General Advice Thread

Deathwing

Deathwing

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Ah, that was just to house size? Sorry, my bad.

Earning potential probably outweighs all others, easily. I often worry if I'm making the right choice settling down in Ithaca, NY in regards to my career. I'm worried I'll have to move someday to Boston or California to get noticeable raises. Had an interview in Boston a while back. Just the traffic on the drive in(2 hours from Chelmsford to Camden) was enough for me to swear off the city.
 
Alex

Alex

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Deathwing_sl said:
Right, but it does contribute to joeboo's original question of "how to fuck do people live in cities". You're really just pointing out how much more of a pain, monetarily, in the ass a city can be.
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As someone who lives in what is now the most expensive city in the US to live in, I can tell you that for me, personally, it's worth it. As Eomer said, the culture, cuisine, entertainment, weather, proximity to other great areas (Napa, Lake Tahoe, Big Sur, Yosemite, etc.) more than make up for it. It's also easy to cut a lot of costs in city living. For example, I have no idea how much gasoline costs. I haven't owned a car in nearly two years and I don't even find it to be inconvenient. There are other perks too. Think of all of the city festivals, concerts and events. I can walk or take public transit to them and all the people who live outside the city bitch about parking and traffic. Traffic? I don't even know what that is.
 
Gravel

Gravel

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I think a lot of it is people that continually bought and sold and moved up. So they bought something for $100,000, sold for $250,000, used that as a downpayment for a $400,000 home, sold that for $600,000, and used that as a downpayment on a near million dollar place. Because of the real estate bubble though, that process only took a decade.

As far as the Air Force, I did a 6 year enlistment in the Army (and I bring that up only to point out that I knew what I was getting into). Got out, got my degree, and joined the Navy as a pilot. I got a few weeks into OCS and decided that it wasn't for me. If your primary motivator is money, well, you're already making about what you would as an O-1. The pay as an officer is actually pretty decent compared to most occupations, but as an engineer it'll come up short. If you're interested in engineering as a primary skill, don't join either. If you're wanting management experience, however, I'd give it some serious thought. As an example, as a pilot, you maybe fly a few hours a week. The rest of the time you're managing sailors. In a 4 year commission, you will have a significant amount of time managing people. Way more than you'd get anywhere else.
 
ZyyzYzzy

ZyyzYzzy

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Edko_sl said:
Buy out in Fredneck County and do the 270 grind? Look in Western AA county and do the 50 grind? Either way, I weep for your commute. DC is hell on earth.

A buddy of mine commutes from White Hall (Northern Balt. County) to Rockville. I'd shoot myself.
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I don't know how people do that 270 commute. Some mornings I go from NoVa to Frederick and traffic going the opposite way is backed up all the way from when I get on 495 via the GW all the way to Frederick.
 
Frenzied Wombat

Frenzied Wombat

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DeadAgain!?_sl said:
So i'm being transfered because of my job and I'm going to northern texas. Whats the verdict on the area? Will be a city outside of Dallas - undetermined yet.
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If you like pickup trucks, guns, church, football, Mexican food, shitty schools and a total lack of culture, architecture, and greenery then it's awesome. And that's Dallas btw; if you're going to live in a small city outside of Dallas take all of the above and amplify it ten fold. On a positive note cost of living is pretty low, in particular housing.

Dallas is a great place to move to if you're educated and your priority is work and saving money. People here in general are so fucking dumb it's easy to stand out when looking for a job.. From a pure get up, go to work, and come home standpoint it's great. Meeting male friends who want to do something other than drink beer and shoot shit and chicks that want to be married by 21 and go to church-- well good luck..
 
Cad

Cad

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Frenzied Wombat_sl said:
If you like pickup trucks, guns, church, football, Mexican food, shitty schools and a total lack of culture, architecture, and greenery then it's awesome. And that's Dallas btw; if you're going to live in a small city outside of Dallas take all of the above and amplify it ten fold. On a positive note cost of living is pretty low, in particular housing.

Dallas is a great place to move to if you're educated and your priority is work and saving money. People here in general are so fucking dumb it's easy to stand out when looking for a job.. From a pure get up, go to work, and come home standpoint it's great. Meeting male friends who want to do something other than drink beer and shoot shit and chicks that want to be married by 21 and go to church-- well good luck..
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Well. Yea, kinda. There certainly is a lot of that. I'd say any of the cultured parts of Dallas are going to be in the park cities, east Dallas, Preston hollow, or jcc type areas. There's certainly plenty of football and church and dumb plastic fake church bimbos, but there's other stuff too. Out in the suburbs though the church bimbos are pretty prevalent.

Small city outside Dallas could mean plano which could be fine, or it could mean Greenville, and holy shit look out. I wouldn't live anywhere in north Texas besides Dallas proper or the park cities.
 
Alex

Alex

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So much of this forum makes Texas sound like a less-than-mediocre place. And we tend to have rather well-traveled individuals in these parts. Austin sounds like the only place worth a shit in Texas. The only city in Texas I've visited is Houston - and that place is awful. Where does the Texas pride come from?
 
Cad

Cad

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Alex_sl said:
So much of this forum makes Texas sound like a less-than-mediocre place. And we tend to have rather well-traveled individuals in these parts. Austin sounds like the only place worth a shit in Texas. The only city in Texas I've visited is Houston - and that place is awful. Where does the Texas pride come from?
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There's nothing special about Austin other than the horrible traffic and the music scene. Austin's club culture is pretty unique in Texas.
 
Joeboo

Joeboo

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I've never actually lived in Texas, but from visiting/vacationing there a lot(lot of friends in Texas), Austin is cool, and I've always enjoyed San Antonio as well. West Texas is a desolate shithole(everything between Dallas and Albuquerque, NM blows), and Dallas just seems like the absolute most generic large city I've ever been to. It's like the entirety of Dallas was built around the basis of chain restaurants and shopping centers. It has all of the perks and downsides you would expect from a big city, but nothing really unique or memorable to set it apart like a Chicago or San Francisco or Miami.
 
Frenzied Wombat

Frenzied Wombat

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Cad_sl said:
I'd say any of the cultured parts of Dallas are going to be in the park cities, east Dallas, Preston hollow, or jcc type areas. There's certainly plenty of football and church and dumb plastic fake church bimbos, but there's other stuff too. Out in the suburbs though the church bimbos are pretty prevalent.

Small city outside Dallas could mean plano which could be fine, or it could mean Greenville, and holy shit look out. I wouldn't live anywhere in north Texas besides Dallas proper or the park cities.
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Park cities, Preston hollow, etc are just basically the wealthy areas of Dallas, and money certainly doesn't buy one culture, at least not here. Though it certainly is a generalization, for the most part they are just rich people that buy more expensive pick-up trucks and go to wealthier churches.. Most build these god awful palatial houses that they believe are sophisticated because they *think* they look Mediterranean or Country French, when in reality they are farthest thing from it.. I refer to the housing abortions as "Texan Tuscan"

As for fucking Plano, dear God.. It's basically the suburbia that so desperately wants to be Park Cities, but doesn't quite have the money to get there. It's basically flat boring Pleasantville with a huge outdoor mall as the center of entertainment.

Austin really is you best bet in terms of finding a significant amount of more liberal laid back non-religious types, but the traffic is horrendous and no matter what it is still a college town..

Bottom line is Texas is awesome if you just want some place warm to live that has a good standard of living. If your priorities are to maximize income, have a big house at minimal cost, and be able to accomplish errands and daily tasks easily (everything can be had at the strip mall), the Texas is for you.. If "cool" laid back people, cultural activities, diverse ethic people and restaurants, parks, or any type of beautiful surroundings/architecture are important to you-- or should I say more important than the positives I noticed, then stay the fuck away from Texas.

Myself, I moved here because my mother was sick, and have since stayed because I've got a serious Golden Handcuff situation through my job here. As soon as that runs dry or I can't tolerate it anymore, I'll be taking my savings and moving to somewhere in California.
 
TomServo

TomServo

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Baltimore can have some nice housing for decent prices and no you won't be living in the fucking Wire. I have found that work is pretty decent to find in the 695 to Ft. Meade Corridor.
 
McCheese

McCheese

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grumblethorn_sl said:
Baltimore can have some nice housing for decent prices and no you won't be living in the fucking Wire. I have found that work is pretty decent to find in the 695 to Ft. Meade Corridor.
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My main problem with living in Balitmore is that the nicer areas tend to be right across the street from shitty areas. It's not like D.C, where you've got huge areas of similar income living together; in Baltimore you can have a nice, upscale apartment on one block, and the next block will have crack dealers on the corner and prostitutes offering $20 blow jobs.

I'd rather pay a little bit more and live out in Glen Burnie or some place similar. Not to mention parking in Baltimore is shit all around and unless you're lucky you'll probably be paying an extra $100 - $200/month for parking as well.
 
Cad

Cad

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Frenzied Wombat_sl said:
Park cities, Preston hollow, etc are just basically the wealthy areas of Dallas, and money certainly doesn't buy one culture, at least not here. Though it certainly is a generalization, for the most part they are just rich people that buy more expensive pick-up trucks and go to wealthier churches.. Most build these god awful palatial houses that they believe are sophisticated because they *think* they look Mediterranean or Country French, when in reality they are farthest thing from it.. I refer to the housing abortions as "Texan Tuscan"

As for fucking Plano, dear God.. It's basically the suburbia that so desperately wants to be Park Cities, but doesn't quite have the money to get there. It's basically flat boring Pleasantville with a huge outdoor mall as the center of entertainment.

Austin really is you best bet in terms of finding a significant amount of more liberal laid back non-religious types, but the traffic is horrendous and no matter what it is still a college town..

Bottom line is Texas is awesome if you just want some place warm to live that has a good standard of living. If your priorities are to maximize income, have a big house at minimal cost, and be able to accomplish errands and daily tasks easily (everything can be had at the strip mall), the Texas is for you.. If "cool" laid back people, cultural activities, diverse ethic people and restaurants, parks, or any type of beautiful surroundings/architecture are important to you-- or should I say more important than the positives I noticed, then stay the fuck away from Texas.

Myself, I moved here because my mother was sick, and have since stayed because I've got a serious Golden Handcuff situation through my job here. As soon as that runs dry or I can't tolerate it anymore, I'll be taking my savings and moving to somewhere in California.
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Of course money doesn't buy one culture, but there is a lot more to many of these areas than meets the eye. There are lots of entrepreneurs, artists, television and sports types in these areas along with your typical doctors/lawyers/executives/financial people. There's a lot of depth to it once you get to know a few people. I live in UP by the way.

If you think California is any different, I direct you to the Real Housewives of Orange County... there are just as many insanely vapid people in California as there are in Texas, they just generally find the need to fake being religious a little less compelling. It definitely is more laid back there though, less formal-religiousness and less formal business practices. Everything is a bit more surfer dude. If thats your thing, great, you'll like it. If you're expecting some total hotbed of liberal groupthink, make sure you move to San Francisco proper or maybe the Valley in LA. Plenty of red counties in California as well.

Dallas County is overwhelmingly blue if it makes you feel better.

Agree 100% about Plano, but there's pockets that are okay there. Definitely have to look around.

Every place is what you make of it.
 
edko

edko

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McCheese_sl said:
My main problem with living in Balitmore is that the nicer areas tend to be right across the street from shitty areas. It's not like D.C, where you've got huge areas of similar income living together; in Baltimore you can have a nice, upscale apartment on one block, and the next block will have crack dealers on the corner and prostitutes offering $20 blow jobs.

I'd rather pay a little bit more and live out in Glen Burnie or some place similar. Not to mention parking in Baltimore is shit all around and unless you're lucky you'll probably be paying an extra $100 - $200/month for parking as well.
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City taxes are ridiculous and the school system, while improving, has a ways to go. As soon as people with income have kids, they are off to the burbs outside of 695.
 
Alex

Alex

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Edko_sl said:
City taxes are ridiculous and the school system, while improving, has a ways to go. As soon as people with income have kids, they are off to the burbs outside of 695.
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That's a problem with many cities that are close to the larger, major American cities. People graduate college or high school and get out. Hasn't the population of Baltimore dropped steadily over the last 10 years? There are plenty of other cities with the same issue - St. Louis, Cleveland, Memphis. The people with means move out, leaving the uneducated and impoverished.
 
D

DeadAgain!?_sl

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I would actually be moving to either plano or mesquite. I could care lesss about the culture - assholes are everywhere. More go to work, go home, save money.
 
edko

edko

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Alex_sl said:
That's a problem with many cities that are close to the larger, major American cities. People graduate college or high school and get out. Hasn't the population of Baltimore dropped steadily over the last 10 years? There are plenty of other cities with the same issue - St. Louis, Cleveland, Memphis. The people with means move out, leaving the uneducated and impoverished.
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When Canton, Federal Hill and Fells Point neighborhoods became the "in places" to live, there was a slight bump in population during the 90s. But overall, yes, there has been a mass migration and those early 90's kids now have kids. It's a shame, Baltimore has some really nice neighborhoods with interesting architecture and things to do. But when you can get 3x the room for 30% less taxes, the decision is pretty easy. Especially for families.
 
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