Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

modernhomeowner t1_j1hs2cg wrote

I say that all the time, and the response I hear is the culture and activities we have in Boston. What good is 500 museums if you are spending all your time working and commuting to afford to live in Boston. You can live in Cleveland or Buffalo where you have a 10 min commute to work from your gorgeous $300k house, and still a few dozen museums you can easily visit whenever you want.

12

[deleted] OP t1_j1htmct wrote

[removed]

8

modernhomeowner t1_j1hu91c wrote

You think people that grew up in Cleveland or Buffalo didn't grow up with education? Cleveland with one of the top hospitals in the US, ranked higher than Mass General? Buffalo with the first cancer hospital in the US? You really have a superiority complex if you think Massachusetts is the only place with education. That is really looking down on their mostly post-1900 immigrant population.

3

[deleted] OP t1_j1i1ysx wrote

[removed]

1

modernhomeowner t1_j1i2rcf wrote

Some of the most common posts on here are about high housing and high electric rates (and I'd add high water rates). Buffalo has the same electric company as I have here (National Grid), yet their rate is 70% less than here. Everyone is on Natural Gas rather than the number of people here who use oil, far better for the environment.

The fact that Buffalo voted for Biden at a lower rate than Boston, doesn't help me much when my electric bill is three times more in MA, and my house costs more than a mansion in Buffalo.

1

modernhomeowner t1_j1i5vsi wrote

And I'd really suggest someone like you lives in a place like Buffalo. If your view of America is you need generational wealth to be happy, it's because you are in the bubble of everything being overly expensive.

My friends in Buffalo, are all happy and live very comfortably. Even without a college degree, I have one friend that just built a house that could be in a magazine with the most over the top outdoor pavilion I've ever seen.

Another friend who moved there for college and decided to stay, works in a call center, has a nice house, actually his second one and rents the first one, so he owns two homes on a call center salary and is able to raise his three kids who do all the kids sports, and they have a jet ski and belong to the yacht club.... On a call center salary.

Another one works for the federal government, not overly paid, but him and his teacher husband have a fully remodeled home, 3 new cars, every outdoor lawn and snow tool you could imagine, and are well funded for retirement with all the savings from living in a place that's cheap.

I have a family member who lives in a smaller city in NY, not Buffalo, but works at a copy place for $16 an hour and owns a home.

I think just living in MA you have a skewed view of what middle class is, that things are unattainable. That's just here and San Francisco. Most of the country still has rich local culture, and the ability to own a home.

1

MajorProblem50 t1_j1hzpnb wrote

Culture is everything imo. I lived in cheap areas like you mention and it's just so depressing. Cheap areas mean huge spaces, low population and depressing emptiness. It's just sad driving 15 minutes to go to the nearest grocery with huge empty parking lot and empty stores with sad and bored employees. Then there's the restaurants, nothing but chains. Just fast food or average chains everywhere. You'd have tasted all their cuisine within a month of living there. The most social thing most people can do is work and dinner. All of this eventually leads to depression and loneliness and consumption.

1

modernhomeowner t1_j1i0joq wrote

Buffalo and Cleveland are not empty farmland. They are cities with pro sports teams (that normal people can afford to go to), gastropubs, hot pot, and outdoor yoga. Dunkin and Papa John's both failed in Buffalo, and local coffee shops are prevalent in city centers and libraries. Without the overpriced real estate and traffic jams. The Wegmans parking lot is just as crowded there.

And what good is the culture of a place if you have to work crazy hours, live so far away from the city to enjoy it, and your rent is so high you can't afford to go to Mare (My wife's favorite Boston restaurant).

1

MajorProblem50 t1_j1ihgf5 wrote

Well that's my experience outside of Orlando FL. As for unaffordability, I don't have an opinion there. I know many people who exist in this state as single parents with multiple kids and then there's those that don't think they can exist because they aren't getting the best schools with the best neighborhoods and going out to $$$ restaurants. People have different needs and level of tolerance and adaptability.

In my experience, the most affordable place to live is wherever you have the most family. People you know who take care of each other. I think that's what culture means to some, people who you're familiar with and share the same interests. It's not the museums or fancy coffee shops or venues but activities that bring people who shares the same interest as you together. For example when mayor Wu close down a street and turns it into one big street food and open market area, bringing out many foodies. It's inexpensive because we all need to get there by public transportation and many businesses being in one location create more competition and choices for consumers.

Then there's a sense of freedom from anonymity. A place booming with a diverse culture provides a sense of freedom to do or be whatever you want without feeling of being judged. One can enjoy being alone without feeling lonely. It's a difference between dining alone at a crowded bar vs an empty restaurant. A place where you walk in and no one notices vs a place where everyone turns their head whenever someone new walks in.

2