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I was homeless for nearly 6 years. I was willing to relocate to anywhere in the western US to make my life work and get back into housing and spent a few years

I was homeless for nearly 6 years. I was willing to relocate to anywhere in the western US to make my life work and get back into housing and spent a few years researching my options. I'm not convinced the "affordable housing" people imagine is available if you go far enough out in the US is as available as is popularly presumed.

llm_nerd 3y ago
I don't have to imagine anything. I can pull up Zillow right now and find some incredible homes priced at what would be considered very cheap here almost anywhere in the US. Even San Francisco is looking pretty economical! Outside of the major centres homes are amazingly inexpensive. Obviously this doesn't mean everyone in all situations can find a home, but the scale of the problem is just dramatically different.
- DoreenMichele 3y ago
  I had this same argument with people over and over on HN while I was homeless. If you want to actually move there and live there, looking into those "cheap" homes frequently is a case of they aren't actually livable and need many thousands of dollars of work, among other issues.
  - llm_nerd 3y ago
    You are predicating this entire discussion on your own personal experience. I have no idea what your income, credit rating, job, etc is, but as mentioned obviously people fall through the cracks and have trouble anywhere, at literally any time in human history. I mean, you mentioned that you looked for six years, yet even the US notion of a lack of "affordable" (which again, is a relative term) housing is a recent phenomena. No, I'm not looking at teardowns. Many of these are absolutely gorgeous, extremely well-appointed homes. This is more than just touristy noise at this point: I am seriously considering relocating to the US because of what is happening in Canada, and have looked in depth at available homes across the nation.
    - DoreenMichele 3y ago
      You've basically said "my personal firsthand experience trumps yours" when my personal firsthand experience includes living in multiple places in the US and yours apparently includes living in Canada and looking up info about the US online and concluding life here might be better for you. I wish you luck in finding your bliss, but this seems like an unconstructive discussion. PS: What's on the internet is not necessarily a comprehensive and accurate picture of reality on the ground.
lotsofpulp 3y ago
> I was willing to relocate to anywhere in the western US The western US is a lot more expensive than the rest of the US. https://cdn.nar.realtor//sites/default/files/documents/ehs-07-2023-supplemental-data-2023-08-22.pdf?08-ehs https://cdn.nar.realtor//sites/default/files/documents/ehs-0...
- DoreenMichele 3y ago
  I have a serious medical situation. For me, that makes the eastern US vastly more expensive.

llm_nerd 3y ago

I don't have to imagine anything. I can pull up Zillow right now and find some incredible homes priced at what would be considered very cheap here almost anywhere in the US. Even San Francisco is looking pretty economical! Outside of the major centres homes are amazingly inexpensive. Obviously this doesn't mean everyone in all situations can find a home, but the scale of the problem is just dramatically different.

DoreenMichele 3y ago
I had this same argument with people over and over on HN while I was homeless. If you want to actually move there and live there, looking into those "cheap" homes frequently is a case of they aren't actually livable and need many thousands of dollars of work, among other issues.
- llm_nerd 3y ago
  You are predicating this entire discussion on your own personal experience. I have no idea what your income, credit rating, job, etc is, but as mentioned obviously people fall through the cracks and have trouble anywhere, at literally any time in human history. I mean, you mentioned that you looked for six years, yet even the US notion of a lack of "affordable" (which again, is a relative term) housing is a recent phenomena. No, I'm not looking at teardowns. Many of these are absolutely gorgeous, extremely well-appointed homes. This is more than just touristy noise at this point: I am seriously considering relocating to the US because of what is happening in Canada, and have looked in depth at available homes across the nation.
  - DoreenMichele 3y ago
    You've basically said "my personal firsthand experience trumps yours" when my personal firsthand experience includes living in multiple places in the US and yours apparently includes living in Canada and looking up info about the US online and concluding life here might be better for you. I wish you luck in finding your bliss, but this seems like an unconstructive discussion. PS: What's on the internet is not necessarily a comprehensive and accurate picture of reality on the ground.

lotsofpulp 3y ago

> I was willing to relocate to anywhere in the western US The western US is a lot more expensive than the rest of the US. https://cdn.nar.realtor//sites/default/files/documents/ehs-07-2023-supplemental-data-2023-08-22.pdf?08-ehs https://cdn.nar.realtor//sites/default/files/documents/ehs-0...

DoreenMichele 3y ago
I have a serious medical situation. For me, that makes the eastern US vastly more expensive.