Why is the Midwest cheaper to live in than the coasts?

A

AmadeusM

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It has less crime, it is less crowded, slower paced.....what am I missing?

For example, what does Boston have over let's say a college town like Ames, Iowa?

No, I am not being sarcastic.
 
AmadeusM said:
It has less crime, it is less crowded, slower paced.....what am I missing?

For example, what does Boston have over let's say a college town like Ames, Iowa?

No, I am not being sarcastic.
Click to expand...

You just can't get a good grilled tofu, duck pate' and mango pizza in the midwest, Sure a cheese burger and a glass of beer costs you $21 in midtown Manhattan but you can buy a Rolex watch for $5 in Times Square, So you see, it all evens out! And for god's sake why would anybody want to park in a restarant parking lot for free when you can pay $7.50 a half hour to park your car 4 blocks away?
 
I think it's simple, fewer people means less competition for goods and services and less competition for land and housing. If you choose a congested high-life area in the midwest, North Lake Shore Drive in Chicago for instance, I think you'll find expenses are very similar to N.Y. and L.A.

Of course you have to consider income too. By moving from Manhatten to Ames, you might not spend anywhere near as much, but at the end of the year you won't have any more.

Just some guesses...
-Bob
 
People are willing to pay more for perceived benefits of living by the coasts. Some people might think the seashore is prettier. Some might prefer the perceived conveniences available in a metropolis. Some might prefer the climate, as affected by being next to a large body of water. And some just don't realize that they could live somewhere cheaper.

--Mike
 
AmadeusM said:
It has less crime, it is less crowded, slower paced.....what am I missing?

For example, what does Boston have over let's say a college town like Ames, Iowa?

No, I am not being sarcastic.
Click to expand...





All areas that we consider cheaper have big minuses if you love the hustle & bustle of big city life.Product & services are priced on the local economy which is based on the demand for the aforesaid.
One example is the common fastfood sausage biscuit. In small communities it usually costs$ .99 but as size grows so does biscuit costs,up to $!.49 .
Small=low taxes. Large areas require more municipal services = higher taxes. Being an old fart ,my experience has me living where we are now. Away from a big city,living is probably 7 -10 percent cheaper but property taxes are about 50 percent less.A 30 minute drive for major purchases is an adventure.
You have to consider climate, I'd rather pay for A/C than heating so we live in hurricane alley.
If you live in Boston,the winters are miserably expansive. Midwest has tornados,California teeters on a major fault..... they all have minuses & pluses.
You pays your money,you makes your choice........

Uncle [ hunker in the bunker ] Alan
 
We in the midwest also tend to get paid less, because of the lower cost of living.
 
Do you care about things like "Blue Man Group" or Crepe's ?

Coming from the midwest, I don't really care about those types of things "the coast" provides. In fact there are many unpleasant things about the coasts, high taxes, high cost, increased population density ( Like 1 in every 15 cars is a skanky ricer boom boom car), it's dirty, crime seems higher.
 
If you make your living on the ocean,you also have to factor in commuting costs.

Once I retire,it's a whole new ballgame.
I dream of owning a small cabin or single wide on 100+ acres in Appalachia,say,where I can spend my golden years living in pastoral squalor.

And no,I am not being sarcastic eiher.
I would like a beautiful mountain view from my back porch,but I also want plenty of stumps there I can shoot beer cans off of.
 
Pizza, Bagels and Hard Rolls :D , that's why ya stay on the Eastcoast, can't get any decent Pizza, Bagels or Hard Rolls anywhere in the Midwest. :confused:
 
I don't think you'll always end up with less as Bob W says. I know many folks who moved from upstate Ny to south, mid west, and south west. Their pay drops a little, but they more than make up for it in tax savings.

A guy here pays 10,000 -12,000 thousand in property taxes on a 300k house. Moves out west and pays 1,200 - 2,000!! and gets MORE house.Pick a state with no state income tax and gain even more. Our sales tax in Monroe county is 8 1/4 to boot! So you'll save there to. Not hard to gain 20K by moving out of New York State even more if you live in NYC. Sure a top lawyer in NYC vs. a top lawyer in the sticks may not be ahead but your basic teacher, fireman,office guy will. Thats why so many are moving now.

I agree you can't get a good pizza anywher else. I've lost count of all the "New York" style pizza places I've tried in other states, THEY ALL SUCK! and anyone who puts pine apple on a pizza should be put in jail!
 
H&H Bagels used to Express mail all ovver the world, to people who needed real NY bagels in a hurry.
 
As someone who is actually from Ames, IA, I can tell you it's about supply and demand. Ames isn't that bad a place to live, but for people who love city life, it's hell. I happen to like not being surrounded by a few million people. However, to get to any city of any decent size (Des Moines doesn't count, it's less than 500,000), you have to drive for 2-3 hours (Omaha or Minneapolis) You'll find that some places in the midwest (Minneapolis, for example) are actually pretty expensive. I've been looking at buying a house here in Ames, (how many 22 year olds can consider that as an option on the coasts?) and you can get a decent condition 1500-1700 square foot house for $130K or so.

Basically, if you like to have room to breathe and time to live, the midwest is nice. If you like to have everything the world offers at your fingertips, and like a faster paced life, you'll want to get out of here fast.

I guess that's my take on it.
 
By the way, I've eaten pizza just about everywhere that there is, and for my money Great Plains Pizza here in Ames is the best I've ever had.


My 2 cents.
 
Ive had pizza plenty of places....well not really but the best Ive ever had is here in mexico missouri. Its called Pizza works. It is GOOD. Yeah dumb name but us small town folk dont got any artistic flare. :D
 
I have lived in Minneapolis. It's just overrated, in my opinion. People pay top dollar to live in the middle of it all, to enjoy the smell of hobo urine and diesel exhaust under their windows. I never understood the attraction. Art? To be able to stare at some smeared crap alongside guys with goatees who pretend to act like intellectuals? I don't think so. And then, only a few blocks away, you get crackwhores and other assorted animals shooting gas station clerks.

Who needs all that nonsense?

By the way, something I read above got my attention: taxes.

Does anybody have any links to states' rankings by taxes?

Thanks.
 
The problem is that MidWest can mean different things. I've lived here my whole life, but in a lot of different places - large cities, smaller cities, farm country, and Michigan's UP. There isn't much similarity between these places, so one person's perception and experiences will differ from another's.

Unless something major changes, I don't plan to ever move to either coast. I know what to expect from people in this part of the country. That doesn't necessary mean it's always good - just that I'm familiar with it. When I visit other parts of the country, I always feel out-of-place. IMO, the best places to live are smaller cities, with a university or college of some sort, and close enough to drive to a large city a couple of times per year for cultural stuff.

As far as crime and street violence go, the large cities in the MidWest are no different from the coast. The comments by AmadeusM above are spot on. And unfortunately, it has spread to small towns also. I've noticed especially the problems in towns that have hog or poultry plants. In some ways, it's easier for gangs to operate in these areas, because the cops are stretched very thin and generally unprepared for what they face.
 
T. Erdelyi said:
Pizza, Bagels and Hard Rolls :D , that's why ya stay on the Eastcoast, can't get any decent Pizza, Bagels or Hard Rolls anywhere in the Midwest. :confused:
Click to expand...

You can, but you just have to make them yourself. ;)
But there are some decent places in the bigger cities usually.

The Reason it is cheaper to live here is because we get **** wages. End of story. :thumbdn: At the end of the day I am still poor. My knife addiction fills in the gap where my savings should be. :o
 
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