Posted on 11/10/2007 4:58:04 PM PST by shrinkermd
Triple-digit monthly parking fees, $12 movie tickets, clogged intersections and weekly grocery bills that rival some mortgage payments. Welcome to life in the Big Apple. And Los Angeles. And Chicago.
But, it's possible to enjoy such amenities without the hassles. Step one? Look for more affordable spots that offer a similar or better quality of life, and where the dollar goes far.
The Cities are:
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
It's not. Lower-middle class blacks fleeing Oakland's and Richmond's crime wave moved there in large numbers in the 1990's...and their teenage kids brought the crime wave with them. Pittsburg/Bay Point and (increasingly) Antioch are kind of the armpit of eastern Contra Costa County, even though many of the surrounding areas are quite upscale.
On another note, I took a walk through downtown St. Louis, MO on a Sunday morning last fall...I've never seen a more deserted city. Everything was closed, and once I left the area near the Arch, there wasn't a soul to be seen. It doesn't really seem to be a city at all - just a place where a bunch of semi-tall buildings get used on weekdays. ;)
Three little inner-city transplants tried to break into my house Monday night while I was at my Mother’s for her 90th birthday. Luckily, my neighbor was paying attention and chased them.
They’ll be back, and I’ll have something for them.
That's why I would never live in NJ, ocean or no ocean.
I will live by the ocean where it is not crowded, even if it means going to Alaska or Canada.
I prefer the cold to being landlocked or mobbed.
I’ve never had my place broken into in St. Paul. How do you know these would-be burglars are from the Minneapolis or St. Paul? Sounds like crime is worse where you live than where I live.
Well, you do tend to heat up a bit playing hockey even at -40. I’ve been x-c skiing below zero and the problem is to not let yourself sweat your clothes soggy. Yes, you get plenty toasty playing outside.
It’s a different story inside sitting in a chair reading. In Cleveland where it only goes to -20, the furnace runs quite a bit. It it went to -40, it would run a lot more to maintain the same temp. I know a lot of the houses up there are super-insulated, though. But it probably still costs more to keep the house so you don’t have to wear a parka in the living room all winter. That’s what I meant.
I might be fine, but my wife has about a 2 degree temperature range. If the house temp goes outside of that range, I catch much grief.
Pretty obvious to me that you are confusing Pittsburgh with Philadelphia. (Common mistake) They are 300 miles apart by road and several light years apart in terms of livability. Philly has become a hell hole of crime and official corruption. Pittsburgh is paradise by comparison. and IMHO, there is nothing wrong with the State of Pennsylvania that giving Philly to New Jersey couldn't fix.
One way to keep them straight is to remember that Pittsburgh has a football team that actually WINS Super Bowls. Philly just gets there once every 30 years or so and then chokes. ;~))
Pittsburgh has some problems like anyplace else, but it is actually a very nice place to live and raise a family. There is a lot to be said for it and one of those things is that it for the most part does even not feel like you are in a "big city". It is really a collection of small towns butted up against each other and people generally do have that 'small town' attitude about themselves and their communities.
We’re well aware of where our new neighbors have come from. We didn’t have this problem three years ago.
LOL
Thanks - from Alaska, they seem right next door to each other.
And why inflict more **** on NJ? They have enough trouble as it is...
I’ll keep an eye on the football games this year, ya never know...
If you get to the East again, ping me. Pittsburgh is a town you’ll enjoy if you have the opportunity and I’d be glad to show you around.
It ain’t the smokey run-down mill town of Hollywood legend. It’s very different than that image.
Seriously - it's hard for us to think about Uffdaville when, like this morning, it's clear/calm/65 at dawn, with a forecast of upper 80's in mid-November (it actually exceeded the forecast by a degree or two)
California may be the most liberal state this side of yours, but at least we can tune politics out sometimes during the winter by just going outside and enjoying something other than a "snowbank chilled beer"***
***(got a kick out of that term when back there for a winter funeral....brother in law "warmed" some beer" by stuffing the Cold Spring Lager in a reachable drift just outside of the door....)
Your description of St. Louis reminds me of East Berlin, which I visited a couple of times before the wall came down.
Well, this is very interesting. Columbus and Pittsburgh? Aren’t those areas affected by....bitterness?
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