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That’s because most cities have poor quality of life, and once you get out of the twenties, you realize quickly that some breathing room, a safe neighborhood, a

That’s because most cities have poor quality of life, and once you get out of the twenties, you realize quickly that some breathing room, a safe neighborhood, and a single family home with a yard make you much more happy than having access to a large number of bars, restaurants, and other city amenities that you visit less and less. Most millennials are in their thirties now and as they start families they’re realizing high-density urbanism isn’t all its cracked out to be. Of course what I’m saying isn’t universal and I think there’s a middle ground with cities that retain low-mid density zoning, but it’s my general observation nevertheless.

limomium 7y ago
Spot on. The difference in noise pollution, air quality, crime and drug needles laying around is staggering! Having found a wife, neither of us likes going downtown anymore. We have our own sauna and an apple tree! The only downside is, electricity is way more expensive.
- everdrive 7y ago
  I always used to joke: "Sure, there is a very high murder rate, pollution, noise, crowds, high taxes, drug use, mugging, random assault (Baltimore), but look at all the restaurants!"
  - soylentcola 7y ago
    Yeah...we definitely have our issues. For me (early 40's now) it's also about proximity to work as well as restaurants, night life, arts, etc. But it truly is frustrating in many ways. Broader tax base needed to fund infrastructure isn't there. Lower-income residents can't pay for it. Developers and big players get breaks in order to lure/keep them. So us moderate-income residents pay the high taxes and it still isn't enough to fund what's needed. Add to it the fact that at the state-level, many residents (and their elected representatives) seem willing to just let the whole thing fall apart rather than deal with it. It's really disheartening. Still bitter that they canceled the planned metro addition that had been in the works for years and had a ton of federal funding secured. At least it's still cheaper than DC ;)
  - dx87 7y ago
    I had a co-worker who lived in Baltimore, and he'd act like he was shocked that co-workers from the suburbs thought Baltimore wasn't a good place to live or visit. Then he'd also tell us stuff like "when you visit my house, don't park more than 2 blocks away because your car will probably get broken into once the sun goes down", or that he found a homeless guy sleeping under his porch one morning, or how people on the sidewalk would pretend to mug you because they thought it was funny to scare people. He'd lived in cities his entire life though, so he thought that kind of stuff was normal, and he came from a wealthy family and lived in one of the better parts of Baltimore.
helen___keller 7y ago
> That’s because most cities have poor quality of life And the ones that don't have incredibly expensive properties. Of course, if you live in the bay area there's a good chance you're exposed to both expensive prices and a poor standard of living, which I'm sure explains a lot of the horrifying experiences I read about here. Personally, I live in Cambridge MA. Despite this city being the world's top biotech hub, the part of Cambridge I live in is incredibly family-friendly. I don't see needles or crime unless maybe you get close to the "main street" but that's a 15 minute walk away. The cars drive slowly, there's kids and parks everywhere. I would love to raise a family here. But, a single floor in a 3 family building (which was working class housing just a few decades ago) now sells around a million bucks. It's just not feasible, so my wife and I rent and will probably move out to buy somewhere else if prices don't go down in the next few years.
- znpy 7y ago
  > > That’s because most cities have poor quality of life > And the ones that don't have incredibly expensive properties. This, so much.
magashna 7y ago
I mostly want a commute of less than an hour. If I was 100% remote I'd move to the middle of nowhere.
ubertoop 7y ago
Not really any of those things for my wife and I. We enjoy city life. It comes down to cost entirely. Would be happy to live in SF, but the cost is ridiculous. Found similar paying work in a much lower cost of living area of CA, and left immediately.
jimktrains2 7y ago
Schools. Interurban schools are normally a microcosms and exaggeration of our societal problems, and as such not rated well academically. My personal experience is moving to an old suburb that abuts the city while also having one of the best school districts in the Commonwealth and all the amenities of medium to high density (e.g. public transit and being able to walk to nearly everything I need.) I would like to know how they define "city" because I moved out of the political entirely, but well within the social and "infrastructural" city.

limomium 7y ago

Spot on. The difference in noise pollution, air quality, crime and drug needles laying around is staggering! Having found a wife, neither of us likes going downtown anymore. We have our own sauna and an apple tree! The only downside is, electricity is way more expensive.

everdrive 7y ago
I always used to joke: "Sure, there is a very high murder rate, pollution, noise, crowds, high taxes, drug use, mugging, random assault (Baltimore), but look at all the restaurants!"
- soylentcola 7y ago
  Yeah...we definitely have our issues. For me (early 40's now) it's also about proximity to work as well as restaurants, night life, arts, etc. But it truly is frustrating in many ways. Broader tax base needed to fund infrastructure isn't there. Lower-income residents can't pay for it. Developers and big players get breaks in order to lure/keep them. So us moderate-income residents pay the high taxes and it still isn't enough to fund what's needed. Add to it the fact that at the state-level, many residents (and their elected representatives) seem willing to just let the whole thing fall apart rather than deal with it. It's really disheartening. Still bitter that they canceled the planned metro addition that had been in the works for years and had a ton of federal funding secured. At least it's still cheaper than DC ;)
- dx87 7y ago
  I had a co-worker who lived in Baltimore, and he'd act like he was shocked that co-workers from the suburbs thought Baltimore wasn't a good place to live or visit. Then he'd also tell us stuff like "when you visit my house, don't park more than 2 blocks away because your car will probably get broken into once the sun goes down", or that he found a homeless guy sleeping under his porch one morning, or how people on the sidewalk would pretend to mug you because they thought it was funny to scare people. He'd lived in cities his entire life though, so he thought that kind of stuff was normal, and he came from a wealthy family and lived in one of the better parts of Baltimore.

helen___keller 7y ago

> That’s because most cities have poor quality of life And the ones that don't have incredibly expensive properties. Of course, if you live in the bay area there's a good chance you're exposed to both expensive prices and a poor standard of living, which I'm sure explains a lot of the horrifying experiences I read about here. Personally, I live in Cambridge MA. Despite this city being the world's top biotech hub, the part of Cambridge I live in is incredibly family-friendly. I don't see needles or crime unless maybe you get close to the "main street" but that's a 15 minute walk away. The cars drive slowly, there's kids and parks everywhere. I would love to raise a family here. But, a single floor in a 3 family building (which was working class housing just a few decades ago) now sells around a million bucks. It's just not feasible, so my wife and I rent and will probably move out to buy somewhere else if prices don't go down in the next few years.

znpy 7y ago
> > That’s because most cities have poor quality of life > And the ones that don't have incredibly expensive properties. This, so much.

magashna 7y ago

I mostly want a commute of less than an hour. If I was 100% remote I'd move to the middle of nowhere.

ubertoop 7y ago

Not really any of those things for my wife and I. We enjoy city life. It comes down to cost entirely. Would be happy to live in SF, but the cost is ridiculous. Found similar paying work in a much lower cost of living area of CA, and left immediately.

jimktrains2 7y ago

Schools. Interurban schools are normally a microcosms and exaggeration of our societal problems, and as such not rated well academically. My personal experience is moving to an old suburb that abuts the city while also having one of the best school districts in the Commonwealth and all the amenities of medium to high density (e.g. public transit and being able to walk to nearly everything I need.) I would like to know how they define "city" because I moved out of the political entirely, but well within the social and "infrastructural" city.