You should be looking places other than California before asking this question. In my suburb of Iowa we have apartments that are very similar to this one as far as sizes but the rent is much cheaper. There are also a number of three bedroom apartments in those new buildings, for much more reasonable rent. These apartments have the large parking lots required in the U.S. They have the large elevators required in the U.S. They have the dual staircase required in the U.S. I guess they don't have windows that provide cross ventilation, but realistically in a modern building, insulation is so good you don't need those, and our climate is enough harsher than most of Europe that you will be using HVAC most of the year.
As soon as you look at comparisons like this that are also in the US but somehow managed to be much cheaper, you realize the problem isn't whatever this analysis is about. It's got to be something else.
I moved to California from Nebraska, so I'm well familiar with what you're talking about. And while that's true, it overlooks a few things:
* My salary:housing ratio is better in California than in Nebraska. I have to work fewer hours each month to pay for my home here than I use to, for roughly similar niceness.
* What is spendy is services, like paying someone to do work on the house. Those workers make more here, too.
* On a side note, anything you buy from a national retailer costs the same in both places. An iPhone or a minivan both cost $X whether you live in CA or IA, so I only have to work about 1/4th the amount of time to buy a new phone here as I use to.
Yes, the cost of living is a lot higher here. Especially for those in tech, in my experience the pay difference far outweighs the cost difference, even including housing.
Nebraska housing is actually a bad deal given the wages. It's cheap by national standards, but my wages doubled moving from CBIA to Chicago. Rent in Chicago is of course much higher, but adjusted for income, my place is way nicer and actually a similar portion of my income
Preach it, neighbor. And nothing whatsoever against NE or IA. Those are nice places to live with a lot to commend for them. Still the low cost of living is kind of misleading unless you’re on a fixed income such that moving elsewhere would raise expenses without raising pay.
Yeah i mean, i get why my friends with kids didn't leave, but at the same time, i would so much rather raise my kids in Chicago. Some of them i think are starting to realize the same, as they come out to visit.
Des Moines and Omaha are pretty good, though. I'm especially partial to Omaha. However I personally still wouldn't live there by choice, either one. But i know people that are happy in both all the same.
I disagree on HVAC: i have proper ventilation on both ends of my apartment, if it's under 75 my apartment never gets uncomfortable with windows open on both ends, and i grew up with 69F Des Moines houses.
And in Des Moines, you HAVE to drive, you HAVE to have parking at home, everyone owns a car, there is no alternative way of living.
Where i live now, i have a car, i still live in an apartment, i can walk to the train or the bus or the grocery store or the bar, and i still use my car sometimes, but if i couldn't, i wouldn't really be missing out.
That to me is the problem: places where kids have no room to explore or play, where people's livelihoods are attached to their ability to maintain a car, where people on foot are treated as second class. That's definitely most of my experience in Iowa suburbs
I'm Googling for "Des Moines apartments" and clicking on any that I find that have double loaded corridors and so far I'm 0 for 4 on finding any that have a three bedroom apartment.
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You should be looking places other than California before asking this question. In my suburb of Iowa we have apartments that are very similar to this one as far as sizes but the rent is much cheaper. There are also a number of three bedroom apartments in those new buildings, for much more reasonable rent. These apartments have the large parking lots required in the U.S. They have the large elevators required in the U.S. They have the dual staircase required in the U.S. I guess they don't have windows that provide cross ventilation, but realistically in a modern building, insulation is so good you don't need those, and our climate is enough harsher than most of Europe that you will be using HVAC most of the year.
As soon as you look at comparisons like this that are also in the US but somehow managed to be much cheaper, you realize the problem isn't whatever this analysis is about. It's got to be something else.
I moved to California from Nebraska, so I'm well familiar with what you're talking about. And while that's true, it overlooks a few things:
* My salary:housing ratio is better in California than in Nebraska. I have to work fewer hours each month to pay for my home here than I use to, for roughly similar niceness.
* What is spendy is services, like paying someone to do work on the house. Those workers make more here, too.
* On a side note, anything you buy from a national retailer costs the same in both places. An iPhone or a minivan both cost $X whether you live in CA or IA, so I only have to work about 1/4th the amount of time to buy a new phone here as I use to.
Yes, the cost of living is a lot higher here. Especially for those in tech, in my experience the pay difference far outweighs the cost difference, even including housing.
Nebraska housing is actually a bad deal given the wages. It's cheap by national standards, but my wages doubled moving from CBIA to Chicago. Rent in Chicago is of course much higher, but adjusted for income, my place is way nicer and actually a similar portion of my income
Preach it, neighbor. And nothing whatsoever against NE or IA. Those are nice places to live with a lot to commend for them. Still the low cost of living is kind of misleading unless you’re on a fixed income such that moving elsewhere would raise expenses without raising pay.
Yeah i mean, i get why my friends with kids didn't leave, but at the same time, i would so much rather raise my kids in Chicago. Some of them i think are starting to realize the same, as they come out to visit.
Des Moines and Omaha are pretty good, though. I'm especially partial to Omaha. However I personally still wouldn't live there by choice, either one. But i know people that are happy in both all the same.
And it takes 15 minutes in a car to go anywhere.
I disagree on HVAC: i have proper ventilation on both ends of my apartment, if it's under 75 my apartment never gets uncomfortable with windows open on both ends, and i grew up with 69F Des Moines houses.
And in Des Moines, you HAVE to drive, you HAVE to have parking at home, everyone owns a car, there is no alternative way of living.
Where i live now, i have a car, i still live in an apartment, i can walk to the train or the bus or the grocery store or the bar, and i still use my car sometimes, but if i couldn't, i wouldn't really be missing out.
That to me is the problem: places where kids have no room to explore or play, where people's livelihoods are attached to their ability to maintain a car, where people on foot are treated as second class. That's definitely most of my experience in Iowa suburbs
I'm Googling for "Des Moines apartments" and clicking on any that I find that have double loaded corridors and so far I'm 0 for 4 on finding any that have a three bedroom apartment.
Finally found one on my fifth try. Here is one of the three bedroom floor plans that they offer. None of the bedrooms have a window https://capi.myleasestar.com/v2/dimg/178334024/2000x1333/178...
https://www.thepitchia.com/floorplans?Beds=3. New building.
Yes - this proves my point - both of those 3 bedroom floor plans are for corner units. They have windows on two sides because they are corner units.
In a podium building you only have so many corner units, everything else is 1 or 2 bedroom units. In this particular building that means only 12 units out of 66 https://www.costar.com/article/939748887/lloyd-companies-bra...