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Of course not. VHCOL areas aren’t my jam so I don’t spend much time there so I don’t spend much time in them and I don’t go to CVS when I do.
Job/pay satisfaction
Started by gruemd
You are blessed my friend. I wish I could be okay with living in fly over America, or rural America, or be some outdoorsy gimmick ER doc, but I'm not. I simply don't care about any of that.
I care about being close to cultural outlets, a diverse (groan) set of human beings with a wide range of abilities perspectives and levels of intelligence, tons and tons of world class food, proximity to pretty much anything I want nearly 24 hours a day, and so much more. I'd also add in proximity to an international airport, but I am one of the rare few who hates traveling, has already done way too much of it to the point where it's all the same now.
I'm a city boy, through and through, and so is my wife.
I'm saving about the same on 400k. Late 30s.
I'll be out by 45.
The abuse keeps going up while the pay/resources down. No reason to do this long term.
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Backhanded compliment but I accept. The less people who find out about all the gems in the middle of the country the better.
You can make a really long list of pleasant towns/small cities in the midwest – Iowa City, Lawrence, Bentonville, Tulsa, Columbia, Bloomington. Nearly all college towns with statewide draw, so you get the culture gravitating to those cities. Obviously better if you "bleed" one of those colors, but still going to be great places for young family life.
I just can't with the midwest weather. Four years in Columbus was enough.
great to hear. Im actually mentoring a friends kid on saving/investing and they just finished a full jan to dec of attending work and the kid actually listented to me and did everything to the maximimum the 401a, 457b, 403b,415m plus got a 55k ish match from work and only spent 60k ish in year 1 as a single person no kids. Retirement plus savings in year 1 was near 400k. I was damn impressed though likely not sustainable as they move farther in life or get some tastes. They want to be part time in early 40s.
Single no kids is easy mode
Anyone that stays that way has only themselves to blame if they aren't stacking wealth
Just wanted to chime in and say that increasing pay increases my job satisfaction. Thanks.
I live in big 4 tx cities. MCOL. Have everything a HCOL has. Can’t think of missing out on anything that is not unique to a city.
I live in a northeastern large town/small city with proximity to Montreal. People like to complain about the HCOL, but I think it’s more that the housing market is *tight.* The average ER pay is dismal. I think that’s the thing, though. People want to live here. That’s how they get you. They pay poorly in places people want to live.
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Agree. But building habits early is the key. Can't spend like a maniac early on then when you actually have real expenses its hard to adjust both simulataneously. Game changing going into married plus kids life with a 7 fig liquid nw.
What are the "Big 4"? El Paso, SA, DFW, and Houston?
Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin.
So, one thing Austin doesn't have is major league pro sports.
See also: snow, topography
I was just pointing out that the other Big 4 do have major league teams. For some-to-many, pro games are an attraction as to certain areas to live.
El Paso. 😂
Austin has pro sports – University of Texas football (thanks NIL) 🙃 and MLS soccer.
Dude, I'm from the snowy Northeast. I don't know anything about TX except that Houston is #3 or #4.
Major league means NBA, NHL, NFL, and MLB (at least to advertisers).
I knew that the big four of TX were all in "the triangle", but only because my uncle lived there.
Absolutely correct on the designation of "Major League".
"Major League Soccer" is not major league.
I don't dislike soccer, either.
If when I flip thru channels and there's a match on, I'll watch for a good bit.
But you're not a Major League sport until you're packing arenas, and soccer just isn't doing that yet.
them's fightin' words
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Strictly by population in the US. I think Houston passed Chicago.
Dat gun violence aint no joke...
Chiraq, man!
Almost like there's a problem there.
Hmm.
Ha thought you were ranking the big 4 TX cities and were gonna put Houston the worst or 3rd.
…have you actually been there? It’s one of my favorite places to go. Clean, a lot to do, great food scene. If you’re not on the south or west edges you’re pretty good.
Violent crime rates by city (have to use the tab to organize them): Austin 112, Chicago 91, San Antonio 81, Dallas 69, Houston 16(!)
Maybe stay away from Texas, but I’m not complaining if you don’t go to Chicago so my hotels get cheaper.
Gotta give St. Louis some love. They’re 25% more violent than any other metro in the nation. Impressive work.
I looked at this list. Portland and Salt Lake City are in the top 10. Chicago is 48. I didn't realize SLC and Portland had higher crime than Chicago. Am I reading that right?
I sorted it by the total violent tab. Property crime usually doesn’t bother folks.
I wouldn’t doubt it though. My home state has multiple cities with higher rates. Looks like Ohio is the sexual assault capital of the nation - think it was 4 of the top 7. Kinda interesting and crazy to look through the rankings, and it looks like it’s 2024/2025 data based on the references.
I guess I don't quite understand why people keep suggesting Chicago is like the murder capital of the country.
Unclear, reputations take a while to change I guess. The murder rate ranking is higher than their overall rank, but my understanding is that it’s mostly gang violence on the outskirts.
My friends in St. Louis, Memphis, and Baltimore are all more worried about crime than my Chicago folks, and that’s in better parts of town.
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I had the same misconception about LA because I watch conservative media, and then I went to LA and I realized that I was being lied to. All these major cities have 1 or 2 zip codes that are infested with crimes. Unfortunately, the poorest people in those cities are the ones exposed to that.
Los Angeles is huge. The city spans from downtown all the way to the San Fernando valley. Murder is not the issue. Quality of life crimes including property crimes are the issue.
Anyone who lives in the area can attest to that.
Have I been there? Yeah. Wasn't impressed. Went with some degree of regularity a long time ago.
But that's not what my comment was about.
If you watch conservative media like I do, you would think everyone is being assaulted/robbed in every street corner of LA, Chicago etc..
NYC is a relatively safe city, but ask any conservative who watches Fox News if NYC is safe, 8-9 out of 10 would tell you it's a crime infested city.
By the way, I watch liberal media as well.
Cities like Miami and Atlanta (lived in both) have higher crime rate overall than LA but you dont hear that in conservative media. I guess the campaign against Gavin Newsom already started.
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Tale as old as time!
Shouldn't be so dismissive. A lot of people (even educated ones) believe these things without diving into the numbers.
I was actually a victim of these propaganda until I spent time in LA and dove into the numbers.
I absolutely believe that all of that and it sounds like we agree.
My point stands that it’s an effective tactic that’s been around for years.
