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I'm not sure you're comparing apples-to-apples here. My grandfather drove trucks for the city, and my grandmother worked part-time in a factory. They didn't rea

by psyc 9y ago

I'm not sure you're comparing apples-to-apples here. My grandfather drove trucks for the city, and my grandmother worked part-time in a factory. They didn't reach high-school. They had 3 kids, always owned their own homes, in a major metro, owned two cars, and always had "modern" appliances and electronics for their time. They felt little or no economic insecurity, and never expressed that they felt they were lacking anything. They retired very comfortably, without any special planning. Which socio-economic class of today would you compare them to?

bandrami 9y ago
> Which socio-economic class of today would you compare them to? Well, that's my point: I'd compare them to the lower-middle or "working" class. Your grandparents had a lower inflation-adjusted income (speaking in general here; obviously there will be exceptions) than truck drivers and part-time factory workers today (though today's need a high school diploma whereas your grandparents didn't). That's why I mentioned the house size: they owned a house that -- in most cases -- would be so small that it couldn't sell on today's market. They owned a car without air conditioning or an entertainment system. You can own a tiny house and a featureless car for very little money today. But people aren't satisfied with the standard of living that satisfied your grandparents.
- psyc 9y ago
  I doubt even a middle-middle class family could attain their standard of living, within 100 miles of where they lived. Their house was around 1200 sq ft, 3 bedrooms, and is valued at $500k today.
  - bandrami 9y ago
    > Their house was around 1200 sq ft That's rather unlikely. The average new home size in 1960 was less than 1000 sq ft (it's over 2500 sq ft today), and pretty much all existing stock at that point was under 1000 sq ft. Meanwhile, most urban apartments were SROs or what would today be called studios. Over the decades, the houses got additions and the apartments had interior walls knocked out and got combined. Our obsession with floorspace is one of the big drivers of housing being so expensive.
    - psyc 9y ago
      You are now veering off into baseless assertions. I just looked up the house on Trulia this minute. 1400 sq ft, 3 bed, $600k. Also I’ve lived in this state my whole life and there are abundant large, old homes.

by psyc 9y ago

bandrami 9y ago

> Which socio-economic class of today would you compare them to? Well, that's my point: I'd compare them to the lower-middle or "working" class. Your grandparents had a lower inflation-adjusted income (speaking in general here; obviously there will be exceptions) than truck drivers and part-time factory workers today (though today's need a high school diploma whereas your grandparents didn't). That's why I mentioned the house size: they owned a house that -- in most cases -- would be so small that it couldn't sell on today's market. They owned a car without air conditioning or an entertainment system. You can own a tiny house and a featureless car for very little money today. But people aren't satisfied with the standard of living that satisfied your grandparents.

psyc 9y ago
I doubt even a middle-middle class family could attain their standard of living, within 100 miles of where they lived. Their house was around 1200 sq ft, 3 bedrooms, and is valued at $500k today.
- bandrami 9y ago
  > Their house was around 1200 sq ft That's rather unlikely. The average new home size in 1960 was less than 1000 sq ft (it's over 2500 sq ft today), and pretty much all existing stock at that point was under 1000 sq ft. Meanwhile, most urban apartments were SROs or what would today be called studios. Over the decades, the houses got additions and the apartments had interior walls knocked out and got combined. Our obsession with floorspace is one of the big drivers of housing being so expensive.
  - psyc 9y ago
    You are now veering off into baseless assertions. I just looked up the house on Trulia this minute. 1400 sq ft, 3 bed, $600k. Also I’ve lived in this state my whole life and there are abundant large, old homes.