4 ms·

America: Where it seems easier to solve self-driving and live indefinitely in the commons of the Interstate Highway System, than it does to just own a reasonabl

America: Where it seems easier to solve self-driving and live indefinitely in the commons of the Interstate Highway System, than it does to just own a reasonable goddamn house.

iancmceachern 4y ago
My wife and I were raised in the suburbs in Colorado, in relatively large homes/condos/apartments and we owned a decent sized home in the suburbs for a bit. We've steadily moved into smaller and smaller apartments, in denser and denser city areas until now when we live innthe heart of SF in a pretty small apartment. We're much happier. We also own an RV for when we need to get out of the city for a respite. If you look at total quality of life, at least how my wife and I see it, it's not really about maximizing your square footage and acreage, it's about maximizing your community and activities you love to do. The latter often points to a smaller more modest home, and more community and opportunity.
- JKCalhoun 4y ago
  I need to give up my woodworking hobby first — it needs a lot of (garage) space.
  - paleogizmo 4y ago
    DIY furniture is not cheap compared with mass-produced even without considering time, so giving up the hobby is a sound financial decision. For huge cost savings, there is a large market of used furniture available private-party. Edit: Hobbies certainly aren't practical, but there is often a practical aspect associated with them used as a justification, e.g. for having fresher vegetables or unusual varieties not sold in a supermarket/co-op. I bring up cost with woodworking as it's a notoriously expensive hobby, especially second-order costs such as the decision to own a single-family home or a larger vehicle.
    - Xylakant 4y ago
      Isn’t the “it’s not cheap compared to mass produced.” sort of the description of a hobby? I bake (on and off) as a hobby and while that is comparatively simple in terms of equipment, if I start considering the time and actual costs, the pretty expensive hipster bakery starts to look more and more appealing. Same for the vegetables we grow in our garden.
    - lostapathy 4y ago
      Nobody gets into woodworking to save money on furniture. They do it because it’s a hobby they enjoy.
    - lm28469 4y ago
      Ah yes hobbies, what we do solely for profit... Some of the people posting on HN really makes me lose all faith in humanity
    - kennend3 4y ago
      There are a number of serious flaws with what you wrote. The first is what others commented on.. you confuse "hobby" with "for profit". Next is this : > DIY furniture is not cheap compared with mass-produced even without considering time, Do you honestly believe that "mass-produced" furniture is anywhere near the same quality as DIY? Ikea - Where you can buy a bookshelf which will not be able to hold the weight of books. DiY - Where you use dado's and plywood and end up with bookshelf's which can easily hold a few hundred pounds.
    - copenseethe 4y ago
    - iancmceachern 4y ago
      My most prized possessions are the quilts my mother made for us, the jewelry and furniture my father made for us and my grandparents (and I've since inherited) and us. I would rather have those things than all the money in the world. Yes, my parents could have traded in their stuff 30 years ago and invested the money, and handed me a pile of money instead, but I would have lost my soul, my heritage, my history. I'm grateful they didn't, and I hope that the parent commenter doesn't either. I hope the parent commenter keeps making furniture that is meaningful to them and theirs. There are things worth far more than money.
- zemvpferreira 4y ago
  I'm in a similar situation, but instead of an RV I have a farm to retreat to. There are plenty of cheap buildings further away where you can have space to tinker and spread out, which is fun. The city is for socializing and 20 square meters are more than enough. Splitting time between both (city on weekend and farm on weekdays when everyone is busy) is pretty ideal for me.
- VincentEvans 4y ago
  Personally my goal is to put as many acres as I can afford between me and other people. Living in small apartment where I have to share a fucking stairwell with others is a kind of hell for me.
ARandomerDude 4y ago
Get out of SF and you’ll find it’s a very normal and achievable to own a decent house by the time you’re 30, and you don’t need to be in software to make it happen.
- mjhay 4y ago
  That's becoming increasingly less true of anywhere with a reasonable quality of life, or that has any kind of desirable or interesting nature. Wages outlying areas and smaller towns are also quite a bit less.
- fzeroracer 4y ago
  This hasn't been true for a long time now. The cost of housing has far outpaced wages and even houses in and around smaller cities sell for high prices because they're catering to those software developers working remote but wanting to live somewhere near society. Considering I'm in my 30s and have been working in a software job and cannot afford a home, I strongly suggest reevaluating your metrics.
batch12 4y ago
There are plenty of places in America between the extremes of San Francisco real-estate pricing and Colorado off-grid living.
newaccount2021 4y ago

America: Where it seems easier to solve self-driving and live indefinitely in the commons of the Interstate Highway System, than it does to just own a reasonable goddamn house.

iancmceachern 4y ago

My wife and I were raised in the suburbs in Colorado, in relatively large homes/condos/apartments and we owned a decent sized home in the suburbs for a bit. We've steadily moved into smaller and smaller apartments, in denser and denser city areas until now when we live innthe heart of SF in a pretty small apartment. We're much happier. We also own an RV for when we need to get out of the city for a respite. If you look at total quality of life, at least how my wife and I see it, it's not really about maximizing your square footage and acreage, it's about maximizing your community and activities you love to do. The latter often points to a smaller more modest home, and more community and opportunity.

JKCalhoun 4y ago
I need to give up my woodworking hobby first — it needs a lot of (garage) space.
- paleogizmo 4y ago
  DIY furniture is not cheap compared with mass-produced even without considering time, so giving up the hobby is a sound financial decision. For huge cost savings, there is a large market of used furniture available private-party. Edit: Hobbies certainly aren't practical, but there is often a practical aspect associated with them used as a justification, e.g. for having fresher vegetables or unusual varieties not sold in a supermarket/co-op. I bring up cost with woodworking as it's a notoriously expensive hobby, especially second-order costs such as the decision to own a single-family home or a larger vehicle.
  - Xylakant 4y ago
    Isn’t the “it’s not cheap compared to mass produced.” sort of the description of a hobby? I bake (on and off) as a hobby and while that is comparatively simple in terms of equipment, if I start considering the time and actual costs, the pretty expensive hipster bakery starts to look more and more appealing. Same for the vegetables we grow in our garden.
  - lostapathy 4y ago
    Nobody gets into woodworking to save money on furniture. They do it because it’s a hobby they enjoy.
  - lm28469 4y ago
    Ah yes hobbies, what we do solely for profit... Some of the people posting on HN really makes me lose all faith in humanity
  - kennend3 4y ago
    There are a number of serious flaws with what you wrote. The first is what others commented on.. you confuse "hobby" with "for profit". Next is this : > DIY furniture is not cheap compared with mass-produced even without considering time, Do you honestly believe that "mass-produced" furniture is anywhere near the same quality as DIY? Ikea - Where you can buy a bookshelf which will not be able to hold the weight of books. DiY - Where you use dado's and plywood and end up with bookshelf's which can easily hold a few hundred pounds.
  - copenseethe 4y ago
  - iancmceachern 4y ago
    My most prized possessions are the quilts my mother made for us, the jewelry and furniture my father made for us and my grandparents (and I've since inherited) and us. I would rather have those things than all the money in the world. Yes, my parents could have traded in their stuff 30 years ago and invested the money, and handed me a pile of money instead, but I would have lost my soul, my heritage, my history. I'm grateful they didn't, and I hope that the parent commenter doesn't either. I hope the parent commenter keeps making furniture that is meaningful to them and theirs. There are things worth far more than money.
zemvpferreira 4y ago
I'm in a similar situation, but instead of an RV I have a farm to retreat to. There are plenty of cheap buildings further away where you can have space to tinker and spread out, which is fun. The city is for socializing and 20 square meters are more than enough. Splitting time between both (city on weekend and farm on weekdays when everyone is busy) is pretty ideal for me.
VincentEvans 4y ago
Personally my goal is to put as many acres as I can afford between me and other people. Living in small apartment where I have to share a fucking stairwell with others is a kind of hell for me.

ARandomerDude 4y ago

Get out of SF and you’ll find it’s a very normal and achievable to own a decent house by the time you’re 30, and you don’t need to be in software to make it happen.

mjhay 4y ago
That's becoming increasingly less true of anywhere with a reasonable quality of life, or that has any kind of desirable or interesting nature. Wages outlying areas and smaller towns are also quite a bit less.
fzeroracer 4y ago
This hasn't been true for a long time now. The cost of housing has far outpaced wages and even houses in and around smaller cities sell for high prices because they're catering to those software developers working remote but wanting to live somewhere near society. Considering I'm in my 30s and have been working in a software job and cannot afford a home, I strongly suggest reevaluating your metrics.

batch12 4y ago

There are plenty of places in America between the extremes of San Francisco real-estate pricing and Colorado off-grid living.

newaccount2021 4y ago