Is the urban big city lifestyle worth not being able to enjoy a house? (condo, crime)

[Cosmic]

Originally Posted by fishmonger

I like the "cramped up" environment. Makes it a lot easier to actually walk to places; don't have to drive your car everywhere. Plus I enjoy the aesthetic appeal more.

In a lot of them "Cramped Up" Environments that I am thinking of, you would have to walk. Very difficult to park the car anywhere close, if at all.

It points out you actually have to know a lot more about an area than just the lot the house is sitting on. I've seen similar places where the street was only 3 lanes wide, park on both sides of the streets and it was a challenge just to get down the street in a car, especially if they tried to make it a two way street. Walking might be your only option in a number of cases, like in a good snowfall. Lil joys like park on the sidewalk area and the cops give you a ticket late at night. Easy money for the town.

What you never see in them pictures is how wide the street really is, how available is parking on a particular street or what is exactly next to the house on both sides?

True is so many big cities, especially the older ones in the Noth, got it here in Ohio in small towns. Very tight spacing, narrow streets, some with little or no sidewalk, very shallow setbacks for many houses from the street. Zero fun just to try to get down one of those streets when everybody is home, let alone try to live there.

No way would I ever buy a house with frontage not much wider than the house, no off street parking (usually means no driveway). I would not care how nice or what it cost.

What happens in far too many cases, the concept worked back in the old days. Those general neighborhoods in Oil City are about 100 years old. Most people probably didn't have any cars for many years in the past. In more modern times, maybe they had one. The neighborhoods change over as the old timers die off, new people move in, much younger and they have one, two, three, many cars in the same house / family. Sometimes pack more than one family in a house or some houses may be multi-family that can be a super joy. I knew of one situation where it was a 4 decker with five apt's packed into it, 23 cars total belonged to that one house and it had zero off street parking. It can be totally beyond the ability to comprehend.

It is not just the cars, trying to get in / out with delivery vehicles, snow plows, anything that wants to drive on the street. I know the problems all too well. My last neighborhood went thru it and the end result was just about unlivable. The small town next to me now has the problem in spades in certain areas. No way would I ever consider willingly buying into such an area and putting myself at the mercy of all that grief which I would have zero control for all the time I might live there.

That idea of having a proper land buffer around a house is an extremely good rule to follow when considering any house for purchase. Especially how much off street parking and your ease of getting in / out of it. A garage today is a must in my book. We have become spoiled but the times have also changed. Can't trust the other fellow like the old dazes.

Those in the South or areas that don't get snow / bad weather can't really appreciate what a good secure parking place that you totally control can be worth until you have to fight for one in some phonebooth of a neighborhood.

Plus get into one of them tight neighorhoods and have people park so tight next to your driveway it is just about impossible to get in / out yourself if you are lucky enough to have off street parking. For me a subject that is super high on my list of things to watch for in considering any house. The brokers know to schedule times to not let you see it at the worse.

[Cosmic]

Originally Posted by tallrick

Minneapolis is a city which is a lot nicer than Miami. It's cleaner and the people are a whole lot better looking, and friendlier. There's dirtbags everywhere but a friend of mine who lives near the city says it's a lot safer tham Miami, where at least two people get shot every day.

That is only 720 odd people a year getting shot. How many of them actually die?? Not much of a form of population control if you ask me.

With the illegal influx those type of numbers don't make a dent in the efforts to stem the rise in neighborhoods with high density populations.

Must be a lot of cities with much better stats on use of firearms to control density per square meter. Lots of places employ it all firearms, knives, clubs, cars, the entire range of weapons to keep the population in check.

[Ankhharu]

To me it's worth it. I don't want to have to worry about upkeep on a house or any of the other responsibilities with it. I can find a small cheap apartment, be close to everything, and be satisfied. But i'm not the norm. I'm 31, single and love the urban life. I grew up in the country and just can't stand the country for more than a few hours. I get bored very easily, so I need access to entertainment. On top of that, I have absolutely no desire to own a home unless I have millions to blow for caretakers and can have it sitting on a coastline. I have friends with homes and i'm not the least bit envious. Not wanting a home was one thing that drove my ex-wife crazy, I'm quite happy being at the focal point of all the action or at least nearby.

[Snuzyaluz]

Originally Posted by Need_affordable_home

Do any of you feel its worth the big city life if it means having to rent an apartment or living in a 1 bedroom condo? How do you feel about this?

My husband wanted a house. We have a house. We have all of the bills associated with a house. We have the upkeep of the house. We are now chained to the freakin piece of land and can't have a life!! My husband does most of the work so at least we don't have to worry about getting screwed by unscrupolous contractors, but we still can't do what we'd like cuz we have to take care of the house!!! And please don't tell me about the great tax break--since we bought the stupid thing, I haven't been able to increase my 457K plan.
Give me a couple of rooms and the city anytime. I used to have a garden in a park where I met some great people. I was involved with museums and park districts and could get to anything I wanted without having to own a stupid car. I was in better health(because I walked or biked a lot more). I also wouldn't cheat and I'd walk my dogs instead of just let them run in the back yard.

[LivingLikeAGradStudent]

We rent an apartment in the city and own a home in the suburbs (long story). I see both sides here, but with our kids growing older and out I think the tradeoffs for an urban lifestyle are worth it. Being closer to the action, from sports to culture to great shopping, is more important than having room for two cars in the driveway and another two on the street.

[joee]

I grew up in the country and slowly watched everything around me become more & more big city.

if having less of a house & being able to live out in the country i'll take that any day over the big city life.

sure it's nice having anything there is just a few min from your house, but the trade off from that is your neighbor right up against your house, sirens going 24/7, dogs barking, people doing all kinds of crazy things, traffic, stress, pollution.

not worth it 1 bit, i'll put my money in land with a small house so i can sit back & enjoy what life has to give, watch the green grass grow.

[wallstreet1986]

I like the graciousness of country life-- the open space, the comfortable built to live in kind of houses, having horses or dogs, privacy, breathing room, and quiet. As a man I like the feeling of ownership and nothing would make me prouder than to have a little ranch or farm somewhere out in the South or the Southwest. However appealing that might sound, however, I would not want one as my primary residence--

Farm subsidies are drying up and the price of land is such that buying land to become a farmer for example is not worth the cost and the profit does not pay back the cost of land.

If you are a doctor or a lawyer or a businessman who needs to visit other businesses it is hard and a very far distance to travel if you are out in the country and always need to go to the city. As a lawyer (my chosen profession) you would have difficulty getting a large enough client base and at comfortable fees. Sure a gorgeous historic plantation house in rural Georgia on 28 acres might go for 650k but the only people who are going to be living there are retirees.

When you are young you need the contact with other people and the job opportunities that a city can provide. Sometimes people when they are old come back to be reconnected with culture and life.

Personally I plan to live in a city like Houston or San Antonio and work hard for a big law firm for a number of years. If I get tired of it I can cash out and take my money and my high valued apartment property to buy myself something nice out in the burbs. I lived in Paris France for the past semester. I had a 250 sq ft studio and it was alright but what I missed is that I had to travel like 30 min on the train or have to sign up at the center during limited hours to go play soccer and very few parks outside of the main monuments. I could go to PSG or rugby matches on the weekend and it took all of like 20 min to get to the stadium and they had bars with beer and hot dogs and it was a blast. The morning rush hour commute was chaos. I would never want to take the train again every morning and Paris is just about as dense as you can get -- even Houston isnt THAT bad but otherwise living there was okay and tolerable for a while at least.

The city life looks rosier at least for a while. People defer having kids to focus on their careers and then they go out to the burbs.

[pwright1]

For me living in the city is and always will be my choice. Cultural, restaurant, shopping and entertainment amenities is what I want to be close to. I owned a home but sold it and now live in a very nice apt. within walking distance of everything here in Seattle. To me the suburbs is where all the traffic jams are. Everybody drives to the mall, strip centers, Walmarts, Apple Bee's and Targets. They're all the same. I never ever could imagine living in a housing developement where every house looks the same. Where I live here in Seattle I find it much safer than many suburbs.

[Vampgrrl]

I'll add my .02

I own a house in Woodstock GA, the northern suburbs of Atlanta.

I hate it!
I hate the conservativeness of the people, I hate strip malls, I hate the lack of community, I hate driving my rear end off every weekend to go to Atlanta (That said I don't much care for Atlanta either).

I can't WAIT to go back to renting, hopefully in New Orleans.

[carolinajack]

i live in a big city and I dont think it is work it, not that i need a big house in the suburbs but having lived in rural, suburban and now urban areas, I dont think it is worth it nor is it what the hype says it is.


pros:
public transport
walkability
access to arts, culture and fine dining and parks

but if one picks the right area you can find those things plus quality of life, good public schools, accessibility in small towns, small cities