How "live-able" is your hood?
yuichi
Urban sprawl 11,331 Posts
Just was ranting on FB about how Los Angeles is quickly losing its appeal on me. Complete gentrification of many areas. Rising living costs due to an influx of wealth. Work commute is bad and will probably get worse. Bad air quality. A general lack of community particularly around my West Los Angeles neighborhood. I know there are many parts of LA too, but I'm talking specifically about getting into your 30s and 40s and looking to raise a family and send your kid to a good school (no wife/kids yet though).
Sure, there's the beach, good schools. But at what cost? I'm guessing the situation is similar in many big cities.
So my question is, How's your HOOD?
Sure, there's the beach, good schools. But at what cost? I'm guessing the situation is similar in many big cities.
So my question is, How's your HOOD?
Comments
Please elaborate
b/w
I don't think Los Angeles has ever been a "cheap" place to live
Kevin: Yeah, so you know what I'm talking about. There are a lot of Benjamins to be made now with biotech stuff. I don't have to tell you that. How's your
portfoliohood?Greg: I'd say strong...to quite strong.
Kevin: You gotta strike while the iron's hot. Now's the time.
Second tier cities are the way to go now. Detroit, Cleveland, Memphis, Minneapolis. Many amenities but easy on the pocket.
Many hideously ugly modern flat developments going up. My old school selling off sports pitches in the neighbourhood we grew up in. It's like the walls are closing in and crushing the life out of things. I suppose it's the same in every city.
That is a complex question that only a super computer can answer.
I found one:
http://www.areavibes.com/
My hood scored a 74.
The lower the score the lower the gentrification me thinks.
You're right, it's never been cheap. But how wack it's becoming is astonishing.
Around my neighborhood, an awful lot of foreign investors are buying up properties all cash, placing their 20 year olds in 'em to have them go to college, and buy them BMWs as well. For long time residents, it's not a pleasant sight. More traffic, higher cost of living, home prices sky-rocketing, so that middle income folk won't be able to buy a home now.
I read an LA Times article about how developers are creating expensive condos in the Arts District, where actual [em]artists[/em] can not afford to live there anymore.
Maybe New York is no different, but the types of people that LA seems to attract have a completely skewed idea of what wealth is. Tokyo is absolutely another city you need to be rich to enjoy life.....I would never wanna live there permanently.
I've been there for business, and I liked the river and Barton Springs, but I'm definitely hesitant to say it's a place I wanna live.
Take your pick bra.
This.
or my hood.
Serious question.
I'm guessing the former don't even cross paths with the latter, ever.
My hood is good. Just moved across town, now beside the Raval (middle-eastern ghetto, great food) and Poble Sec (up-and-coming hipster area). Cost of living is cheaper in Barcelona than in England, and the weather, food, surroundings, women, football, beach, price of booze, and public transport are all brilliant.
$1 can buy a house in Detroit - NY Daily News
As much as people rip on New Jersey, I like that the state has legislation designed to protect greenspace. Sure, we get crap over suburban sprawl, but central New Jersey has a great quality of life (as evident from a number of cities named to 'top places to live' lists). Beyond our own local offerings (good entertainment, dining, etc.), the proximity to NYC and Philly is fantastic. Of course, the downside is that we have to pay for it. One of the positives about being in a suburban area is that we don't have a huge hipster set where I live. It's primarily families with kids, so we have nice, quiet neighborhoods that are pleasant to inhabit. I can't imagine living anywhere else, although we're inclined to retire somewhere cheaper (perhaps abroad).
Peace,
Big Stacks from Kakalak
How is the economy there? Isn't Spain overall still lagging post recession? Do you work locally?
My hood is cool. We get all the extremes of the seasons. Housing is affordable.
Abandon the beach,your metropolis and your ambitions to come get fat in the midwest.
You want to move to a city nicknamed naptown. We do take some great naps here.
These areas tend to have the most self-absorbed, entitled, and uptight folks...
I like Toronto a lot. But I will probably never own property here. Which is pretty depressing I guess.
When we were in Montreal to see Day spin, I distinctly remember talking with Vintage's better half about her love of Montreal and trying to convince him to move there. Winters were a topic of concern I believe.
I just want to move to a big hippie commune out in the country with all my best friends. As long as we can commute into a major urban area within an hour or two. I never thought I'd be a hippie.
So, like, Ajax then? ;)
Exactly.
Sunnyvale? I thought you lived out in the sticks
Welcome to Silicon Valley, home of the toxic waste dump. We lived in an apartment building for six months before I googled the abandoned warehouse behind the complex and discovered it was a Superfund Cleanup site. Sure wish they had told us that before we planted and ate tomatoes in our little garden.
The Spanish economy isn't great but Barcelona is the most prosperous part of the country, helped by a massive tourism industry. As an English teacher I find work reasonably easy to come by as most Spaniards/Catalans see English as an essential professional skill and the younger generation are increasingly expected to have an English qualification (Cambridge Entrance Exam or equivalent) as well as a degree.
I mainly teach Doctors & nurses as English is the international language of medicine.
I often feel guilty that my native language has granted me a career with opportunities all over the world... this feels un-earned, but there you go.
As English is currently the world's lingua franca (HAHAHAAHAA, take that Frenchies ;-P), outside of the professional sector people working in bars, cafes, restaurants etc also need some English, although their lower pay bracket makes it [em]raerer[/em] for this group to attend classes in institutions - they are more likely to look for cheaper one-to-one lessons, paid in cash.
Which reminds me, a friend of mine who has been here for 9+ years thinks that although Spain's economy is officially very shaky, he's certain that there must be a massive *black* economy (under-the-counter, un-taxed) in effect, and my own observations bear this out to some extent; many smaller businesses will not run cash payments through the till and give a receipt unless you ask for one, and my friend earns an untaxed, cash-in-hand living wage and is surely not the only one to do so - there are many Americans teaching English (pffffttttt!) in Barcelona, and as 99% of them will not have a work permit, they must be working illegally too.
Maybe the winter in people's souls.
http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/bystanders-ignored-man-dying-on-metro-platform?google_editors_picks=true
Buying in Toronto is possible if you are willing to look outside of the downtown area. The city has a lot to offer beyond the core.
On the other hand, we endure cold, cold winters in the region, which is totally uncivilized and makes all hoods here unlivable on some level.
and the view ain't half bad:
I'm always curious when people land in different places. Aren't you from Germany? What took you to Costa Rica? What do you do there?
That's interesting. Isn't Barcelona somewhat expensive compared to the rest of the country as well? It seems weird to be able to just show up and start working and make a living wage in cash, and all for doing nothing more than speaking English.