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Your chosen lifestyle doesn't have to involve sea voyages in Southeast Asia or weeklong ski excursions. It could also be living in a medium-sized town in Flyov

Your chosen lifestyle doesn't have to involve sea voyages in Southeast Asia or weeklong ski excursions. It could also be living in a medium-sized town in Flyover Country, U.S.A., working 40 hour weeks on interesting problems and spending lots of time with your spouse and children. If you've ever looked around at your Logan's Run coworkers and wondered what happens when you turn 30, here's one of your answers.

coldtea 9y ago
>It could also be living in a medium-sized town in Flyover Country, U.S.A., working 40 hour weeks on interesting problems That's like, full time employment.
- znq 9y ago
  Minus the "interesting problems" for many people.
SmellTheGlove 9y ago
Completely agree. It doesn't even need to be a lifestyle business, nor in flyover country. I live on the Maine coast working for a large company. We even have a big office here! I'm mid 30's, wife, kid, and we have a nice balance. Yeah sometimes I work a bit more than I'd like, but 40 hours per week is normal, and for the times I work more than that, it's more than offset by my 20 minute traffic-doesnt-exist commute. I feel very fortunate to live somewhere that other people visit on vacation, but getting here isn't really that challenging. Portland (the original!) has a small but growing startup scene if that's your thing. It also has some of the best food and beer in the country, which is a distraction I admit.
- beart 9y ago
  I just visited Portland for the first time and found it to be a surprisingly vibrant city. Despite being less than half the population of my home town, it has a lot going on. I suspect that changes quite a bit during the winter months. Hot Suppa was an especially delicious place to eat.
  - prawks 9y ago
    The winter can be a bit much if you're not used to it for sure, but the upside is that tourists leave and restaurants no longer need reservations :) Plus, not far from some excellent (downhill and cross-country) skiing, snowshoeing, ice fishing.
  - SmellTheGlove 9y ago
    It'll surprise you like that. I moved up here 5 or so years ago because I liked visiting so much. There's a lot going on specifically on the Portland peninsula if you're into food and beer (making or consuming), or generally interested in just making things. The greater portland area has the outdoors and beaches, which are excellent for year round activities. The winter is harsh, which is probably the only reason for our low population density. It's really not that bad once you get used to it, though, because the roads are pretty well cleared and maintained, you find things like skiiing/skating to do, and employers generally have common sense about when to tell folks to stay home. I grew up in a much larger mid-Atlantic suburb that didn't have nearly the character or variety of things to do that we have around Portland. My wife's biggest complaint is the lack of shopping, particularly "nice" stores, but Boston isn't that far.
JBReefer 9y ago
I can't tell if this is sarcasm - you realize this is just "median American lifestyle," right? The idea that you can afford a house and a boat and time with your kids on a single upper middle class income in, say, Missouri is called "normal" outside of SF/NYC.
- jgmmo 9y ago
  Upper middle class isn't normal. It doesn't just happen. Example: Only 32% of Americans have bachelor degrees.
  - komali2 9y ago
    That statistic seems kind of random. I have a bachelor degree and was definitely not pulling upper middle class on it (liberal arts degree) until I went to a bootcamp and switched careers into web dev.
    - civilian 9y ago
      I think the "32% of Americans have bachelor degrees" factoid is not meant to say that "everyone who gets a degree is upper-middle class" but that "a bachelor degree is _usually_ a gate/hoop you have to get through in order to have a good chance of being upper-middle class, and only 32% of Americans get through that filter."
  - adventured 9y ago
    The US median income is about $37,000 currently. Among the highest in the world. You can earn that in just about every state in routine jobs that millions of people work (thus median). It also means you can very likely earn that income without a four year degree (since after all only 33.4% [1] of Americans now have bachelor degrees and their median income is around $60,000 now per the BLS). Now combine two median incomes. You can very easily earn $80,000+ in a household, doing routine jobs without a bachelor's degree (a high school diploma is required), in thousands of typical mid-size locations in the US that are dramatically less expensive to live than the coastal cities. Meanwhile, job openings have jumped to an all-time high.[2] While the supply of labor is at a very low level. Pairing two median incomes delivers an upper middle class life, and does so easily given just a few years of continued improvement after reaching the median. That enables you to buy a good house in those other parts of the country (99% of the nation that is) and it enables you to live quite well if you're at all prudent. So there's your target: figure out how to get into the top 50% among the employed, not exactly a high bar. [1] http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/326995-census-more-americans-have-college-degrees-than-ever-before http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/326995-census-more-a... [2] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-08/job-openings-in-u-s-surged-to-record-6-16-million-in-june https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-08/job-openi...
urethrafranklin 9y ago
Whatever you need to tell yourself, buddy. I'm sure that was your first option. > Logan's Run coworkers What does this even mean?
- swlkr 9y ago
  I think it's a reference to a movie called Logan's Run where life ends at 30.
  - sidlls 9y ago
    It's a bit less passive than that.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
  - urethrafranklin 9y ago
    Yeah, I've seen Logan's Run, and it still makes no sense. Are this person's coworkers killing each other? Until they discover the promised land of flyover country? Try harder, please.
    - apetresc 9y ago
      You're not great with metaphors, huh?
      - urethrafranklin 9y ago
        Not a metaphor, but good try, Shakespeare.
  - throwfast1 9y ago
    I think the book [0] was 21 years of age that people willingly submit themselves to death. I have another book on the reading list. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan's_Run https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan's_Run

coldtea 9y ago

>It could also be living in a medium-sized town in Flyover Country, U.S.A., working 40 hour weeks on interesting problems That's like, full time employment.

znq 9y ago
Minus the "interesting problems" for many people.

SmellTheGlove 9y ago

Completely agree. It doesn't even need to be a lifestyle business, nor in flyover country. I live on the Maine coast working for a large company. We even have a big office here! I'm mid 30's, wife, kid, and we have a nice balance. Yeah sometimes I work a bit more than I'd like, but 40 hours per week is normal, and for the times I work more than that, it's more than offset by my 20 minute traffic-doesnt-exist commute. I feel very fortunate to live somewhere that other people visit on vacation, but getting here isn't really that challenging. Portland (the original!) has a small but growing startup scene if that's your thing. It also has some of the best food and beer in the country, which is a distraction I admit.

beart 9y ago
I just visited Portland for the first time and found it to be a surprisingly vibrant city. Despite being less than half the population of my home town, it has a lot going on. I suspect that changes quite a bit during the winter months. Hot Suppa was an especially delicious place to eat.
- prawks 9y ago
  The winter can be a bit much if you're not used to it for sure, but the upside is that tourists leave and restaurants no longer need reservations :) Plus, not far from some excellent (downhill and cross-country) skiing, snowshoeing, ice fishing.
- SmellTheGlove 9y ago
  It'll surprise you like that. I moved up here 5 or so years ago because I liked visiting so much. There's a lot going on specifically on the Portland peninsula if you're into food and beer (making or consuming), or generally interested in just making things. The greater portland area has the outdoors and beaches, which are excellent for year round activities. The winter is harsh, which is probably the only reason for our low population density. It's really not that bad once you get used to it, though, because the roads are pretty well cleared and maintained, you find things like skiiing/skating to do, and employers generally have common sense about when to tell folks to stay home. I grew up in a much larger mid-Atlantic suburb that didn't have nearly the character or variety of things to do that we have around Portland. My wife's biggest complaint is the lack of shopping, particularly "nice" stores, but Boston isn't that far.

JBReefer 9y ago

I can't tell if this is sarcasm - you realize this is just "median American lifestyle," right? The idea that you can afford a house and a boat and time with your kids on a single upper middle class income in, say, Missouri is called "normal" outside of SF/NYC.

jgmmo 9y ago
Upper middle class isn't normal. It doesn't just happen. Example: Only 32% of Americans have bachelor degrees.
- komali2 9y ago
  That statistic seems kind of random. I have a bachelor degree and was definitely not pulling upper middle class on it (liberal arts degree) until I went to a bootcamp and switched careers into web dev.
  - civilian 9y ago
    I think the "32% of Americans have bachelor degrees" factoid is not meant to say that "everyone who gets a degree is upper-middle class" but that "a bachelor degree is _usually_ a gate/hoop you have to get through in order to have a good chance of being upper-middle class, and only 32% of Americans get through that filter."
- adventured 9y ago
  The US median income is about $37,000 currently. Among the highest in the world. You can earn that in just about every state in routine jobs that millions of people work (thus median). It also means you can very likely earn that income without a four year degree (since after all only 33.4% [1] of Americans now have bachelor degrees and their median income is around $60,000 now per the BLS). Now combine two median incomes. You can very easily earn $80,000+ in a household, doing routine jobs without a bachelor's degree (a high school diploma is required), in thousands of typical mid-size locations in the US that are dramatically less expensive to live than the coastal cities. Meanwhile, job openings have jumped to an all-time high.[2] While the supply of labor is at a very low level. Pairing two median incomes delivers an upper middle class life, and does so easily given just a few years of continued improvement after reaching the median. That enables you to buy a good house in those other parts of the country (99% of the nation that is) and it enables you to live quite well if you're at all prudent. So there's your target: figure out how to get into the top 50% among the employed, not exactly a high bar. [1] http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/326995-census-more-americans-have-college-degrees-than-ever-before http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/326995-census-more-a... [2] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-08/job-openings-in-u-s-surged-to-record-6-16-million-in-june https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-08/job-openi...

urethrafranklin 9y ago

Whatever you need to tell yourself, buddy. I'm sure that was your first option. > Logan's Run coworkers What does this even mean?

swlkr 9y ago
I think it's a reference to a movie called Logan's Run where life ends at 30.
- sidlls 9y ago
  It's a bit less passive than that.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
- urethrafranklin 9y ago
  Yeah, I've seen Logan's Run, and it still makes no sense. Are this person's coworkers killing each other? Until they discover the promised land of flyover country? Try harder, please.
  - apetresc 9y ago
    You're not great with metaphors, huh?
    - urethrafranklin 9y ago
      Not a metaphor, but good try, Shakespeare.
- throwfast1 9y ago
  I think the book [0] was 21 years of age that people willingly submit themselves to death. I have another book on the reading list. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan's_Run https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan's_Run