4 ms·

Cities (usually, but not always, smallish 4th-tier sorts of cities, like Omaha—no dig intended, I actually like Omaha quite a bit) with huge, nice-looking house

Cities (usually, but not always, smallish 4th-tier sorts of cities, like Omaha—no dig intended, I actually like Omaha quite a bit) with huge, nice-looking houses at shockingly low prices in the US exist because the jobs there pay like shit, so there aren't many locals competing for them. There are tons of cities like this where a half-million to $750k can buy you something that's practically an honest-to-god mansion, and isn't even falling apart. (you can do even better out in certain truly rural largish towns, but... well, see below, and imagine all the down-sides are significantly worse, and you've got the idea) "But I work remotely, so this sounds great!" Yes, but your best options for education for your kids will likely be a not-even-that-good (probably Catholic, from what I've seen in these cities) private school (there will likely not be multiple even-decent private options, just the one, though there may be other bad private options) because the local public schools are fairly poor. If any public school district in the area is at all good, decent chance it only covers an area with overpriced new-build McMansions, not the beautiful well-tended 40s-construction budget-tier Queen Anne style mansion with the incredible landscaping, that you had your heart set on. If you ever need/want local employment and you're not a doctor, lawyer, or high-tier manager (or maybe car lot owner), you're screwed (software developer? LOL, hope you like $65k/yr to sling PHP for an abusive manager while your hair prematurely greys and falls out). Also, few of these types of cities exist in places with nice outdoor environments and/or weather (those tend to see prices driven up by vacation homes and tourist activity). IOW it's not valued that way because it's not an extremely nice house for that city. That's standard ultra-rich (by local standards) housing prices in those cities. The prices are that low because so very few people locally make enough money to afford that kind of house.

rootsudo 5y ago
100%, this defines alot of Florida to a T.
throwaway0a5e 5y ago
It's not that the jobs and pay in Omaha (or wherever) are shit. It's that there's no money printer industry like tech or high finance dumping stupid amounts of money into the local economy causing a bidding war between the direct beneficiaries and a rat race between everyone else trying to "make their cut".
greedo 5y ago
So many stereotypes that are just flat wrong. Nebraska K-12 education is ranked 13th in the US according to US News and World Report. (https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings/education https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings/education) Nebraska spends the same per student (K-12) as California, not that spending is necessarily indicative of education quality. (https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/per-pupil-spending-by-state https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/per-pupil-s...) In fact, one of the most common things heard when you inquire about private schools is "Sure, but why pay twice for the same education?" And trust me, there are many many developers in NE who are making far more than 65K. Companies like Hudl, Spreetail, FiServ, more banks and insurance companies you can imagine, all needing good IT people. Sure the pay isn't as high as FAANG, but business isn't as volatile either. The same can be said for many "4th-tier" towns like Madison WI, Des Moines, IA etc etc.
- handrous 5y ago
  Hey, I'm in a city that sits either on the tail end of 2nd tier or the high end of 3rd, I suppose, so I sincerely don't mean to dig at Omaha too hard, and I have no problem whatsoever with Nebraska (it's not the kind of basket-case on public policy that certain other states are—hell, mine's probably worse, as far as that goes). I actually find cities about Omaha's size more pleasant than larger (or smaller) ones. I've just noticed in looking into moving to some cities about that size (including Omaha, specifically, in fact) certain patterns—but, yes, there exist better jobs than the stereotype I mentioned, in Omaha, and, in fact, jobs that bad exist here, too, which I know because I've accidentally interviewed for them a couple times, but higher-paying ones are in much better supply, too. The housing thing's just a kind of indicator for a certain kind of situation, which is that, pretty much by definition, either upper-quintile earners are very rare in a city, or the house happens to be somewhere (as in, a specific region of the city) that kinda sucks for, usually, multiple reasons. Or both. Typically, you hit up Zillow and start getting excited about the abundance of crazy-cheap, gorgeous, giant houses in a smallish city... it's time to check the city's household income curve, and look into the schools where all these great houses are. > In fact, one of the most common things heard when you inquire about private schools is "Sure, but why pay twice for the same education?" On that topic specifically, I think it's an under-appreciated fact that most private schools are kind of bad. How can that be, even when you exclude the ones that exist mainly to teach the kids creationism instead of evolution? Fuck if I know. You'd think the market would put them out of business in a hurry, but, nope. I mean, the best schools in an area are also not-uncommonly (but far from always) private schools, but lots of them are, at best, on par with the public schools nearby.

rootsudo 5y ago

100%, this defines alot of Florida to a T.

throwaway0a5e 5y ago

It's not that the jobs and pay in Omaha (or wherever) are shit. It's that there's no money printer industry like tech or high finance dumping stupid amounts of money into the local economy causing a bidding war between the direct beneficiaries and a rat race between everyone else trying to "make their cut".

greedo 5y ago

So many stereotypes that are just flat wrong. Nebraska K-12 education is ranked 13th in the US according to US News and World Report. (https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings/education https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings/education) Nebraska spends the same per student (K-12) as California, not that spending is necessarily indicative of education quality. (https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/per-pupil-spending-by-state https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/per-pupil-s...) In fact, one of the most common things heard when you inquire about private schools is "Sure, but why pay twice for the same education?" And trust me, there are many many developers in NE who are making far more than 65K. Companies like Hudl, Spreetail, FiServ, more banks and insurance companies you can imagine, all needing good IT people. Sure the pay isn't as high as FAANG, but business isn't as volatile either. The same can be said for many "4th-tier" towns like Madison WI, Des Moines, IA etc etc.

handrous 5y ago
Hey, I'm in a city that sits either on the tail end of 2nd tier or the high end of 3rd, I suppose, so I sincerely don't mean to dig at Omaha too hard, and I have no problem whatsoever with Nebraska (it's not the kind of basket-case on public policy that certain other states are—hell, mine's probably worse, as far as that goes). I actually find cities about Omaha's size more pleasant than larger (or smaller) ones. I've just noticed in looking into moving to some cities about that size (including Omaha, specifically, in fact) certain patterns—but, yes, there exist better jobs than the stereotype I mentioned, in Omaha, and, in fact, jobs that bad exist here, too, which I know because I've accidentally interviewed for them a couple times, but higher-paying ones are in much better supply, too. The housing thing's just a kind of indicator for a certain kind of situation, which is that, pretty much by definition, either upper-quintile earners are very rare in a city, or the house happens to be somewhere (as in, a specific region of the city) that kinda sucks for, usually, multiple reasons. Or both. Typically, you hit up Zillow and start getting excited about the abundance of crazy-cheap, gorgeous, giant houses in a smallish city... it's time to check the city's household income curve, and look into the schools where all these great houses are. > In fact, one of the most common things heard when you inquire about private schools is "Sure, but why pay twice for the same education?" On that topic specifically, I think it's an under-appreciated fact that most private schools are kind of bad. How can that be, even when you exclude the ones that exist mainly to teach the kids creationism instead of evolution? Fuck if I know. You'd think the market would put them out of business in a hurry, but, nope. I mean, the best schools in an area are also not-uncommonly (but far from always) private schools, but lots of them are, at best, on par with the public schools nearby.