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I've never heard of that analogy. The story of St. Louis isn't limited to one particular culture, neighborhood, experience or way of life. Its a combination of a lot of different things. That can be overwhelming for most to understand on a weekend get a way or just previewing one or two neighborhoods. As strange as it reads, I guess that is what I like about living here. The only other city I've experienced more extremes was Chicago. That city was like a sexy old man with a violent temper who can wake up in whatever mood he wants. You have to be ready for whatever he throws at you.
I've never heard of that analogy. The story of St. Louis isn't limited to one particular culture, neighborhood, experience or way of life. Its a combination of a lot of different things. That can be overwhelming for most to understand on a weekend get a way or just previewing one or two neighborhoods. As strange as it reads, I guess that is what I like about living here. The only other city I've experienced more extremes was Chicago. That city was like a sexy old man with a violent temper who can wake up in whatever mood he wants. You have to be ready for whatever he throws at you.
To clarify, I mean that you have extreme wealth right up against extreme poverty, near and around CWE and Forest Park, in general. I have never seen anything like Delmar to the north vs to the south.
I've never heard of that analogy. The story of St. Louis isn't limited to one particular culture, neighborhood, experience or way of life. Its a combination of a lot of different things. That can be overwhelming for most to understand on a weekend get a way or just previewing one or two neighborhoods. As strange as it reads, I guess that is what I like about living here. The only other city I've experienced more extremes was Chicago. That city was like a sexy old man with a violent temper who can wake up in whatever mood he wants. You have to be ready for whatever he throws at you.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Here in the Seattle area we are in one of the highest tax areas, despite no state income tax, and it's been worth it. Still, for major purchases and a truck, we can save 10% by driving 3 hours to Portland Oregon area, explore, have a nice meal, and buy without sales tax. We have two Costcos within 6 miles in either direction, but if we happen to be near the one 14 miles away go there, since they are outside of the heavily taxed transit levy and sales tax is over 2% less. The bad one for us is property tax, not at $12,000/year. When I retire next year we we move about an hour away where the same 3,000 sf house would be taxed less than half that much, and also downsize.
Here in the Seattle area we are in one of the highest tax areas, despite no state income tax, and it's been worth it. Still, for major purchases and a truck, we can save 10% by driving 3 hours to Portland Oregon area, explore, have a nice meal, and buy without sales tax. We have two Costcos within 6 miles in either direction, but if we happen to be near the one 14 miles away go there, since they are outside of the heavily taxed transit levy and sales tax is over 2% less. The bad one for us is property tax, not at $12,000/year. When I retire next year we we move about an hour away where the same 3,000 sf house would be taxed less than half that much, and also downsize.
You can buy the truck in Portland if you wish, but if you plan on titling this truck in Washington State, you will be required to remit the sales tax on the purchase.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,550 posts, read 81,131,933 times
Reputation: 57755
Quote:
Originally Posted by mike0421
You can buy the truck in Portland if you wish, but if you plan on titling this truck in Washington State, you will be required to remit the sales tax on the purchase.
Yes, that's true in fact in the 1990s the State Patrol would pull over RVs with Oregon plates to check their Drivers license state and there were hefty fines for that. No, I meant like washer and dryer, refrigerator, laptop or iPad. Last time we went to visit family in Hillsboro we bought two 5 gallon buckets of paint, some tools and and supplies at Home Depot.
As Texas has no state income tax, other tax revenue is accrued through tolls, fees, and high property taxes. This puts a high tax burden on property owners, and in Texas urban areas taxes are inflated by the high land values. This is especially hard on retirees and those on fixed incomes, as property taxes are allowed to increase up to 10% yearly.
My former 80-year old 1600 sf house was assessed at a 100k value, but its 4600 sf lot was taxed at a 600k value. Even with homestead exemptions, my taxes were $11k per year and increasing almost every year (non-homestead properties of similar value were taxed at around $16k). Taxes alone made living there unsustainable on a retirement income, and could not be avoided. Retirees in states with state income taxes could expect a drop in taxes paid after retirement, but in Texas there was no tax relief for retirees unless you were blind or disabled.
There were other reasons to leave Texas, but affordability (higher property tax, higher insurance costs, etc), was a big driver in leaving.
As Texas has no state income tax, other tax revenue is accrued through tolls, fees, and high property taxes. This puts a high tax burden on property owners, and in Texas urban areas taxes are inflated by the high land values. This is especially hard on retirees and those on fixed incomes, as property taxes are allowed to increase up to 10% yearly.
My former 80-year old 1600 sf house was assessed at a 100k value, but its 4600 sf lot was taxed at a 600k value. Even with homestead exemptions, my taxes were $11k per year and increasing almost every year (non-homestead properties of similar value were taxed at around $16k). Taxes alone made living there unsustainable on a retirement income, and could not be avoided. Retirees in states with state income taxes could expect a drop in taxes paid after retirement, but in Texas there was no tax relief for retirees unless you were blind or disabled.
There were other reasons to leave Texas, but affordability (higher property tax, higher insurance costs, etc), was a big driver in leaving.
Interesting. To think many move to TX for it's supposed low COL. Well maybe compared to coastal California.
Americans' obsession with paying little to no taxes while demanding the most will always spark curiosity to me.
Taxes do not really bother me. The more taxes the better services I notice.
Lots of big cities with really high taxes have terrible public schools, police, trash removal, & public transportation...like NYC for instance.
You don't get what you pay for in the gov't world.
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