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I grew up in a small harbor village an hour south of Boston. I lived my entire adult life elsewhere where I could earn my high tech living. I bought a summer house there in my early 50s planning for it to be my summer retirement home. It fits into my boat/beach/bicycle lifestyle.
I grew up in a small harbor village an hour south of Boston. I lived my entire adult life elsewhere where I could earn my high tech living. I bought a summer house there in my early 50s planning for it to be my summer retirement home. It fits into my boat/beach/bicycle lifestyle.
Yes! A piece of me cries every time I see BRAND NEW apartments in Dallas renting for $800.
For sure. I'm in sales, so it actually is kind of possible, kind of, won't bore you on details. But, imo the more you make the more you spend. So, hypothetically, if you can afford a 2 million dollar house in Seattle you'd buy a 2 million dollar house in Dallas
For sure. I'm in sales, so it actually is kind of possible, kind of, won't bore you on details. But, imo the more you make the more you spend. So, hypothetically, if you can afford a 2 million dollar house in Seattle you'd buy a 2 million dollar house in Dallas
Agreed. A lot of the people I went school with have household incomes in a similar range. The ones that live in West Coast cities have 2000sqft houses on city lots, the ones that live in Texas burbs have 6000 sqft houses on big lots with all the expensive finishes. Purchase prices are similar. People tend to buy the nicest house they can afford, so there isn't as much savings as you'd expect. A lot of this has to do with a desire to filter out poor neighbors and the problems that come with them (schools, crime, how well upkept neighbor's houses are, etc). Even if a family is totally fine living in a cheap, small house in an inexpensive city, they might not be fine with all the things that come with that cheap neighborhood that the house is located in.
For sure. I'm in sales, so it actually is kind of possible, kind of, won't bore you on details. But, imo the more you make the more you spend. So, hypothetically, if you can afford a 2 million dollar house in Seattle you'd buy a 2 million dollar house in Dallas
This is very true. I think sometimes we get caught up in the dollar amount without asking how far is it even going when you factor in other expenses primarily living expenses.
Agreed. A lot of the people I went school with have household incomes in a similar range. The ones that live in West Coast cities have 2000sqft houses on city lots, the ones that live in Texas burbs have 6000 sqft houses on big lots with all the expensive finishes. Purchase prices are similar. People tend to buy the nicest house they can afford, so there isn't as much savings as you'd expect. A lot of this has to do with a desire to filter out poor neighbors and the problems that come with them (schools, crime, how well upkept neighbor's houses are, etc). Even if a family is totally fine living in a cheap, small house in an inexpensive city, they might not be fine with all the things that come with that cheap neighborhood that the house is located in.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NOVA_guy
This is very true. I think sometimes we get caught up in the dollar amount without asking how far is it even going when you factor in other expenses primarily living expenses.
So this is how I justify living in such an expensive place, and I've lived in denver and DC as well. I could buy 3 homes in TExas for the price of a townhome here. But, I think, well idk if I'd have the restraint to live in a 150k house if I could live in a 900k house.
And yep, alot of it is to get your kids in the best schools, but you can live ina 9/10 school district for 250k. So, 800k is overkill, not that it's wrong, but is it necessary? Not to take this thread off rail, but a lot of wealthy people do live below their means, but I think most of us would think "you know what, I got the money, I earned this money, I want to live how I want to live."
Being able to move outside of your city is a privilege. It assumes you are marketable enough to land a job in another city, that you have enough money to pay a couple thousand or more depending to move, and your life is allowing you to move to begin with (you aren’t currently a caretaker or something). Bonus points if the job is paying relocation.
We are on a forum that historically people use to ask other people things about other locations. Mostly for moving purposes. As a result we are going to have more voters in the above demographic who can actually consider it without big moves being some kind of pipe dream, and most posters are most likely to also be the above, as they have an interest in other cities and want to discuss them (hints to education meaning being marketable enough to land jobs in other cities) and have relocated themselves. So this poll is going to be skewed as a result. But most Americans are the first option, in fact the present shows the least geographic mobility and the lowest percentage of moves the nation has ever seen.
I too am the first option, but I’m waiting for the right job to pop up somewhere else. I’m looking to land a certain job, not necessarily a certain place, so this one job could be anywhere as long as it’s with this employer. Though I do have locations I’d prefer.
This is very true. I think sometimes we get caught up in the dollar amount without asking how far is it even going when you factor in other expenses primarily living expenses.
Nah. I used to own a big 1880s house on an acre in an inner Boston suburb. All I ever did was project manage the house. There was always some crew in it doing something. I applied the shrink ray to my housing.
Nashville is a very nice place, and the climate agrees with me. People are friendly and more open to outsiders than I ever found Detroiters to be. It helps that Nashville is full of transplants from all over the US and other countries, so I don't feel as cut off and isolated as I'd felt in Detroit. There's lots of us here who find ourselves geographically far from family. I really miss being closer to my family in Canada, but my kids are Americans, I became a US citizen in 2006, and the US is now my home.
In the last several months, I considered moving to either VA or NC, where I have cousins and where I've always been interested in living. Interviewed for a couple of jobs in Alexandria, VA and Polk County, NC near the SC state line. But I recently got a really good job less than 7 minutes from my house, so it looks like I'll be in TN for the next few years at least, which I'm cool with. There are far worse places to be than Nashville, TN!
Last edited by newdixiegirl; 01-01-2020 at 12:20 PM..
I grew up near Akron, OH. Upon graduating with an electrical engineering degree I moved to Dallas for work, this is back in the 80s. I had fun in Dallas (fishing, bike riding, partying) but quickly realized it was not for me. I did get married down there (back in the 80s) but dragged the wife up to Ohio nonetheless. I've been working in the Cleveland area for over 30 years now.
I came back up to Cleveland to raise the family around my family. (My wife's family was more spread out geographically.) Anyway, we couldn't be happier - well maybe we could, but we're very satisfied. I have always had a good engineering career here and the wife was gainfully employed the whole time, she has since retired. We raised our kids here, and they were able to see their grandparents (mine) regularly. Now we've got grandkids, so there are 4 generations. There's something to be said for sitting around the backyard fire, hoisting beers, while playing with your grandkids, watching your son raise his family, and seeing the gleam in your mother's eye as she spots her great granddaughter. What price do you put on hearing your grandson exclaim "come on pappa" as we get closer to the pond where we will catch a bluegill?
I remember sitting around the apartment complex pool in Dallas back in 86 I think. I was 22, there were two old hippie types sitting at the edge of the pool, bemoaning the loss of the 60s. They were turning beer into advice for me: how cities will suck you in and "boom!" the time will fly and you better have something to show for that time. I took heed and never forgot it, and moved quickly to set up the life I wanted.
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