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It doesn't have to be a downgrade in the aggregate. You can downgrade your housing but upgrade other stuff.

chongli 9y ago
That is, if stuff or travel are your main motivators in life. If you'd prefer to raise a family, a 1BR ain't gonna cut it.
- nandemo 9y ago
  No need for the snark; obviously "other stuff" includes things you need for raising a family.
  - chongli 9y ago
    Right, but housing is sort of the bare minimum. People in developing countries raise families in extremely cramped conditions, true, but that's not something you can get away with in our society. Children's Aid Society, Family & Children's Services, and many other organizations will intervene in such situations. It'd be especially embarrassing to be put in such a situation just so you can bump up from a high-five-figure-job to a low-six-figure-job by moving to SF. Beyond that, there's also the issue of schooling. That tends to be a nightmare for people in the Bay Area, due to the districting policies. Many Bay Area parents opt for private schooling, further adding to the expense.
    - closeparen 9y ago
      DCFS is the main reason not to raise children in cramped conditions? How about, you know, basic empathy? (Unless you have some reason to believe that DCFS has unreasonably high standards here?)
      - chongli 9y ago
        DCFS is the main reason not to raise children in cramped conditions? No. I was never advocating for raising children in cramped conditions. Remember, the person I was arguing with lumped family into "other stuff". I live in Waterloo. I've seen more than one person on HN argue that you should leave as soon as you get your degree here. I don't want to do that. I think Waterloo has some wonderful neighbourhoods for raising children, complete with top notch public schools within walking distance. The real estate prices here are not nearly as bad as Toronto, let alone SF. Even if you could make 3 times as much working in the Bay Area as you could here; I would assert that it's easier to buy a 3BR house here, have 2 kids, get them both into university and keep them healthy the entire time than it would be in SF.

That is, if stuff or travel are your main motivators in life. If you'd prefer to raise a family, a 1BR ain't gonna cut it.

nandemo 9y ago
No need for the snark; obviously "other stuff" includes things you need for raising a family.
- chongli 9y ago
  Right, but housing is sort of the bare minimum. People in developing countries raise families in extremely cramped conditions, true, but that's not something you can get away with in our society. Children's Aid Society, Family & Children's Services, and many other organizations will intervene in such situations. It'd be especially embarrassing to be put in such a situation just so you can bump up from a high-five-figure-job to a low-six-figure-job by moving to SF. Beyond that, there's also the issue of schooling. That tends to be a nightmare for people in the Bay Area, due to the districting policies. Many Bay Area parents opt for private schooling, further adding to the expense.
  - closeparen 9y ago
    DCFS is the main reason not to raise children in cramped conditions? How about, you know, basic empathy? (Unless you have some reason to believe that DCFS has unreasonably high standards here?)
    - chongli 9y ago
      DCFS is the main reason not to raise children in cramped conditions? No. I was never advocating for raising children in cramped conditions. Remember, the person I was arguing with lumped family into "other stuff". I live in Waterloo. I've seen more than one person on HN argue that you should leave as soon as you get your degree here. I don't want to do that. I think Waterloo has some wonderful neighbourhoods for raising children, complete with top notch public schools within walking distance. The real estate prices here are not nearly as bad as Toronto, let alone SF. Even if you could make 3 times as much working in the Bay Area as you could here; I would assert that it's easier to buy a 3BR house here, have 2 kids, get them both into university and keep them healthy the entire time than it would be in SF.