How good or bad are things where YOU live?

[Kilmer17]

1 minute ago, Elessar78 said:

So do all elections boil down to the Reagan saying, "Are you better off now than you were four (or eight) years ago?"

I think so.  But envy plays a major role in peoples political views these days.

[Skinz4Life12]

Just another day in paradise in San Diego...the anti-Trump sentiment is pretty strong here despite SD's relatively large military presence..

[mcsluggo]

clearly not.  because the USA is now (or was in November) better off than it was 4 years ago, and MUCH better off than it was 8 years ago.

 

The USA (through November) was also doing much better than OECD (rich country) peers during the Obama years.

 

 

 

 

on the other hand... i kinda think that i am worse off today than i was 3 weeks ago

 

[BornaSkinsFan83]

Chillin' like a villain. No complaints. I regularly leave my front door unlocked at night and my car running if I'm going into 7-11 real quick. That includes in DC.  

But then there's my own brainwashed race losing it's collective **** over brown people  and my government being the biggest threat to my way of life that I've ever faced (that includes al Qaeda--by a lot).

 

People in the White House who think I'm a traitor and committing white genocide, my gf's sisters wedding is canceled, can't meet them, gf can't see her sick mom, who knows if I'll be able to vote again, might lose my much needed insurance, the professional field i am will be neglected even more, so on and so forth. Good ****ing times. 

[Kosher Ham]

Are you saying that she is illegal? 

[Major Harris]

1 hour ago, BornaSkinsFan83 said:

Chillin' like a villain. No complaints. I regularly leave my front door unlocked at night and my car running if I'm going into 7-11 real quick. That includes in DC.  

1.But then there's my own brainwashed race losing it's collective **** over brown people  and 2. my government being the biggest threat to my way of life that I've ever faced (that includes al Qaeda--by a lot).

 

3. People in the White House who think I'm a traitor and committing white genocide, 4. my gf's sisters wedding is canceled, can't meet them, 5. gf can't see her sick mom, 6. who knows if I'll be able to vote again, 7.  might lose my much needed insurance, 8. the professional field i am will be neglected even more, so on and so forth. Good ****ing times. 

 

 

No complaints here either.   

[skinsmarydu]

Well, this was reported by the WH Press Secretary, but didn't happen. 

Or should I add, YET?

 

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/sean-spicer-cited-nonexistent-atlanta-055252060.html

2 hours ago, Kilmer17 said:

I think so.  But envy plays a major role in peoples political views these days.

Very intuitive, dude.  You get it.

Winner in the circle, y'all.

[The Sisko]

2 hours ago, Kilmer17 said:

I think so.  But envy plays a major role in peoples political views these days.

Envy, or is it a desire to actually be able to live on the salary they earn? Perhaps I'm in something of a unique position in that my wife and I hobnob with a lot of folks who are doing very well for themselves by virtue of her job and her recently getting her MBA. The conversations I've overheard and had with those folks vs. the ones I've overheard or had with my colleagues and friends are shockingly different. So on the one hand, there are discussions of great private schools, homes that have more than recovered their value and rental properties, spectacular golf courses, vacations, cars that cost more than the homes of the other set and so on. Someone we know once commented on how embarrassing it was that one of her employees discovered that she had donated more to charity that year than the employee's salary. On the other side, it's discussions about how they now have to cover three or more jobs of people laid off for less pay. Some of them work full time and go home and work into the night on farms, relatives and friends dying young, etc. Mind you, I'm not talking about people working fast food. These are hospital management types, nurses and other clinical types, plumbers, HVAC techs that work with my Bro. in law, etc. So to answer the question posed in the OP, I think it depends on who you are. If you're born into the upper middle class and above, or if like my wife and I you're old enough to have been fortunate enough to have had good public schools to go to, you're probably doing pretty well. If however, you live in a part of the country that's not doing well or a neighborhood that's been written off and left to be occupied by police state tactics, you live a completely different life. There really are two countries these days and it's only going to get worse before it gets better.

 

IMO most of Dump's voters don't really have it bad at all. Making 'Muricuh great again had nothing to do with jobs, the economy or any of the rest of it. It was merely a way for them to vote for restoring the natural order of things as they see it, i.e. getting white males on top again....as though they aren't still, but that's a discussion for another day.

 

[Riggo-toni]

Spicer accidentally spilling the beans on an attack Bannon has been planning so he can blame it on the Muslims....

[Springfield]

My life is great.  Moved into Burke last year, have two healthy boys and a wife I love dearly.  Have a house worth more that half a mil.  Made more money last year than ever.

 

For me, the only way that turd could make America any greater is if he started handing out bags of cash.

[PeterMP]

I live in southern NJ.  This was one of the fastest growing areas in the country during the housing boom (I've read where I am was actually the fastest growing area in the country in terms of new home sales).  After the crash, there were a good number of people that were in homes with the low/no interest introductory rates.  They got stuck.  There were quite a few foreclosures and people just leaving their homes.  In every neighborhood, there is still an empty home or two.  There are also neighborhoods that weren't finished.  Lots were left empty- sometimes with a foundation or some infrastructure for homes that were not built.

 

I know nationally home prices have returned to about where they were pre-crash and even exceeded them.  That hasn't happened here.  We bought a house in 2006 (If you look in 2006, there is a place where the interest rates went up.  That's where we bought.  Right at the peak of the interest rates), , and if we sold today (despite making some pretty significant long term upgrades), we'd lose like probably $40K on the house from when we bought.

 

In addition, a decent number of people worked for the banks/credit card companies in the Wilmington, DE area.  During the recession, the banks/credit card companies cut back and people lost jobs.  Many of those people have found (good) jobs now, but they still have not really recovered economically.  I know a guy that was unemployed during the recession for a while that told me recently from a savings stand point, he's just really gotten back to where he was and in terms of paying for college for his kids he was behind when the recession came so he's even further behind and his house is still not worth what it was, and he's doubtful of when it will get there (he lives in a half completed neighborhood.  The lot next door to his has part of a foundation in place and some pipes sticking out of the ground for water and sewer, but the builder just abandoned it like that.)

 

To compound things, the local and state government did not plan well for the children boom that came with the housing boom.  A lot of people moved into the area with young kids or had kids shortly after moving in (including me).  They've had to raise property taxes by quite a bit every year and reassess (which obviously made things tighter on people), and they are still having issues making budgets.

 

They ended up going to half day kindergarten for a few years to save money and because they did not have space in the schools.  My older daughter was the first year they did not have full day kindergarten and my youngest was the last year they did not so we took the hit on 2 kids.  We ended up paying for day care for half the day (half day kindergarten at a private place) for both kids..  This cost us thousands of dollars.  The bubble of kids is now moving to the high school (crazy school set up where K-6 is one district and grades 7-12 is another school district).

 

The high school school district is now saying they are going to be $2 billion short on their budget next year (having your high school say they are $2 billion short on their budget is a great way to help home values).

 

We're doing okay.  The key thing is we bought a house that we could afford with a 30 year fixed rate when we bought (and then we were even able to refi at a lower rate) and didn't have a loan to cover the down payment and any of the associated PMI.  My oldest is still a couple of years out from hitting the high school school district, but my wife and I are already talking about if it makes sense to just take the loss on the house and move to a better school district or to send the kids to a private high school when the time comes.

 

Things are definitely better than they were 8 years ago in the area, but there is still a sense from a lot of people that they lost a lot of ground, they are in homes they can't really afford, but they also can't really afford to get out of and when it comes to send kids to college or retire, they don't have answers.

 

(Touching on an issue that was brought up earlier in another thread, it is still crazy in the sense that a lot of people still put a lot of money into their kids activities.  I know people that on one hand recognize that their kids don't really have a future in sports, but still pay for their kids to go to extra sessions with trainers and things.  It is really odd to have conversations with people that are college educated and believe their kids need a college education that they can't afford it, but you know they are paying a couple of hundred dollars for their kid to go to a sports trainer for 6 weeks.)

[zoony]

A tremendous amount of poverty and working poor.  Big gaps between the haves and the have nots. Not much of a middle class

[The Sisko]

33 minutes ago, zoony said:

A tremendous amount of poverty and working poor.  Big gaps between the haves and the have nots. Not much of a middle class

Historically that always ends well. 

[Jumbo]

It's awesome here. I assume that's because I make every place I'm at awesome just by being there.

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

Tulsa, Oklahoma

 

Originally from: Rockville, Maryland

 

I live in an apartment complex with a bit of section 8 housing.  It's still a relatively good neighborhood, compared to North Tulsa.  Lotta crime up there.  Had 82 murders last year.  Pretty high, per capita. 

 

My second night in the apartment, I witnessed a burglary in the apartment above me.  3 am.  Team of masked burglars, dumping electronics in to the yard below.  Big screens, computers.  They got my attention by all the noise they made.  TORE his apartment up.

 

I called the cops, then had to a second time 45 minutes later to see if they forgot my call.  Finally, an hour and a half after my call, one cop showed up.

 

Fast forward 5 months later, the windows of a bunch of cars were shot out by some douchebag with a pellet gun.  One of the cars being mine.  $300 to fix.

 

Population isn't what it is back home.  Traffic is way better. 

 

Cost of living is WAY lower, but wages are way lower as well, so it's pretty relative.  I took a hefty paycut, but make a better living here.

 

Downsides are no BAY and no BEACH and no MOUNTAINS and nice RIVERS and DAMMIT.  Women aren't as hot on average.  Go without saying?

 

---- So the biggest difference is population density, but there's a twist to it.  There is an epidemic of drivers who go 5 or 10 mph under the speed limit here.  It's actually become laughable.  I start steering left and right like I'm behind a pace car.

 

But I NEVER tailgate.  I think that's a ****ing crime.  Get a ticket for being an ass sniffer.  Luckily, I'm away from the DMV drivers.  Holy God.  I'll take the revved-up pickup truck epidemic here, along with the Miss Daisy drivers, any day.

 

EDIT: OH, this is a political thread.  FFS.

[AsburySkinsFan]

15 hours ago, Elessar78 said:

So do all elections boil down to the Reagan saying, "Are you better off now than you were four (or eight) years ago?"

If the answer to that is yes, then it's no wonder I voted the way I did in November, because I am certainly better off now than I was four years ago. 

 

As far as our area is concerned, unemployment is at 5%, lower in the cities (and spare me the BS line about folks who stopped looking for work). We just had a huge year in real estate that was felt nationwide so buyers were buying which is ALWAYS a good economic sign. A Panasonic plant just completed its shutdown and we lost 300 jobs with a Catapillar plant closing but over all people who want work seem to be able to find it. We are seeing new home construction like crazy in the suburbs which is filtering out to our outlying areas now and those homes are getting bought quickly. Toyota in Georgetown is constantly hiring which made that area a very hot market last year. We are having no problem leasing out light industrial space to small companies that are growing.

 

Cattle prices have been erratic (as they are) so farmers sold high. Agriculture has been consistent. A LOT less tobacco growth though since the buy-out. Most have switched to livestock, but we are seeing a push for hemp production which could benefit Kentucky greatly IF we get in on the leading edge since EVERY former tobacco field could be a hemp field with 2-3 harvests per year. We already have the distribution network with warehouses etc. What we need is for politicians to get out of the damn way and stop angling the industry to allow their buddies to profit the most.

 

No doubt drugs are a problem, meth, then oxy, now heroin. Shut one down and another replaces it. Seems everyone knows someone who's been on it. Over all crime, meh not really an issue here outside of drug use. Violent crime still gets press attention. So we live in a pretty safe area. 

 

Our schools are good, my kids go to the 4th highest scoring school system in the state (highest rated county system) and our high school is #6 in the state. BOTH are improvements over last year.

 

Community life is awesome, we have a few major festivals per year Great American Brass Band and the Kentucky State BBQ Fest. Nearly every county has their own festivals and fairs. Everyone goes out to see everyone they know. You can't go to the store without seeing someone you know. Shop owners know you. School sports are still large community gatherings and rivalries are alive and well.

 

So my experience is a B+/A-

Subtracting for industrial job losses, drugs, lack of likeminded churches.

[Forehead]

I can't complain I suppose.   My wife and I are doing well though she is in a field that could see less support under this administration.  I work for a Federal agency that is liked by Republicans, but some of the recent orders by this administration have made my job far more difficult.

 

I live in the same general area as McSluggo and China do, so at least from a financial perspective, there's not much going wrong.  I am familiar, due to extended family, with areas outside of DC.  Raton, NM, Altoona, PA, Ambridge, PA...I know there's a world of difference.

[Riggo-toni]

West Cobb, GA - escaped from the People's Republic of New Jersey in 2015.

 

I'd say it's great where I am. I'm in a wonderful neighborhood that reminds me of suburban Bethesda where I grew up (Stephen Colbert's family lived across the  street until I was about 6).

 

There are plenty of dumpy old neighborhoods in the area, but overall things are going well here, especially compared to the dumpster fire of a state from which I escaped. My wife is actually from NJ, and she would never move back...though the ubiquity of religious fervor here in Georgia bugs the snot out of her. We lost 60k on the sale of our house in NJ. Businesses (and residents) there have been taxed into oblivion. I miss being 45 minutes from the shore or NYC, and better choices for produce (as opposed to 100 different varieties of bacon), but nothing else.

[Elessar78]

I don't live far from Ambridge, but TBF I don't really know. There's an upper-middle enclave between me and Ambridge so it's hard to say.

[Forehead]

7 minutes ago, Elessar78 said:

I don't live far from Ambridge, but TBF I don't really know. There's an upper-middle enclave between me and Ambridge so it's hard to say.

 

Sewickly is probably what you're referring to.  I think Sewickly is supposed to be Pittsburgh's wealthy suburb.

 

Ambridge is depressing.  My wife's parents were there getting Master's degrees in divinity because the Trinity School for Ministry is in Ambridge.  The folks there seem nice enough, but there are drug problems, half the shops on main street are boarded up, and there's a bunch of broken down, abandoned old mills with shattered windows dotting the river. 

[Elessar78]

38 minutes ago, Forehead said:

 

Sewickly is probably what you're referring to.  I think Sewickly is supposed to be Pittsburgh's wealthy suburb.

 

Ambridge is depressing.  My wife's parents were there getting Master's degrees in divinity because the Trinity School for Ministry is in Ambridge.  The folks there seem nice enough, but there are drug problems, half the shops on main street are boarded up, and there's a bunch of broken down, abandoned old mills with shattered windows dotting the river. 

Yeah Sewickly, Wexford, and Cranberry all sit around Ambridge. 

 

 

[Yohan]

I live in Southeastern WI, an area the used to be high on manufacturing (Case Tractors, Chrysler, Johnson Wax, etc.) Case is still there, but maybe has 10% of its workforce it had 20-30 years ago, Chrysler is gone, and J-wax has been slowly moving jobs to either MI or down south. The kind of things that drew people to Trump. Its been kind of whack around here since Scott Walker became Governor. It seems like we have been in a perpetual election cycle since. I am pretty close to Lake Michigan, have a great beach (even though the water is always cold), great bicycle paths (I am a cycling advocate), but I'm tired of the fighting between blue and red, left and right that seems to be amplified here. The wife and I lately, often talk about moving away...we loved Colorado when we were there over the Summer.

[The Sisko]

5 hours ago, Riggo-toni said:

West Cobb, GA - escaped from the People's Republic of New Jersey in 2015.

 

I'd say it's great where I am. I'm in a wonderful neighborhood that reminds me of suburban Bethesda where I grew up (Stephen Colbert's family lived across the  street until I was about 6).

 

There are plenty of dumpy old neighborhoods in the area, but overall things are going well here, especially compared to the dumpster fire of a state from which I escaped. My wife is actually from NJ, and she would never move back...though the ubiquity of religious fervor here in Georgia bugs the snot out of her. We lost 60k on the sale of our house in NJ. Businesses (and residents) there have been taxed into oblivion. I miss being 45 minutes from the shore or NYC, and better choices for produce (as opposed to 100 different varieties of bacon), but nothing else.

Sorry but West Cobb is no Bethesda, never has been, never will be. There's nothing wrong with it, we actually used to live probably 5 or 6 miles from where you are. That said, Georgia and MD are totally different with regard to upward and downward economic mobility. I suspect if you'd been born and grew up in West Cobb instead of Bethesda, your life would have turned out somewhat differently, assuming you're doing somewhat better than your parents did. While Georgia did make the national average, the south overall is pretty lousy when it comes to upward mobility, you know, that American dream myth. Maryland and NJ OTOH were above average...and yes, I know how high MD and NJ taxes are.

[Riggo-toni]

The actual neighborhood I'm in now was built in the 80s, and the road I am on circumnavigates an artificial lake. It is gently isolated and wooded, and visually is in fact quite similar to the neighborhood I grew up in just off of Seven Locks Rd (near Potomac).

And taxes in MD got nothing on NJ - my parents sold their house for just under 900k, and were paying about 6k/yr. We sold our house for 340k, and we were paying 15k/year. Not to mention the school system in Montgomery county was infinitely better.

I might not have wanted to grow up here - I recognize and appreciate the exposure to culture I took for granted growing up near DC; but I was wise enough not to reproduce, so I will take my relatively warm idyllic environs here over the toxic waste dump of Jersey any day.

[Kosher Ham]

I live across the street from a PGA course...it's pretty good unless you are drinking and driving. I've seen plenty of cars pulled over for speeding through here. 

No issues for me. Close to the city, close to the airport. Crime is rare.