Giskard's Journal - slingin code to reach FI

Where are you and where are you going?
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giskard
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Re: Giskard's Journal - slingin code to reach FI

Post by giskard »

I spend too much

I've been looking back at my expenses the last year and the amount of frivolous spending I've been able to do is starting to disgust me. I would love to get back to a more financially conservative lifestyle. I could quit working now if I spent a whole lot less.

Paying too much in taxes

I'm also disgusted by the amount of money I have to pay in taxes. I basically agree with very little the federal and state and local governments are doing. I disagree with the military spending. I disagree with the profligacy of the PPP loan system, and I disagree with the way the covid bailout money was doled out.

Minnesota has been rather foolish in the way they have handled the aftermath of the George Floyd killing, and oh look the police just killed another black man yesterday. Now we are going to have looting again, destroyed businesses and neighborhoods, and huge payouts to victim's families, police killing more minorities and nothing will change. I don't like that I'm supporting all of this financially.

The state government is too gridlocked to do actual police reform, or easy wins like legalizing marijuana and expunging records for low level drug crimes. They basically have done nothing to fix problems and unsurprisingly police are still killing minorities in routine traffic stops.

I want to earn less money and pay less taxes to support these horrendous people in charge.

Moving

I also want to move out of this state and never have anything to do with it again. But housing is very difficult and I don't know where to go. I also basically "made it", and could be FIRE right now if I reduced expenses a little bit. But I would not be FIRE anymore. I would have to work much longer to pay for the new house (if I could even buy one).

I also can't sell the shitty condo I live in here, other people are trying in my area and they are not having luck. You can imagine why if you watched the news in the last year. I'm tempted to fire-sale it and lose all of my equity. It's 2% of my net worth and I literally don't care anymore about the equity, I already wrote it down to zero on my spreadsheet and in my head. I don't even know I could sell it at a 20% discount though. A neighbor got carjacked in our parking lot at gunpoint a few months ago so we don't go out much after dark anymore. If we do, we scope the area first. Sometimes we drive through our lot and scope it before we actually park and get out. Police are unavailable to help. So it's not like any buyers are lining up right now.

Anyway, I'm just frustrated with life right now and being constrained physically. I know this stuff will pass eventually, but I can't shake the feeling the place I'm living is becoming the next Detroit.

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Viktor K
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Re: Giskard's Journal - slingin code to reach FI

Post by Viktor K »

I feel you Giskard, sorry you're having this stress. I can empathize too after coming back from the relatively peaceful PRC. Not that that country is better or worse, every country has its own issues.

I am on a spending diet right now, I'd recommend it. I'm just writing down what I want to buy in Sheets instead of clicking "Buy Now" on Amazon.

Maybe a small, affordable, expat-friendly island nation could be a good option for a temporary resettling. Me and my girlfriend were eying some Caribbean nations, but have settled in Austin. Low state tax, but also disagree with a lot of views down here. I don't think you'll find these problems disappear anywhere in the US. I see class and racial conflict, as well as political disagreements quite pervasive in this country.

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giskard
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Re: Giskard's Journal - slingin code to reach FI

Post by giskard »

Viktor K wrote:
Mon Apr 12, 2021 10:58 am
I feel you Giskard, sorry you're having this stress. I can empathize too after coming back from the relatively peaceful PRC. Not that that country is better or worse, every country has its own issues.

I am on a spending diet right now, I'd recommend it. I'm just writing down what I want to buy in Sheets instead of clicking "Buy Now" on Amazon.

Maybe a small, affordable, expat-friendly island nation could be a good option for a temporary resettling. Me and my girlfriend were eying some Caribbean nations, but have settled in Austin. Low state tax, but also disagree with a lot of views down here. I don't think you'll find these problems disappear anywhere in the US. I see class and racial conflict, as well as political disagreements quite pervasive in this country.
Thanks man. I'm just frustrated, I'll get over it and figure out how to move on.

I think Austin sounds great, been thinking about it a lot lately with all the startup opportunities & VCs. I like the idea of a Caribbean nation as well, I don't even know where to start looking into that. Share some tips if you have any!

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Bankai
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Re: Giskard's Journal - slingin code to reach FI

Post by Bankai »

Looks like FIREing in low CoL area is the way forward.

Re: moving, there's no requirement to stay there until the place sells. You can move now (once you figure out where you want to move), put the property on market and let agent deal with viewings etc.

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Viktor K
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Re: Giskard's Journal - slingin code to reach FI

Post by Viktor K »

We were looking at Antigua and Barbuda. There are lots of options. The idea was potentially lower COL, better weather / scenery, and safer (during the height of the pandemic, they were relatively COVID free).

For other options, you can search for “digital nomad visas”, these are usually designed to attract relatively wealthy foreigners and have requirements like self-employed, value of total assets, and/or proof of earning above a certain amount.

Best countries for expat retirement can turn up other countries as well.

Western Red Cedar
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Re: Giskard's Journal - slingin code to reach FI

Post by Western Red Cedar »

Travel is a big part of my FI plans. I like the digital nomad approach because they utilize strategies (slow travel) to keep housing costs really low. They also tend to move towards destinations with other digital nomads, which creates a sense of community which is really important if you are on the road.

A couple important factors to keep in mind include visas, access to decent health care, your employers policies on working internationally, and different time zones. It makes thing much easier if you are in a similar time zone to your employment base, so in that case Central and S. America makes sense. Visas are also significant. Mexico offers a 6 month visa to US residents free on arrival. You can get 3 month visas in most other Central and S. American countries. Asia tends to be cheaper for cost of living, but the visa situation is a bit trickier. There are some countries like Albania and Georgia that offer a 1 year visa to US residents. Most places with good internet infrastructure will likely have excellent health care for foreigners.

It looks like you were recently considering buying some property, so this may not be the path for you. It could be a good option to mix things up though, and basically get to FI much more quickly by cutting your cost of living.

I've enjoyed Tim Leffel's perspective recently because he interviews a lot of other expats and focuses on low-cost countries and regional travel (better for the environment and cheaper). Rolf Potts is probably my favorite travel podcaster and here is a link to his interview with Leffel:

https://rolfpotts.com/speaker/tim-leffel/

I found out about the Travel Like a Boss podcast through the Millennial Revolution site. He's not my favorite, but is very involved in the digital nomad movement and some of his guests are great. Here is his most recent podcast with Leffel, but you can probably scroll through older episodes and pick out some that sound interesting:

https://www.travellikeabosspodcast.com/ ... stinations

I stumbled across the Zero to Travel podcast a couple months ago. It's also not my favorite, but some of his guests are amazing and it's worth poking around to find some guests or interviews that look interesting. His podcast focuses on travel much more broadly. He had a week (5 episodes) about traveling by bicycle which really got me thinking about scratching the travel itch through touring, which hits on a lot of nodes in my web of goals.

https://zerototravel.com/travel-podcast/

*ETA - This podcast with Leffel is probably the best for your situation. It explores the general questions you might ask in terms of a location, and the difference between more active and stable digital nomads. It's also relatively up-to-date in terms of the pandemic: https://zerototravel.com/best-places-to-live-abroad/

I'm happy to give some more specifics on cities or locations that cater to digital nomads, but I think a lot of it depends on your interests and hobbies. I'd second @Bankai's advice that you don't actually need to wait until you sell your place to move. With your NW, you could basically be FI internationally.

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giskard
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Re: Giskard's Journal - slingin code to reach FI

Post by giskard »

Western Red Cedar wrote:
Fri Apr 16, 2021 7:52 pm
I'm happy to give some more specifics on cities or locations that cater to digital nomads, but I think a lot of it depends on your interests and hobbies. I'd second @Bankai's advice that you don't actually need to wait until you sell your place to move. With your NW, you could basically be FI internationally.
Thank you for all of these links and info! Much appreciated!

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giskard
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Re: Giskard's Journal - slingin code to reach FI

Post by giskard »

May 2021 update

- Income: 6k
- Spending: kind of a lot: 4k
- Ending NW: 1.5 million
- M/m NW change: +95k

This was a strange month but a lot happened. I had kind of a big windfall that I don't want to detail here but anyway it was trading / investing related. I already paid my quarterly estimated taxes for this period and it was quite a big check to the gubmint. Halfway into June my networth is already 40k-50k lower after paying these taxes & my losses in crypto (lol).

I quit contracting again, and I'm thinking I will take a little time off (enjoying it so far) while I look for a more relaxed but interesting full time job. I'm going to take the time to find something I can enjoy and grow at in terms of leadership. It's what I need to right now while I sort my shit and maybe get a mortgage or maybe move. Idk yet.

I know digital nomad is a cool idea but I'm leaning against that kind of a thing currently. I generally like my routines, I like not having to solve problems about where I am going sleep every night and how I'm going to acquire food. It takes time away from learning and building things. Though I know that's not a good mindset and you can change your mindset toward digital nomading to be one of learning & growth. It's also something that is hard right now with covid.

I'm thinking more and more about relocating to the countryside and trying to get an acre of land or so. I'd like to settle in to a more relaxed lifestyle for a while. The only problem is that everyone else continues to have this same idea and property is still expensive and the market is still hot. I wanted to do this eventually anyway, maybe I hit that point where it's going to be time soon.

My ill-informed housing predictions:

Here is a prediction: I am doing a lot of interviews now and I am already seeing a lot of remote work being "taken away", and I work in software. I think there will be a big realization that companies want people back in the office and the real estate market is going to change a lot! Lumber prices are going back down, home prices are seeming to stabilize, interest rates are going up and the forbearance will end soon.

I think we are headed for a brief period of time where housing is going to be easier to purchase because there will be more inventory on the market. I don't believe prices will drop all that much but maybe in some places they will be going for less over asking so much. I think there is a likelihood if things get too bad there will be another bailout in some form. I'd like to get something before that happens yet again.

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giskard
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Re: Giskard's Journal - slingin code to reach FI

Post by giskard »

June & July updates

June 2021:
Ending NW: 1.4m
Change m/m: -100k (yikes)

July 2021:
Ending NW: 1.46m
Change m/m: +66k (lol)

Updates

I was having wrist pain and really thinking about the future of my career (typing for 8-10 hrs/day) since I'm definitely FI now. Went to the doctor and get X-rays but was told I just have tendonitis and I need to do nerve glides and exercises. I've found gripping a tennis ball helps as well and I switched to a more ergonomic keyboard.

I decided to stop contracting and took a new full time job at a startup, it's much more demanding but it's very fun. I took this job basically with the intention to learn new things (it's in the crytpo space). Which I am, and it is fun and I'm not minding the hard work and long hours. Financially my expenses go down (health insurance) but so does my income (salary is lower than my previous contracting rate of course). It's a mixed bag but I'm not doing it primarily for the money.

I just got out a long relationship as well this month. It's good but it's also bad. I kinda want to move now. I guess what I'm saying is that my life feels very up in the air now but it also feels like I'm on the right path and I have this new job to focus on while going through the breakup. I don't know what is next for me yet and I'm not ready to really start working on it (do I move, do I travel, what?) but the options are there.

Speaking of options I've done very little trading recently, just been focusing all the new stuff I need to learn for work. I'm sleeping better, more focused and less stressed. So maybe that extra 20 or 30 grand I was making a year selling puts was not really worth it mentally haha. I also switched to tea from coffee so maybe that accounts for it as well.

TopHatFox
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Re: Giskard's Journal - slingin code to reach FI

Post by TopHatFox »

Hey Giskard - do you know if GIS/Remote Sensing is a good field to go into long-term?

Off the cuff, it looks like it offers lots of opportunity to learn other skills, such as machine learning, AI, Python, etc; it can be done at-home easily; and it can be turned into a business with a website, podcast, & PayPal.

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giskard
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Re: Giskard's Journal - slingin code to reach FI

Post by giskard »

TopHatFox wrote:
Thu Sep 02, 2021 10:00 am
Hey Giskard - do you know if GIS/Remote Sensing is a good field to go into long-term?

Off the cuff, it looks like it offers lots of opportunity to learn other skills, such as machine learning, AI, Python, etc; it can be done at-home easily; and it can be turned into a business with a website, podcast, & PayPal.
@TopHatFox well to me GIS is a lot of things, my impression is that it's mostly heavily used professionally by Civil Engineers and industries with a lot of physical infrastructure to manage.

I've worked on related things as a programmer before and there it's definitely specialized but if you can code you can pick up that specialization and do the necessary work. My impression just from having family in other engineering professions (civil and mechanical) is that yes if you want to build some kind GIS applications or become in expert in them(and say e.g. process LIDAR) then yes it's very in demand and there are not many people who can do it well.

As far as turning this stuff into a business, it's pretty hard because there are big entrenched players in those industries and a lot of stuff is proprietary. Always tons of consulting work though. I know for a fact just people who collect LIDAR scans or Photogrammetry measurements (via drones) and can actually process the data are needed.

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giskard
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Re: Giskard's Journal - slingin code to reach FI

Post by giskard »

Updates on living situation

I live in a certain infamous city in Minnesota right now and there is an initiative on the ballot to abolish the police. It's possible if there was a clear plan of what would happen next this would be OK, but it seems there isn't a clearcut answer what the plan is here. Some of the city council is in my opinion borderline insane. The Mayor has been staunchly against this but I think he might lose re-election as well. I think there is about a 60% chance this ballot measure will pass unless somehow a lot of people turn out to vote against it. I would expect even if it passes and they don't implement it right away in December the minimal existing police force will quit en-masse.

The violent crime here has been intense. I actually heard automatic gunfire from my living room the other night, 2 people were shot nearby. That weekend there were 7 shootings in a day. If the ballot initiative passes I don't want to be around to see the aftermath (and probably chaos) for at least a few years. You can't live in fear all the time, it's just not worth it. I like to go out in the evenings and you can't so safely here anymore, which sucks (if you are skeptical don't be - a neighbor was robbed and carjacked at gunpoint in our parking lot a few months ago).

I decided to move but I'm kind of screwed here as well. I'll go back to my hometown in another state but now I am stuck with a condo here that I am afraid to try to rent out long distance (also on the ballot: rent control - you can't make this shit up). Also: I can't sell it. There are actually multiple units in the building for sale just sitting on the market, below what I paid for for this unit. Yes, don't believe the news property values are actually somehow decreasing here (at least for condos)...

Anyway, the situation here has devolved (recently and quickly I suppose) to the point where it's kinda a big issue to my FI plans. I am now stuck with a mortgage on a place that is un-livable (imo) and un-sellable (without taking a firesale loss). I think I will continue to just live out of state and pay it, but at some point if the market does not turn around and this city becomes the next 1980s Detroit, what am I supposed to do? Hand the keys back to the bank? I literally bought at the worst possible time in 2018, it's been all downhill from there. I guess I need to hope they really are right about the fiat currency system and we get enough inflation that the mortgage debt evaporates lol.

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Mister Imperceptible
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Re: Giskard's Journal - slingin code to reach FI

Post by Mister Imperceptible »

Cut your losses and leave the failed state.

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giskard
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Re: Giskard's Journal - slingin code to reach FI

Post by giskard »

Mister Imperceptible wrote:
Sat Sep 25, 2021 1:33 pm
Cut your losses and leave the failed state.
Ha I knew you were going to say something like that. But no really, that's what I'm doing. Moving and taking my tax dollars with me at least.

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giskard
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Post by giskard »

The other thing that happened after the riots is they kind-of turned me into a little bit of prepper in some ways. I literally have a go-bag and extra food and supplies now. If you told me that 3 years ago I would have laughed in your face. It was something else to live through a period of total anarchy with burning buildings all around and 911 emergency services not working and people looting on major avenues in broad daylight day after day. All of this in a major American city.

The city has truly never fully recovered after the riots, but it definitely taught me a lesson that things can fall apart really quickly. I don't know if you guys understand that, but that definitely plays into why things are the way they are here now imo. Businesses just closed up after being looted so many times and never came back.

And it wasn't just one round of looting btw. All of the businesses had to board up at least 3 or 4 times months apart. The looting happened every time there was a protest (and again there were several months apart), but the looting was widespread and nowhere near the protests. There are just not enough police to keep it from happening, especially when they are all busy at the protests. This is really the thing that is hurting the city, it's just the rampant lawlessness and businesses not able to consistently function.

white belt
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Re: Giskard's Journal - slingin code to reach FI

Post by white belt »

giskard wrote:
Sat Sep 25, 2021 2:11 pm
The city has truly never fully recovered after the riots, but it definitely taught me a lesson that things can fall apart really quickly. I don't know if you guys understand that, but that definitely plays into why things are the way they are here now imo. Businesses just closed up after being looted so many times and never came back.
Sounds like you got a good firsthand look at what collapse in the modern era looks like. I heard similar experiences from friends in another major American city during some of the civil unrest in 2020 (although that was a one time event rather than a recurring thing like you've described).

It seems like you have really maxed out your financial capital thus far. What are you planning on doing with all of that money?

sky
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Re: Giskard's Journal - slingin code to reach FI

Post by sky »

I experienced Detroit in the 1980's but had no skin in the game (no real estate). A lot of people walked away from their mortgages. When riots drive wealthy people out of a city, a number of compounding problems occur. Recovery can take generations. In Detroit, the decline happened over about a decade, and the recovery took 40 years in the better neighborhoods. Some neighborhoods have not yet recovered. I find it hard to believe that M has the same problems as Detroit had back in the 80's, but I am not that well informed about the situation, other than reading headlines.

Rioting and shootings usually cool down in winter, so you have a few months to deal with the problem. You might have a window of opportunity to move and sell before next summer. If your current property value is well below your mortgage balance, you might decide to make the lender take the loss. That is an ethical question and a credit score impact question.

Detroit in the 1980's was the most interesting and exciting place I have ever experienced. High levels of chaos and energy, bizarre behavior, Mad Max levels of survival living. Every place that I have visited or lived in since then has been boring in comparison. So you have that going for you.

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giskard
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Re: Giskard's Journal - slingin code to reach FI

Post by giskard »

sky wrote:
Sat Sep 25, 2021 5:52 pm
I find it hard to believe that M has the same problems as Detroit had back in the 80's, but I am not that well informed about the situation, other than reading headlines.
You are right, it's not that bad and it doesn't have the same problems. This is just the hyperbolic refrain I'm hearing from some people. It's definitely not that bad, and I'm definitely getting a lot more negative about the situation than is warranted now. But on the other hand I don't see how it's going to improve and I do see things getting worse.

But the stuff we are facing with the downtown area becoming a ghosttown, every other major city is facing that same issue right now.
white belt wrote:
Sat Sep 25, 2021 3:44 pm
It seems like you have really maxed out your financial capital thus far. What are you planning on doing with all of that money?
I don't know. I want to do a homestead at some point but I'm single again and I don't see that being practical while I'm single. For now I'm not going to do anything with it except intermittently live off of the cashflow between stints of work.

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RFS
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Post by RFS »

Hey Giskard, thank you for sharing your experience in Minneapolis. I lived in Atlanta earlier this year, and I loved it. It's known for sprawl and having some of the worst traffic on Earth, which it certainly has, but in-town Atlanta is a gem. There are several pre-WW2 human-scale, walkable neighborhoods with trees everywhere and beautiful parks. Nearly all of them are connected by a bike path, too.

My work, grocery store, and gym were 4 miles away, and they were along the path. Downtown was 1 mile away, and you could walk to the train station in 15 minutes. I initially thought Atlanta would be incompatible with ERE, but I was totally wrong.

In 2020, though, shit got crazy. There were several nights of rioting and looting. Then Rayshard Brooks was killed less than 1 mile from my house. The DA, who was up for re-election, announced that he was prosecuting both officers involved for murder.

Atlanta's police department released bodycam footage the next day. The footage showed, among other things, Brooks fighting both officers, wrestling one's taser away, and firing it at him. The DA stood his ground, though, which angered the police. For 4 days, they responded to zero calls in 3 out of 6 police zones. One evening, zone 5 had no officers show up for duty.

Meanwhile, the Wendy's where the shooting occurred was arsoned and became an autonomous zone. The mayor poo-pooed all of this. She probably had no idea what to do.

A few days later, a group of armed men opened fire on a woman driving past the autonomous zone. Her 8 year-old daughter in the backseat was killed. The governor, a deep south republican, sent in the National Guard. 1/5th of the city police force quit that year.

When I thought about what was happening, especially in the context of more white collar workers working remotely, it made me hesitant to sink a ton of capital into the ATL. Things have cooled off since, but I think this stuff is only going to get worse over time.

Atlanta is having a mayoral election next month. Interestingly enough, there's only one issue: who's going to fund the police the most. The crime rate is way up, and people are freaked out. This is a short notice election, though, because the incumbent recently decided she wasn't running again. Very few will vote. If this was a regular election where 70% of the city was voting, I think there would be different messaging from many candidates.

I'm curious: Has your experience in Minneapolis changed how you evaluate cities to live in? If so, how?

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giskard
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Post by giskard »

RFS wrote:
Thu Oct 14, 2021 3:56 pm
Hey Giskard, thank you for sharing your experience in Minneapolis. I lived in Atlanta earlier this year, and I loved it. It's known for sprawl and having some of the worst traffic on Earth, which it certainly has, but in-town Atlanta is a gem. There are several pre-WW2 human-scale, walkable neighborhoods with trees everywhere and beautiful parks. Nearly all of them are connected by a bike path, too.

My work, grocery store, and gym were 4 miles away, and they were along the path. Downtown was 1 mile away, and you could walk to the train station in 15 minutes. I initially thought Atlanta would be incompatible with ERE, but I was totally wrong.

In 2020, though, shit got crazy. There were several nights of rioting and looting. Then Rayshard Brooks was killed less than 1 mile from my house. The DA, who was up for re-election, announced that he was prosecuting both officers involved for murder.

Atlanta's police department released bodycam footage the next day. The footage showed, among other things, Brooks fighting both officers, wrestling one's taser away, and firing it at him. The DA stood his ground, though, which angered the police. For 4 days, they responded to zero calls in 3 out of 6 police zones. One evening, zone 5 had no officers show up for duty.

Meanwhile, the Wendy's where the shooting occurred was arsoned and became an autonomous zone. The mayor poo-pooed all of this. She probably had no idea what to do.

A few days later, a group of armed men opened fire on a woman driving past the autonomous zone. Her 8 year-old daughter in the backseat was killed. The governor, a deep south republican, sent in the National Guard. 1/5th of the city police force quit that year.

When I thought about what was happening, especially in the context of more white collar workers working remotely, it made me hesitant to sink a ton of capital into the ATL. Things have cooled off since, but I think this stuff is only going to get worse over time.

Atlanta is having a mayoral election next month. Interestingly enough, there's only one issue: who's going to fund the police the most. The crime rate is way up, and people are freaked out. This is a short notice election, though, because the incumbent recently decided she wasn't running again. Very few will vote. If this was a regular election where 70% of the city was voting, I think there would be different messaging from many candidates.

I'm curious: Has your experience in Minneapolis changed how you evaluate cities to live in? If so, how?
Holy crap. I didn't know all of the details there though I had heard of the Rayshard Brooks incident. It was not reported on much nationally, nor was the aftermath. It feels like little that happened in Minneapolis after the the first round of city-wide looting (we had at least 3 or 4 spread over months) was not reported either so it doesn't surprise me the autonomous zone at the Wendy's got little publicity (and the shooting).

To answer your question: yes. I am now looking to relocate permanently to either a small town or a rural area within an hour of a larger city. I don't ever want to live in an urban core again. I don't know that I would ever buy property inside the city limits of a large city again either. My experiences over the past 18 months have completely changed my perception of the safety and the benefits of American cities.

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