Posted on 11/29/2006 11:52:14 AM PST by RockinRight
Low crime, reasonable commute, and good schools—who says you can't find a nice house in a suburb without paying a fortune? Buying your first house? Fleeing the city for a life within your means? Here's a novel idea: Move to a suburb where you won't break the bank or get your car broken into. A community with reasonable home prices and decent schools. A suburb close to your city job, with a lively downtown of its own. For hedge-fund managers, plastic surgeons, corporate lawyers, and other people who earn millions a year, choosing a suburb is not about affordability but convenience and, frankly, prestige. These folks don't balk at high prices or look for fixer-uppers. They can pay for prime real estate on the most exclusive streets in the fanciest towns with the best schools. If they want to live in Greenwich or Brookline or Lake Forest or Malibu, they can. Unfortunately, most people aren't so lucky. Most people have to balance their real estate aspirations with reality—compromising on acreage or culture in exchange for better schools or lower property taxes.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessweek.com ...
Even mapquest says 40 minutes, and that doesn't account for traffic.
I got freaked out commuting from Silver Spring to Dupont Circle. It wasn't the length of the commute, but the packed trains and metro stations. Now I'm in Seattle and the 1 hour commute by 2 buses to go a distance of 4 miles is killer.
Next month I move to a small town in the midwest, where I'm told they have 'rush minutes' and not a rush hour. I'm ready for the change. I can't deal w/being out in the weather and waiting on buses anymore. I'm going to buy a car and join the rest of America in subsidizing Big Oil. Even if it's cold, I won't care anymore. I'll be in my own freakin' car in my 10 minute commute to work.
I think he meant DC and Boston areas mostly.
Most of the South is still quite reasonable as well.
Simpsonville, SC (Greenville area):
http://www.realtor.com/FindHome/HomeListing.asp?snum=3&mlsttl=&frm=bymap&pgnum=1&mls=xmls&js=on&target=&ct=Taylors&st=SC&sbint=&sbls=&sblo=&stype=&areaid=10438&mnsqft=&fid=so&vtsort=&mnprice=100000&mxprice=125000&mnbed=0&mnbath=0&typ=1&poe=realtor&x=13&y=11&sid=07A7E373D0ADC&snumxlid=1071614617&lnksrc=00002
$250,000 will get you a fully loaded mc mansion and three acres of land where I live now. Long Island? I dare someone to find the same for under $750,000 that wasn't flipped by some shady a$$ed company.
It's insane. I can see paying 700 grand in Hawaii, or San Diego, or MAAAAYBE Malibu or Cape Coral on the water.
But Lawn Guyland? Boston? DC for pete's sake?
It is......during a Republican administration.
When Madame Cankles is Prez $50-$60K will be redefined overnight as "prosperity".
Oh, and the homeless will be gone.
My mom's house is appraised for $400,000. If she moves to where I am, she'll be able to retire and live off the sale of the house. If she moves to Florida, well...I think she'll probably find a nice apartment or something.
THere's a lot to be said for small town living.
We built a new house in a nice subdivision w/ a five acre lot for just under $200K a couple years ago.
I 'commute' to town about 6 times a day to run kids. (6 mile round trip).
I wouldn't even THINK of taking a job in NYC unless my income was tripled at a minimum. And I live in Chicago not exactly the cheapest city around.
As long as I can find a job to support that 200k house I'm all for small town.
Of course it depends on your definition of "small."
Do you mean small town like Charlottesville, Virginia (pop 40,000) small, or Coolidge, Kansas (pop 90) small?
The property taxes in NYC are very very low compared to most of the surrounded LI, Westchester, NJ, and CT suburbs.
The housing prices here are still insane and going up all the time. $650K for a one bedroom CoOp, 3.5 million and up for a house. Still, people seem to have the money, and everything sells.
Take West Nyack, N.Y., this year's best affordable New York City suburb. About a 30-minute drive from Manhattan
"I am laughing so hard, snots are flying out my nose."
Well it might be, if one counted the western end of the Tappan Zee Bridge as "Manhattan".
The photo of Fort Lauderdale Fla. area, shows what appears to be hundreds of boats, tied up at docks, IN THE WATER.
However, there doesn't appear to be any way to get individual boats from the dock to the waterway.
Is this actually some sort of "in the water boatshow"?
Or is this just yachting, Florida style?
You can't get an apartment that doesn't look like a tenament for $300,000 here in Honolulu
They left out "flyover country" all together. I'm a bit miffed, even though I rarely ever bother reading Business Weak.
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