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> For city migrants with fancy remote jobs there’s plenty to enjoy. But your children will have to leave the area when they grow up, at least to maintain a simi

> For city migrants with fancy remote jobs there’s plenty to enjoy. But your children will have to leave the area when they grow up, at least to maintain a similar quality of life. Having moved to a medium-size city (and left my rural home at 18) I am contemplating the idea that my own children might live close to me after they grow up - or at least they could choose to. That’s exciting and I think trumps any amount of natural beauty I miss living in Baltimore. Absolutely true. Part of why we want to be in the city is so that our children don't _have_ to leave, like we had to.

s1artibartfast 5y ago
Yes and no. There is always the option of being a "townie". I moved into a city 15 years ago and often ponder what life would be like if I had stayed, and what I want for my children. While city life certainly comes with more monetary opportunity, I am still not sure it is worth the costs. I earn 200k/yr and struggle with the prospect of being a home owner here, knowing full well I make well above the median. Visiting my home town, I talk with peers who stuck around and bought homes with a bar tender's salary shortly after graduating highschool. They have their own challenges, but they are very different than mine. The grass is always greener, but I feel that the American dream of family, home ownership, and independence and is much more attainable in small towns.
- pnathan 5y ago
  I have a lot of thoughts about this. The basic fact is that there are very few opportunities where I'm from. However, people do get by. Now, suppose that I was graduating high school in a rural WA area now... I'm reviewing houses in "the nowhere" right now, just out of curiosity, and 500K is very normal. I don't understand how this isn't going to cause a massive political upheaval in the next decade. People have got to have places to live.
  - s1artibartfast 5y ago
    Yeah, it is a big question too.

s1artibartfast 5y ago

Yes and no. There is always the option of being a "townie". I moved into a city 15 years ago and often ponder what life would be like if I had stayed, and what I want for my children. While city life certainly comes with more monetary opportunity, I am still not sure it is worth the costs. I earn 200k/yr and struggle with the prospect of being a home owner here, knowing full well I make well above the median. Visiting my home town, I talk with peers who stuck around and bought homes with a bar tender's salary shortly after graduating highschool. They have their own challenges, but they are very different than mine. The grass is always greener, but I feel that the American dream of family, home ownership, and independence and is much more attainable in small towns.

pnathan 5y ago
I have a lot of thoughts about this. The basic fact is that there are very few opportunities where I'm from. However, people do get by. Now, suppose that I was graduating high school in a rural WA area now... I'm reviewing houses in "the nowhere" right now, just out of curiosity, and 500K is very normal. I don't understand how this isn't going to cause a massive political upheaval in the next decade. People have got to have places to live.
- s1artibartfast 5y ago
  Yeah, it is a big question too.