Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > San Jose
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
View Poll Results: Which goes further in producing a high quality life for a family of three?
90K in San Jose 10 55.56%
45K in Bakersfield 8 44.44%
Voters: 18. You may not vote on this poll

Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 10-10-2013, 12:22 PM
 
312 posts, read 492,812 times
Reputation: 229

Advertisements

Well a person making 45k in Bakersfield could actually afford a home...then again they'd have to live in Bakersfield.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 10-10-2013, 06:05 PM
 
Location: Boulder Creek, CA
9,197 posts, read 16,797,404 times
Reputation: 6373
Quote:
Originally Posted by Screen View Post
Well a person making 45k in Bakersfield could actually afford a home...then again they'd have to live in Bakersfield.
A high price to pay.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-15-2013, 06:23 PM
 
30,876 posts, read 36,825,967 times
Reputation: 34462
Quote:
Originally Posted by Azmordean View Post
The way I like to explain it to folks is this:

- In most cases, a good job in the Bay Area (e.g., in tech) will leave you "cash rich" and "house poor." So you'll live in some apartment or condo that to the rest of the country is way below your income level. But you'll be saving more in your 401K, have more money to travel, and probably drive a nicer car.

- By the same token, somewhere like Bakersfield would probably leave you "house rich" and "cash poor." So you'll live in a great 4br 2ba home with a yard, but have very little extra money to eat out or travel, and probably drive a used minivan.

So the question becomes, which is your priority. And the answer to that really varies from person to person. Some people are true "my home is my castle" types who have no particular desire to travel, eat out, and so forth. They are happy at home. For that person, the Bakersfield scenario is better.

There are others who of course like a nice home but value experiences and "cash flow" more - for that person, clearly the San Jose scenario.

I am in the latter camp, and to me it's a no brainer that the San Jose scenario is preferable. But I'm also single. If I was married with 3 kids and faced with stuffing a family into a 2br apartment, I might make a different choice.

And of course none of this takes into account intangibles (family, geographical considerations, weather, etc).
^^Best post of the thread so far^^^
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > San Jose

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top