USA ERE Locations

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blink2ce
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USA ERE Locations

Post by blink2ce »

Apologies if this has been asked before -- Is there a consensus as to the best ERE location to live in the USA? I would imagine most ERE-minded folks would focus on older cities that were built before the invention of the automobile.

Is Chicago the obvious choice?

mathiverse
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Re: USA ERE Locations

Post by mathiverse »

Chicago is the obvious because DLJ lives there! All hail, our dear leader!

M
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Re: USA ERE Locations

Post by M »

I will second the Chicago area since our dear leader lives there and he will teach us the way...or something. Of course this might be awkward if we all move to Chicago then dear leader moves to Canada.

If you want more of a cheap and rural location I would recommend Michigan...just don't live in any of the cities in Michigan.

blink2ce
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Re: USA ERE Locations

Post by blink2ce »

@M - I signed a 12 month lease in downtown Cleveland, Ohio starting next month. I think Cleveland might work for me. Good walkability in the core of the city, great city parks, cool weather, LCOL, friendly people. If Cleveland doesn't work out the way I expect, at least I didn't buy property. I'm a single person, and I'm a few years out of college and have a more stable career as of late, so I'm really just looking for my place to settle down. I'd love to get integrated into a local community where I know folks and folks know me.

I did see that Chicago has some pretty great prices on nice-looking 2bedroom condos in the northern part of the city. Better value than anything I have seen in Cleveland. So I think Jacob is onto something. Cleveland does have Chicago beat on value for single-family homes though.

M
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Re: USA ERE Locations

Post by M »

@blink2ce - Oh - interesting. At your age, depending on what your career is in, you may want to prioritize your earning potential. Probably my biggest mistake was not moving to an area where my earning potential would have been way higher early on in my career. For example - move to high income high cost of living area and live in RV or van or something to house hack and save money there. Bank all the money from high paying job, then use geographic arbitrage to move to lower cost of living area more suited to climate change...Of course - this completely depends on the field you are in.

Cleveland is fine. Like Chicago they have real winters there. Certain areas of Cleveland are high crime areas...but that is true of many cities. Chicago really is a huge city though - the third largest in the US and the largest American city that is well suited for climate change. Cleveland also sits next to a large lake so water will always be cheap and plentiful.

Dream of Freedom
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Re: USA ERE Locations

Post by Dream of Freedom »

Do you want to live in the city, a small town, or a truly rural place? I'm a small town boy, but to each their own.

blink2ce
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Re: USA ERE Locations

Post by blink2ce »

@Dream of Freedom -- I have always lived in suburbs or in the city. I have really enjoyed being in a relatively dense walkable city environment. So I'm aiming for that right now. I like people and I feel that if I was in a rural setting I would get lonely quickly. Plus, in a rural setting a car is pretty necessary, which is a large expense.

@M -- Yes, it's true that my earning potential might be lower in Cleveland. However, I am working in software, and since Covid, it seems that a lot of large software companies are much more okay with hiring employees remotely. So that's what I'm thinking about doing in Cleveland. I already have a remote job that I'm taking with me to Cleveland, and I am job hunting right now to get a new remote job that has a larger salary. But I do agree that being located in a major city can have powerful salary benefits, even after Covid.

I'm 30 and I just feel tired already lol. I don't want to live in an RV or have a bunch of roommates so that I can hustle hard at a high paying job. I'm sure I could triple my salary if I studied a ton and moved to NYC or SF but I think it would make me go crazy. I'm living in Austin right now and the traffic and the heat and the non-walkability of the city just grinds me down.

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Jean
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Re: USA ERE Locations

Post by Jean »

I'm not american and don't think i have a real bias on this question.
After visiting most of the US, I think the best area is the norhern half of michigan, wisconsin and minnessota.
But I never visited Alaska, Colorado, Utah and Hawaii.

chenda
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Re: USA ERE Locations

Post by chenda »

Same as Jean, but I've road tripped from coast to coast and New England would be my preferred area from what I saw. Climate resilient area, walkable towns, good international connections, mix of rural and big cities. I believe Massachusetts has affordable health care as well.

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Re: USA ERE Locations

Post by jacob »

blink2ce wrote:
Wed Sep 14, 2022 6:04 pm
Apologies if this has been asked before -- Is there a consensus as to the best ERE location to live in the USA?
Consensus has been tried (see the ERE City thread) but staying close to family and $$$-jobs is more important to many that necessarily living in the "best location". Also some want access to the outdoors and some want city-living.

That said, Chicago is pretty good. The weather sucks, but it's never going to kill you. It's a big city with access to everything, including interesting people (no matter what your interests are). It's a major transportation hub due to its location. The reporting of crime (outside of a few neighborhoods) is wildly exaggerated. The financial situation both with Chicago and IL in general is rather terrible. It may be the next one to go after Detroit, MI. RE taxes have increased 50% during the 8 years we've lived here, which is significant since it's a big budget item with no ERE solutions other than leaving. Every year when I see the bill, I talk about leaving. The taxes go towards pension liabilities and old debt, so it's not like we see it. That said, Cook county (which incidentally has a larger population that the 5 smallest US states combined!) handled COVID quite well. Chicago or IL's reputation for being pretty much average in every ranking of anything in the US is well earned. For example, cost of living is about average, but if you work downtown, you can make above average income. Since prices aren't through the roof, it's competitive with NYC and SF.

It's not necessarily the best just because I live here, but me living here does meet it meets minimum requirements without any deal breakers. After the ongoing wildfires in the PNW, I've switched my focus on the Great Lakes region. If I had to start a search again, I'd begin with Buffalo, NY.

sky
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Re: USA ERE Locations

Post by sky »

I like the Lake Michigan coast, ideally around Ludington and inland from there. That is for the retirement phase, not accumulation.

blink2ce
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Re: USA ERE Locations

Post by blink2ce »

Thanks @jacob for your perspective on Chicago! It definitely seems like a nice place to be. I didn't know that Chicago's real estate tax has risen so quickly though.

I am also interested in the Great Lakes region specifically. Personally I like the colder weather and the green landscapes (when it's not winter). I also like how the larger cities in the Great Lakes region still have beautiful pedestrian-friendly downtowns and streetcar suburbs. I'm going to try out Cleveland for a year and see how that goes. This will also be my first experience as a working adult without owning a car. I'm curious to see how that will go for me.

7Wannabe5
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Re: USA ERE Locations

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

imagine waking up where you vacation; no more sitting on the highway on Friday night and Sunday evening. You can be employed in a modern community that is also traffic free. Purchase a home for a fraction of the cost you would pay in metropolitan areas. Enjoy dozens of pristine beaches, trails, rivers and forests without fighting the masses for access. Dive shipwrecks, explore one of the most fossil rich spots on earth, and still be close enough to enjoy a night on the town. Our wonderful walkable downtown featuring restaurants, art galleries, shops and pubs including multiple micro-breweries and a winery.
Description of the location where my sisters and I might chip in to buy extended family compound. It also has adjunct facilities linking it to major research university and medical center, regional hydro-power, and highly functional port.

white belt
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Re: USA ERE Locations

Post by white belt »

blink2ce wrote:
Wed Sep 14, 2022 9:41 pm
I have always lived in suburbs or in the city. I have really enjoyed being in a relatively dense walkable city environment. So I'm aiming for that right now. I like people and I feel that if I was in a rural setting I would get lonely quickly. Plus, in a rural setting a car is pretty necessary, which is a large expense.
I think in most cases, people are going to talk their book when you ask them about ideal ERE locations. Having said that, if you want density and walkability, I would looking into streetcar suburbs: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streetcar_suburb

You can find them right outside any city that is more than 100 years old and was planned prior to the personal automobile. Jacob lives in one right outside of Chicago, I currently live in one outside of a different city and grew up in one outside of another city. They provide the ideal balance of access to urban amenities while limiting the downsides of living downtown to include exorbitant rent, noise and air pollution, and urban heat island effects. If you plan things correctly, it should be easy to get to the bustling big city area in 30 minutes by bike or public transit. You will also have space to garden and work on outdoor ERE hobbies, something that is difficult to do in a city apartment.

It looks like Cleveland did use to have an extensive network of streetcar lines, so you might want to look at a historical map to cross reference if there are neighborhoods that haven’t been fully gentrified yet. Avoid the newer suburbs with highways, cul-de-sacs, and McMansions at all costs. Personally, I despise the sprawl of cities like Atlanta, Austin, and Houston.

blink2ce
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Re: USA ERE Locations

Post by blink2ce »

Thanks @white belt!

I also love streetcar suburbs. There are a few around the Cleveland area which are not gentrified. There has been quite a bit of gentrification in two trendy streetcar suburbs on the west side. But definitely there are a lot of other solid picks.

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Re: USA ERE Locations

Post by macg »

I'd be interested if anyone has opinions on locations in the US where there is no real winter lol. So far I've been trying various beach places, but I'm open to anything with no winter. I grew up with snow and cold and now hate it. I have tried some places, but so far it seems that any place that is truly walkable/bikeable (I don't own a car) is hcol...

We can ignore the climate crisis predictions for the sake of my request - I'm older and have no heirs that I need to set up a generational living situation for, so it's (relatively) short term thinking, definitely no more than 30 years.

blink2ce
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Re: USA ERE Locations

Post by blink2ce »

@macg -- Here are some ideas.
Chattanooga, TN (LCOL, core of the city is on a grid street layout)
Asheville, NC (Somewhat HCOL nowadays)
Athens, GA (College town outside of Atlanta with decent bus service or so I've heard)

I'm sure there are others.

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Jean
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Re: USA ERE Locations

Post by Jean »

@macg, my favorite winterless areas were the florida panhandle (but huricanes) and western texas.

white belt
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Re: USA ERE Locations

Post by white belt »

macg wrote:
Thu Sep 15, 2022 2:50 pm
I'd be interested if anyone has opinions on locations in the US where there is no real winter lol. So far I've been trying various beach places, but I'm open to anything with no winter. I grew up with snow and cold and now hate it. I have tried some places, but so far it seems that any place that is truly walkable/bikeable (I don't own a car) is hcol...
Well most of the places that are known for having mild winters already have to deal with wildfires, deadly heatwaves, blackouts, hurricanes, flooding, and so on during the warm months (places like Southern California, Pacific Northwest, Texas, Florida). So a better strategy might be to live somewhere pleasant 8-9 months out of the year and snowbird elsewhere for the 3-4 months of winter.

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Re: USA ERE Locations

Post by chenda »

@macg - Mexico ?

I wonder if seasonal migration may become more or less common in a warming world.

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