My cousin does it, but he makes 6 figures, so hes not exactly the most struggling person. Basically if you work a regular ass job, the likely hood of being able to afford rent alone is pretty low.
Not necessarily. Rent is cheaper in places that have enough housing to meet demand. It’s easier to have enough housing in less desirable markets, but it’s certainly not impossible to meet demand in a desirable market too. Chicago has median rent under $2k as an example of a major city without this problem.
Chicago isn’t the bastion of desirable place to live. Sure it’s a major city, but it’s really only viable in a few industries and the weather is abysmal.
Look towards either coast and you’ll see more moderate climates being a lot more expensive.
Chicago is absolutely a desirable place to live, half of my friends moved there or are planning to move there. It’s the 3rd largest city in the USA, and while the winter weather sucks, it has head over heels the best urban design I’ve seen in an American city which more than makes up for it. I’m curious as to what industries you wouldn’t be able to make a career in in Chicago? They have a significant presence in just about every major industry sector except local natural resource extraction.
Regardless, it’s not desirability in and of itself that makes coastal cities expensive, it’s shit housing policy. Demand exacerbates the issue, yes, but the root cause is that there are more people trying to live there than housing units available. NYC for example is building less than 30% of the housing units required to meet demand. It’s not because there’s nowhere to put them, these units have already been designed, planned, and submitted for approval, but most of them will get buried in red tape, bureaucracy, and NIMBYism.
Outside the USA, it’s much easier to find desirable, affordable cities. There’s plenty across Europe and Asia that make American coastal cities look like hovels. Tokyo is the prime example, but outside the USA, cheap housing in major cities is more of the norm than the exception, with some outliers like London. I just randomly picked Berlin, a city I know nothing about other than it’s a fairly major one in Germany, and median rent for a 1br apartment in the city center is around $1400 equivalent. I wouldn’t say that’s cheap, but it’s nowhere near as outlandish as SF bay area or NYC.
Both my gf and I could pay our expenses on a single salary and we’re far from rich, we just made the decision to live in a town of under 10k instead of a city of millions…
Edit: I find it very funny that I get downvoted every time I mention that living comfortably outside major city centers is possible… If everyone that’s now 100% remote moved to smaller towns, cities might even become affordable to live in!
How many people are renting alone? I dunno anyone who can afford that.
My cousin does it, but he makes 6 figures, so hes not exactly the most struggling person. Basically if you work a regular ass job, the likely hood of being able to afford rent alone is pretty low.
Depends on the part of the country
Typical rent in my city is like $1000-1500 for an entire 2 bedroom house. Even my brokest friends have their own place.
San Francisco or NYC? Enjoy your 150sqft shithole for $3k/mo.
Yes. Rent is cheaper in undesirable places to live. This is not surprising to anyone.
Not necessarily. Rent is cheaper in places that have enough housing to meet demand. It’s easier to have enough housing in less desirable markets, but it’s certainly not impossible to meet demand in a desirable market too. Chicago has median rent under $2k as an example of a major city without this problem.
Chicago isn’t the bastion of desirable place to live. Sure it’s a major city, but it’s really only viable in a few industries and the weather is abysmal.
Look towards either coast and you’ll see more moderate climates being a lot more expensive.
Chicago is absolutely a desirable place to live, half of my friends moved there or are planning to move there. It’s the 3rd largest city in the USA, and while the winter weather sucks, it has head over heels the best urban design I’ve seen in an American city which more than makes up for it. I’m curious as to what industries you wouldn’t be able to make a career in in Chicago? They have a significant presence in just about every major industry sector except local natural resource extraction.
Regardless, it’s not desirability in and of itself that makes coastal cities expensive, it’s shit housing policy. Demand exacerbates the issue, yes, but the root cause is that there are more people trying to live there than housing units available. NYC for example is building less than 30% of the housing units required to meet demand. It’s not because there’s nowhere to put them, these units have already been designed, planned, and submitted for approval, but most of them will get buried in red tape, bureaucracy, and NIMBYism.
Outside the USA, it’s much easier to find desirable, affordable cities. There’s plenty across Europe and Asia that make American coastal cities look like hovels. Tokyo is the prime example, but outside the USA, cheap housing in major cities is more of the norm than the exception, with some outliers like London. I just randomly picked Berlin, a city I know nothing about other than it’s a fairly major one in Germany, and median rent for a 1br apartment in the city center is around $1400 equivalent. I wouldn’t say that’s cheap, but it’s nowhere near as outlandish as SF bay area or NYC.
Both my gf and I could pay our expenses on a single salary and we’re far from rich, we just made the decision to live in a town of under 10k instead of a city of millions…
Edit: I find it very funny that I get downvoted every time I mention that living comfortably outside major city centers is possible… If everyone that’s now 100% remote moved to smaller towns, cities might even become affordable to live in!