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"Many Americans — especially 30-somethings who remain employed — are ditching their tiny rental apartments in hip districts of expensive cities and moving to bu

by alex_g 6y ago

"Many Americans — especially 30-somethings who remain employed — are ditching their tiny rental apartments in hip districts of expensive cities and moving to buy houses in more affordable cities or the burbs for a life of shopping at Home Depot and spending their Friday nights eating mozzarella sticks at Applebee's." oof, that's a savage take for NPR.

almost_usual 6y ago
Who cares about NPR elitism. Why shame people for doing what they want. Hell, the Buffalo Wild Wings in Daly City has a more diverse crowd than any bar or restaurant in SF.
- mire_rustling 6y ago
  Too true.
- throwanem 6y ago
  Better mozzarella sticks, too, not that that's a high bar. It's not an accident they called out Applebee's by name. They knew what they were doing.
- katzgrau 6y ago
  Honestly, BWW had the best tap lineup in my area for a long time, which has no shortage of trendy bars.
  - rconti 6y ago
    The first time I walked into a BWW (maybe 10 or 15 years ago) my eyes opened wide when I saw all the taps. My excitement wore off when I realized that it was literally all budweiser products and most of them had the exact same thing.
    - katzgrau 6y ago
      Ah yea. Good beers took a while to come to my area (maybe 5-10 years ago). I'm guessing other parts of the country might have been a little different, especially as Big Beer tried to catch the craft wave and smaller breweries didn't have any distribution yet. Maybe it's different now in most areas (hopefully)
- hamandcheese 6y ago
  I live(d?) in SF and would on occasion rent a car just to drive to Buffalo Wild Wings :)
- lotsofpulp 6y ago
  Buffalo Wild Wings followed the same pattern as any other rapidly expanding chain - start with an okay product, get name recognition, expand quickly with excessive financing, and then cut costs (and hence quality) while milking the brand's original reputation. I'm sure a few people cashed out along the way.
katzgrau 6y ago
I went to an Applebee's for the first time in 10 years recently and I... liked it. I swore it off as an uppity 20-something. That said, I've been living in a fairly urban 'burb with a nice downtown for almost 10 years. It's nice to actually have space to park a couple of cars and hang in your backyard amid some level of quiet. My personal experience is that when you're younger, city life has its charms. When you find yourself full-on adulting with kids, the burbs (and Applebee's) actually sound pretty nice.
OzzyB 6y ago
...for a life of shopping at Home Depot and spending their Friday nights eating mozzarella sticks at Applebee's, with their families. I added that bit. Funny, they always seem to forget about family, even when talking about 30-somethings from hip rental apartments.
- Barrin92 6y ago
  replacing a wide and healthy social net with the family is probably one of the largest cultural diseases of American life of the last few decades In a less abstract sense, roughly 50% of my close friends who did the the whole "move to the burbs, ditch the social life, start a family" and who seemed to go missing for years are now divorced. Roughly in line with the statistics I suppose. I'd go as far as saying that in the majority of cases when people in their 20s or 30s do this it's some sort of mix of social pressure and biological clock panic than an actual authentic decision.
  - toomuchtodo 6y ago
    > “A wide and healthy social net” On the contrary, we’ve never been more lonely and distant as a society. Family gives you a chance of a more permanent safety net and nuclear community. Friends and community are important, but today’s version of these things appears flimsy at best. https://today.yougov.com/topics/lifestyle/articles-reports/2019/07/30/loneliness-friendship-new-friends-poll-survey https://today.yougov.com/topics/lifestyle/articles-reports/2... https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2019/8/1/20750047/millennials-poll-loneliness https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2019/8/1/20750047/mil... https://www.hrsa.gov/enews/past-issues/2019/january-17/loneliness-epidemic https://www.hrsa.gov/enews/past-issues/2019/january-17/lonel...
    - Barrin92 6y ago
      >On the contrary, we’ve never been more lonely and distant as a society. yes, because all communal institutions have been disbanded before millennials were even born, that was the point? Millenials are lonely because they're the offspring of what was the peak of the nuclear family generation. They're growing up without any communal connection, increasingly without religious communities, Gen Z probably doesn't even have military experience and has largely replaced physical with digital connections and seems to be even more isolated than Millenials. The nuclear family isn't safety but the last escape hatch in the absence of institutions that should enrich people's personal life beyond the family.
elicash 6y ago
Mozz-eater who frequents Home Depot checking in. I thought it was funny.
jdhn 6y ago
I like shopping at Home Depot and feel mildly attacked by this.
jessaustin 6y ago
...spending their Friday nights eating mozzarella sticks at Applebee's. One won't be surprised by the spike in suicides a few years later...

by alex_g 6y ago

almost_usual 6y ago

Who cares about NPR elitism. Why shame people for doing what they want. Hell, the Buffalo Wild Wings in Daly City has a more diverse crowd than any bar or restaurant in SF.

mire_rustling 6y ago
Too true.
throwanem 6y ago
Better mozzarella sticks, too, not that that's a high bar. It's not an accident they called out Applebee's by name. They knew what they were doing.
katzgrau 6y ago
Honestly, BWW had the best tap lineup in my area for a long time, which has no shortage of trendy bars.
- rconti 6y ago
  The first time I walked into a BWW (maybe 10 or 15 years ago) my eyes opened wide when I saw all the taps. My excitement wore off when I realized that it was literally all budweiser products and most of them had the exact same thing.
  - katzgrau 6y ago
    Ah yea. Good beers took a while to come to my area (maybe 5-10 years ago). I'm guessing other parts of the country might have been a little different, especially as Big Beer tried to catch the craft wave and smaller breweries didn't have any distribution yet. Maybe it's different now in most areas (hopefully)
hamandcheese 6y ago
I live(d?) in SF and would on occasion rent a car just to drive to Buffalo Wild Wings :)
lotsofpulp 6y ago
Buffalo Wild Wings followed the same pattern as any other rapidly expanding chain - start with an okay product, get name recognition, expand quickly with excessive financing, and then cut costs (and hence quality) while milking the brand's original reputation. I'm sure a few people cashed out along the way.

katzgrau 6y ago

I went to an Applebee's for the first time in 10 years recently and I... liked it. I swore it off as an uppity 20-something. That said, I've been living in a fairly urban 'burb with a nice downtown for almost 10 years. It's nice to actually have space to park a couple of cars and hang in your backyard amid some level of quiet. My personal experience is that when you're younger, city life has its charms. When you find yourself full-on adulting with kids, the burbs (and Applebee's) actually sound pretty nice.

OzzyB 6y ago

...for a life of shopping at Home Depot and spending their Friday nights eating mozzarella sticks at Applebee's, with their families. I added that bit. Funny, they always seem to forget about family, even when talking about 30-somethings from hip rental apartments.

Barrin92 6y ago
replacing a wide and healthy social net with the family is probably one of the largest cultural diseases of American life of the last few decades In a less abstract sense, roughly 50% of my close friends who did the the whole "move to the burbs, ditch the social life, start a family" and who seemed to go missing for years are now divorced. Roughly in line with the statistics I suppose. I'd go as far as saying that in the majority of cases when people in their 20s or 30s do this it's some sort of mix of social pressure and biological clock panic than an actual authentic decision.
- toomuchtodo 6y ago
  > “A wide and healthy social net” On the contrary, we’ve never been more lonely and distant as a society. Family gives you a chance of a more permanent safety net and nuclear community. Friends and community are important, but today’s version of these things appears flimsy at best. https://today.yougov.com/topics/lifestyle/articles-reports/2019/07/30/loneliness-friendship-new-friends-poll-survey https://today.yougov.com/topics/lifestyle/articles-reports/2... https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2019/8/1/20750047/millennials-poll-loneliness https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2019/8/1/20750047/mil... https://www.hrsa.gov/enews/past-issues/2019/january-17/loneliness-epidemic https://www.hrsa.gov/enews/past-issues/2019/january-17/lonel...
  - Barrin92 6y ago
    >On the contrary, we’ve never been more lonely and distant as a society. yes, because all communal institutions have been disbanded before millennials were even born, that was the point? Millenials are lonely because they're the offspring of what was the peak of the nuclear family generation. They're growing up without any communal connection, increasingly without religious communities, Gen Z probably doesn't even have military experience and has largely replaced physical with digital connections and seems to be even more isolated than Millenials. The nuclear family isn't safety but the last escape hatch in the absence of institutions that should enrich people's personal life beyond the family.

elicash 6y ago

Mozz-eater who frequents Home Depot checking in. I thought it was funny.

jdhn 6y ago

I like shopping at Home Depot and feel mildly attacked by this.

jessaustin 6y ago

...spending their Friday nights eating mozzarella sticks at Applebee's. One won't be surprised by the spike in suicides a few years later...