What are the benefits of living in a high COL state? - Page 2

[witchygrrl]

Originally Posted by sunflower.mama

I don't want to come off soundy snobby, so I will make a general statement. Whenever I get discouraged about high COL in eastern MA, I remember I am living in a part of the country where people think like I do. There are attitudes in other parts of the country I could not live with, or have my children exposed to in public schools. I LOVE that I live in a state which permits gay marriage. Love love love it. But it does totally suck to pay as much as we do to live in a small older house and know that for a comparable amount we could live in a 6 bedroom brand new house somewhere. But I'd have to stay in that house all day

This, exactly. And I live in MA, too

[choli]

Originally Posted by witchygrrl

This, exactly. And I live in MA, too

Me three.

[wildmonkeys]

I have lived in hcol and lcol areas and for me it is worth it be here for many reasons...

The economy hasn't been hit as hard as in many places - we know few people who have lost jobs and they have quickly gotten new ones.

Real Estate is expensive, but you can still sell a house quickly here (we sold our last house in the spring in 6 days whereas I have friends in other parts of the country who have had their houses on the market for over a year --- thus our houses are expensive, but I don't feel trapped)

Other things, gas, food, travel, cost less here because there is more competition than in the lcol areas where I have spent time - we also don't have to go as far (thus use as much gas and put as much wear and tear on our cars) when we need something

I am happy with the schools, the culture, etc.

Finally, I used to live in the midwest and I personally like being able to drive to lots of cities, the ocean, mountains, etc.

[number572]

One benefit is it sort of forces you to consume less unless you have so much money that you don't care about high col. And being in a major metro city makes me be more efficient as far as running errands b'c when I go out it typical to handle 5 or more errands on a well mapped route to conserve time & fuel. I also love how there is so much diversity. Big variety of personalities, cultures, scenery/landscape, food, art, things to do, and on & on... I think I'd get bored in a small city so its worth the higher col. I can find something to do at 4am if I want, always a restaurant open, 24hr laundromats, etc. Plus, I'm an artist so it gives me many more work opportunities than a smaller, cheaper city would. And I find that there is typically a higher percentage of open minded people in bigger cities due to the melting pot style of them.

Oh, and the city I'm in has several great radio stations!! (I know, who needs radio anymore... but its kind of like vinyl to me, just a classic thing that I love to listen to.)

[lunamama]

One thing I love about living in Cal is how amazingly well maintained the roads are. I have lived in a lot of different areas over the country and California, by far, has the best roads of anywhere! Even though the mountain roads we travel on daily are windy, they are mostly bump free and are carefully engineered. Also, CalTrans is constantly travelling up and down and plowing off any rocks or slides that may fall from the mountainsides. This actually saves us a lot of money in wear and tear on our vehicles.
There are so many other reasons that California is worth it to us as a family but this is one thing often overlooked about the lifestyle here.
Where else can you live on the river, are a short drive to the ocean or a few hours to a major ski park? You are just a few hour drive to so many things here.

[lach]

Originally Posted by witchygrrl

This, exactly. And I live in MA, too

I'll fourth that, as yet another MA resident. I really wouldn't want to live anywhere else in the US. There are other cities internationally I'd like to live in, but Boston MA suits me to a T, politically and culturally. It's well worth the COL for me.

[rainyday]

Originally Posted by sunflower.mama

I don't want to come off soundy snobby, so I will make a general statement. Whenever I get discouraged about high COL in eastern MA, I remember I am living in a part of the country where people think like I do. There are attitudes in other parts of the country I could not live with, or have my children exposed to in public schools. I LOVE that I live in a state which permits gay marriage. Love love love it. But it does totally suck to pay as much as we do to live in a small older house and know that for a comparable amount we could live in a 6 bedroom brand new house somewhere. But I'd have to stay in that house all day

Except I don't live in Massachusetts. I like knowing that school, library, and parks measures will pass every time. I like that drivers stop for pedestrians in crosswalks or let you in when you signal to change lanes. I like that there isn't much litter (compared to many other areas of the country) by the roadsides. I like that I can see the water and the mountains. I like that all of my neighbors and almost everyone I know is politically liberal. I like that recycling is taken as a given here and composting food waste and food-soiled paper is becoming commonplace.

I love that I've never seen a child spanked here, and I only very rarely see someone yell at their kids. I love that extended car-seat usage is common and that I don't know anyone who doesn't use a booster for their first graders. I love that I can hike in the mountains 30 minutes from my home or go hang out on the beach. There are so many little things like these that make this area a good fit for us.

I've lived in a lower COL place, that has a reputation for being liberal. I think that was just in contrast to the rest of the region around it. Living there had a VERY different feel than the 70+% liberal voting patterns of where I live now.

[rightkindofme]

I am an 8th generation Californian. This is my home. I live in the East Bay and it's not my dream location. I would prefer to be in the South Bay or Peninsula but they are much much more expensive. We have a modest house that is just a little under 1,000 sq ft and I feel like it is a reasonable size for our going-to-be four person family. I have grown to appreciate that a smaller house and a smaller yard mean less work for us to do.

What are the benefits of living here? Cultural fit. My attitudes do not fit in all that well elsewhere in the country. My husband is a software engineer and there are only a few places in the country he could find the kinds of specific jobs he wants to do--Austin, Triangle Area, maybe Boston, Pittsburgh, Portland, Seattle, probably Atlanta. We don't really want to live anywhere in the south. Culturally that would be a bad fit for us. His family lives in Texas and we are better off being really far from them. I have a lot of personal baggage with the communities I would be part of in the PNW; visiting Seattle and Portland is fine but I shouldn't live there. That leaves us with Pittsburgh or here and I'm kind of a wuss about snow.

Yeah, it's really really expensive here but my husband makes a rather lot of money and I don't work and we still do very well. We are in the process of refinancing our house to a 15 year mortgage and we will pay that off at an accelerated pace. We will own our house free and clear by the time I am 40 and he is 45. He will go to part time consulting and we will get to spend a lot of time together as a family and do lots of traveling. We can make it work here without much problem so I don't see any benefit to us trying to move to a lower COL area.

[lmonter]

Originally Posted by yukookoo

I like the weather, I like the scenery (im in sonoma co currently) but i just can understand why in this economy i would want to pay 500,000 for a condo when i could get a whole farm for that elsewhere and still be making the same salary, especially in a state that is so bankrupt.

If you live in a high COL area why?

Um, I know for us, the reason hubby has a job in a higher COL state [6 hours away] is because that's the only job offer he got after being laid off for 5-6 months. Not everybody can telecommute, a lot of folks still have to show up in person to work.

Without a job or some sort of income, how would you meet those mortgage or property tax bills? Let alone feed and clothe yourself. We're trying to find a job back here in our lower-COL area so we don't have to move, but who knows whether it'll pan out or not (because moving is expensive! and in the higher COL area, houses cost almost double and property taxes are astronomical compared to here - but it's a crunchier, more metro area, that's for sure).

[californiajenn]

Originally Posted by lunamama

Where else can you live on the river, are a short drive to the ocean or a few hours to a major ski park? You are just a few hour drive to so many things here.

Portland, OR

[HipGal]

Well, as a current CA resident who just visited my parents in MN, I am clear on the reasons!

1) the weather! (Including the ability for the kids to play outside most days)
2) the sunshine! (I would get majorly depressed if we lived somewhere where the sun wasn't shining most days)
3) diversity
4) fresh, local produce most of the year
5) the beach - can go weekly over the summer
6) good restaurants with food from all over the world (just had Indian food in MN - it was just not right. A lot of food around here is over "Americanized")
7) general political leanings and attitudes (including smoking being rare, parenting generally positive/nurturing)
8) no musty basements, mold, mildew ickiness
9) a larger range of acceptance for dress, personality, interests, etc.

There are times when the housing prices are tempting, but really I don't think we will ever move out of CA. I do have to say that the waitresses, salesclerks, front desk people, etc. are all WAY friendlier/upbeat in MN than CA. Don't know why that is. I believe the public schools are much better as well in MN. But man is it COLD!

[ewp11100]

Not only are there higher paying jobs there are more off them. We moved up to rural Pa several years ago before the housing bubble burst. We transfered with my husbands company but a year later my husband was laid off and could not find a job that would pay the bills. Oh there were jobs but none that would pay the bills. Keep that in mind when moving to a a lower cost area

[chiromamma]

I live in Boulder, Colorado which has a fairly high COL. We moved here from a town of 10K in Iowa. We have a tight budget on an income that would give us more wiggle room in many parts of the country.

Practical reasons we are here:
Real Estate continues to be strong. While not what it was at one point, because of caps on new construction within the city limits, our house continues to appreciate at a decent rate.
We have a chiropractic practice that continues to grow despite the recession. We've reduced our fees but by and large, people here can still afford to pay out of pocket or barter. If we were to move to a low COL state, we'd have to start from scratch in a place where folks probably couldn't afford our fees.
That said, both DH and I have 2nd jobs to supplement. He writes and I work part time for a chiropractic organization. Still, we both work less than 40 hours a week.
We function quite well with one car.

Which leads me to the less practical but equally important reasons we live here.
More sunny days than Honolulu or Miami.
We enjoy an active, outdoor lifestyle.
We have lots of choices for schools.
Liberal politics.
Strong support for a local living economy...Boulder residents overwhelmingly let WalMart know they would not be supported here.
Strong support for treading lightly on the earth.
Thanks to college students and our extremely affluent neighbors, we have amazing garage sales and heaps of second hand stores with incredible clothing...one can live well and frugally here.
Strong social and political activism.
Lots and lots of small organic farms.

[Knittin' in the Shade]

we live just outside Philly, so in what I'd say is the pretty high COL mid-Atlantic. I grew up on Long Island, so COL here is less than there. We live here because DH's family is here, and my parents moved here from LI. Frankly, if we didn't have my parents and in-laws; we'd move in a heartbeat. DH's job is very portable (his company has actually offered several times to move us south and have him telecommute) and I'm starting nursing school soon so nursing is obviosuly a job tht can travel anywhere. But, we stay here because the benefit to our boys of being able to spend quality (and quantity) time with their grandparents is priceless. My grandma passed away almost two weeks ago, and I cannot tell you how grateful I am that my boys got to spend tons of time with her, and really enjoy a relationship that they'll treasure and remember forever.