gets me where I need to go.
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Old 05-05-2011, 09:33 PM
 
Location: under a rock
1,487 posts, read 1,707,417 times
Reputation: 1032
Man, listening to you dudes makes me happy i'm poor.
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Old 05-05-2011, 10:39 PM
 
2,714 posts, read 4,281,921 times
Reputation: 1314
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigDGeek View Post
I don't get it either. I can afford to buy a Mercedes or a Lexus, but I don't. I don't need a luxury car; my Asian imported sedan gets me where I need to go.
Same here, easily afford buying those things-- but why would I want to?

Why would anyone want to live somewhere with that much social pressure?
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