city living... WTF?

All the different ways of solving the shelter problem. To be static or mobile? Roots, legs, or wheels?
workathome
Posts: 1298
Joined: Sat Jun 29, 2013 3:06 pm

Re: city living... WTF?

Post by workathome »

I've been contemplating moving to Wyoming (0% tax rate), about 45 minutes from Ft. Collins so I could visit things like Whole Foods once or twice a month or whatever.

Riggerjack
Posts: 3182
Joined: Thu Jul 14, 2011 3:09 am

Re: city living... WTF?

Post by Riggerjack »

so, what's with the suburb hate? i've never really looked at the development plans for other cities, but around here, downtown has high rises, and industrial buildings, and lots of little specialty shops. the houses are either old and crazy expensive, or old rentals, or new infill, where the lot has been divided up so another house without a yard can be built, or 2 houses were torn down so a 6plex condo with no yard or parking can be built. if you want a hardware store, the closest in i'm aware of, is Hardwick's. a nice old style hardware store, with some specialty wood working tools, but it's in the U-district, not even downtown.
this gets back to the cramped feeling of cities, there's no space to do anything big. i know, there's the lofts i see in the movies, but those spaces are $$$$, and rare.
speaking of places in the movies, do other cities really have the empty warehouses and industrial buildings in the movies? who can afford all that empty space, making no money? why leave it empty?
i guess i'm letting my predudices show. when i started this post, i was going to ask about this "sprawl" problem. is near as i can tell, the issue is suburbs have houses with yards? so they aren't dense enough? is that it?

Chad
Posts: 3844
Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2010 3:10 pm

Re: city living... WTF?

Post by Chad »

Riggerjack wrote:So far, the best reasons for city living seem to be:
Art galleries are awesome if within walking distance, but aren't worth the drive.
You can get really good food, without having to learn to cook.
Spinach is cheaper in Asian markets. Let's just not talk about gardens...
City libraries are prettier.
Sharing roof/walls and gyms (and maintenance) can be cheaper than owning them (and maintenance) .
Serendipity.
Did I miss anything?
My entire post.

User avatar
jennypenny
Posts: 6851
Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2011 2:20 pm

Re: city living... WTF?

Post by jennypenny »

You can do more in the city in less time. When we lived and worked in Philly, I could...

go to a terrific gym before work
go to Reading Terminal Market on my lunch hour for lunch/groceries
stop at a gallery opening or similar event on my way home for an hour or two

... all in the same amount of time it might take someone in my suburb to commute to a job.
so, what's with the suburb hate?
I'm not a fan of the suburbs, but they have some good points. Property values don't fluctuate as much in well-established suburbs. (ours hardly budged during the crisis, same in Long Island and around DC) It's also a good compromise if one partner is a city person and the other isn't, or if you work in different places. (people in my town work in Philly, Princeton, and NYC) It's also an option if you don't like the city but need specialized medical care.

George the original one
Posts: 5404
Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2010 3:28 am
Location: Wettest corner of Orygun

Re: city living... WTF?

Post by George the original one »

cimorene12 wrote:However, apparently OR taxes people 10%. http://www.city-data.com/forum/oregon/1 ... ton-3.html
Silly point of clarity about Oregon income taxes... most people are in the 9% bracket unless they're making doctor wages and there's no sales tax.

Of course I think the state is crowded enough, so please do keep spreading the rumour that we tax at 10% :-)

workathome
Posts: 1298
Joined: Sat Jun 29, 2013 3:06 pm

Re: city living... WTF?

Post by workathome »

9%! You guys are getting ripped. Screw that.

Riggerjack
Posts: 3182
Joined: Thu Jul 14, 2011 3:09 am

Re: city living... WTF?

Post by Riggerjack »

ok, so i did a little looking, because i haven't looked at downtown apt in a long time, and most 600+/- ft2 apts, w/o parking, rent for more than my 1640 ft2 suburban home, w 2 car garage, and a fenced yard, and enough parking for 12 cars, rents for... ok, not very comparable, but i was curious.
While i was looking, i found "artist lofts". clearly, this ain't for me, but since there are income restrictions, and a 2-3 year waiting list, i thought i'd mention it for the urbanite ERE possibility.

http://tklofts.com/rental-inquiries/livework-lofts/

EnglishSaver
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Nov 17, 2013 3:39 pm

Re: city living... WTF?

Post by EnglishSaver »

chicago81 wrote: Here are some reasons why I am tired of living in the city:
- This morning at 4:30am, the garbage truck awoke my partner and me while it was in the alley collecting trash from the dumpsters. This happens often, although not always quite that early.
- I am tired of hearing my neighbors music, footsteps, babies crying, fire alarms from burning food, etc through the shared walls in the condominium building.
- I am tired of the high taxes.
- I am tired of the traffic and the noise from so many people honking.
- I am tired of the constant rudeness and general irritability of most people in general in a big city.
- I am tired of the high crime rate, and hearing police/fire/ambulance sirens ringing DAILY in the evening or at night.
- I want to have a fairly large and private outdoor space.
I agree with you as I live near London and the riots we had recently have soured me on the place.

Honestly I'm not sure I can imagine living in a rural area. I think I would jump at every twig breaking as it would be too quiet for me.

Riggerjack
Posts: 3182
Joined: Thu Jul 14, 2011 3:09 am

Re: city living... WTF?

Post by Riggerjack »

"Honestly I'm not sure I can imagine living in a rural area. I think I would jump at every twig breaking as it would be too quiet for me."

um, what makes you think you would hear a twig breaking? the woods are NOT quiet!

riots are for people who choose to live with riots. you can choose your fate in an urban environment. or a rural environment. the choice is in place, and level of control. in the end, it's always up to you.

EdithKeeler
Posts: 1099
Joined: Sun Sep 01, 2013 7:55 pm

Re: city living... WTF?

Post by EdithKeeler »

It occurs to me reading through this thread is that we're assuming some monolithic definition of "city." I've lived in an inner-ring suburb of Dallas that was actually pretty urban (close to public transportation, walking distance to grocery stores, drug stores, restaurants and even some bars, easy access to nearby "culture," etc.). I've lived in DC, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, and Memphis, all of which are cities, and all of which are about as different from one another as they could possibly be, and even living downtown in any one of them would not be the same as living downtown in Boston, NYC, or Chicago. I guess my point is that the answer to "why live in a city" is as varied as the cities themselves. I like living in Memphis right now because I appreciate the cost of living, there's enough culture for me here, but there's a lot of green space and nature and room for my dogs, which is also very important.

Spartan_Warrior
Posts: 1659
Joined: Fri Dec 02, 2011 1:24 am

Re: city living... WTF?

Post by Spartan_Warrior »

x2 on the Ft. Collins/Longmont/Denver area for a potential ERE city. If that were decided I would start planning my move today. I've always loved the area.

workathome
Posts: 1298
Joined: Sat Jun 29, 2013 3:06 pm

Re: city living... WTF?

Post by workathome »

Wyoming is 0% income tax and only ~45 minutes from Ft. Collins :-)

arrrrgon
Posts: 154
Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2012 10:42 pm

Re: city living... WTF?

Post by arrrrgon »

Somehow we seem to only have the choices of big cities or tiny towns. Medium cities seem to have been left out.

I live in a city of about 40,000 people. I live towards the outside of town with a farm directly behind me. We have everything listed for both small and large cities. I live in a very peaceful and quiet neighborhood. I can get to anything I need in 5-10 minutes. We have multiples of every type of store. If I wanted to go to the gym, I have tons of choices.

I could technically ride a bike to work, but I drive around town for work a lot.

I personally hate big cities, but I can't say small towns are much better. If I had to choose one, it would depend entirely on my current situation. If I was already FI then I would choose a small town, and vice versa.

Big cities are definitely the way to go if you want to make a lot of money, but it also comes with high costs in general.

JohnnyH
Posts: 2005
Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2010 6:00 pm
Location: Rockies

Re: city living... WTF?

Post by JohnnyH »

IMO, the front range of Colofornia is essentially 1 big mega-city: Fort Collins/Loveland/Greeley south to Colorado Springs... People do bike and there are some good trails, but the infrastructure is still very much western sprawl and car oriented.

Front range is lousy with cars and associated pollution, magnified by coal power plants... Sadly, the state has taken a decided authoritarian turn, in what used to be quite libertarian. City politics rule... The Denver accessible mountains have become an amusement park with 100 miles of traffic jams on the I-70 corridor.

I love Colorado, and even the front range has very pleasant pockets, but I'm glad I don't live there anymore.

User avatar
Ego
Posts: 6359
Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2011 12:42 am

Re: city living... WTF?

Post by Ego »

There is an interesting infographic over at The Atlantic today about the suburbs....

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc ... sh/354689/
..... 20.1 million senior households that will attempt to sell their homes between 2015 and 2030, the University of Utah researcher Arthur C. Nelson estimates that 7.4 million won’t be able to find people to buy them—an imbalance that could be extreme enough to trigger a reprise of the 2008 panic.

workathome
Posts: 1298
Joined: Sat Jun 29, 2013 3:06 pm

Re: city living... WTF?

Post by workathome »

Thanks EGO, interesting article! We'll be trying to sell 2014-2015... lol

What would be a good strategy to play that? Rent for 5 years until a market crisis hits and pick up a cheaper home?

JohnnyH
Posts: 2005
Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2010 6:00 pm
Location: Rockies

Re: city living... WTF?

Post by JohnnyH »

Article definitely picks up on an important trend, but I don't think it fits nationally... Suburbs will likely be just fine in growth cities but doubly hammered in dying cities.

George the original one
Posts: 5404
Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2010 3:28 am
Location: Wettest corner of Orygun

Re: city living... WTF?

Post by George the original one »

Agree with you, JohnnyH. New replaces old, but where there's no new, the old doesn't get replaced.

User avatar
Ego
Posts: 6359
Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2011 12:42 am

Re: city living... WTF?

Post by Ego »

George the original one wrote:Agree with you, JohnnyH. New replaces old, but where there's no new, the old doesn't get replaced.
Boomers populated the suburbs/rural areas at a time when commutes were cheap and fast. As commutes get more expensive and take longer will the new smaller families choose to buy in big-house-boomerland or will they demand smaller, more flexible housing better suited to their needs? What's to stop gentrification? Every city has blighted areas ripe for regentrification, no?

workathome
Posts: 1298
Joined: Sat Jun 29, 2013 3:06 pm

Re: city living... WTF?

Post by workathome »

Ego wrote: What's to stop gentrification?
Only a lack of gay couples who don't care about crappy school districts. :D

Post Reply