Rising rents and the difficulty of securing a mortgage on the coasts have proved a boon to inland cities that offer the middle class a firmer footing and an easier life. In the eternal competition among urban centers, the shift has produced some new winners.
We’ve lived in Seattle. Housing there is ridiculous. And in general it was a terrible city for us for many reasons. Finding a place to rent there was nigh impossible unless you responded to the ad in the first few minutes of its posting.
Also, we paid more for less there compared to any other city we’ve ever lived. (That said, the place we had there was pretty nice.)
And buying? Even though we were both fairly-high income earners, we couldn’t have afforded anything there comfortably, not even a shack.
If you live in a major city – and if you can find a job – you will never be able to afford a good life. Or at least this is true for the majority of Americans.
Where we’re considering living next we could work at a convenience store and afford rent. Try that in Seattle or some other similar shithole that we don’t even like. Hint: It will not be possible and you will starve.
All that said, the first photo in that NYT article and the house in the background? That is an ugly fucking thing. It has about 37 different architectural styles going and is about as attractive as a burning carburetor. Why move all the way to Oklahoma and then buy something like that?
Sure, everyone has a dream, but sometimes that dream is stupid.
Environmentally of course cities are far better. But cities are a miserable fucking place to live for many people, including me. I can understand why not everyone wants that, because I don’t want that. It’s nice having a space of one’s own and not having to interact unnecessarily with dolts and noisemakers.