Bummer JG got banned but even when he first joined he had a way of swinging his dick around like he owned the place. I recall being surprised he wasn't booted after his first fee posts.
Anyway, this is a great thread and a lot of different perspectives here. Good discussion.
Still disagree with the folks saying how necessary private schooling and high-property-value living is.
I grew up in a small suburb about 35 minutes north of Boston that was about 99% middle class white folks. Public school my entire grade school career. My HS was a 3-town district college prep school. The town/district I grew up in is still nice, quiet, and small with about zero crime, a nice home can be had there for under $300k, and that Highschool is still one of the highest scoring public schools in the state as far as I know.
That is not unique. You can find suburbs all over the country not far from city centers that offer quality affordable living and quality schooling. I think our generation has some kind of weird stigma against public education and not raising our kids like they are special little snowflakes who need all the money in the world thrown at them to not wind up in prison by graduation.
Hell, the area I love in now in Colorado is nice. A nice 3 bedroom in my neighborhood goes for around $250k-$300k, it's quiet and safe, and there is a nice public elementary school right around the corner. I would feel perfectly fine raising children here. I'm also about 20 minutes from Denver city center.
Edit: also I don't know about you folks but every company I've worked for since I was 19 provided heavily subsidized health insurance and even family plans were quite affordable depending on what frills you opted to tack on.
Anyway, this is a great thread and a lot of different perspectives here. Good discussion.
Still disagree with the folks saying how necessary private schooling and high-property-value living is.
I grew up in a small suburb about 35 minutes north of Boston that was about 99% middle class white folks. Public school my entire grade school career. My HS was a 3-town district college prep school. The town/district I grew up in is still nice, quiet, and small with about zero crime, a nice home can be had there for under $300k, and that Highschool is still one of the highest scoring public schools in the state as far as I know.
That is not unique. You can find suburbs all over the country not far from city centers that offer quality affordable living and quality schooling. I think our generation has some kind of weird stigma against public education and not raising our kids like they are special little snowflakes who need all the money in the world thrown at them to not wind up in prison by graduation.
Hell, the area I love in now in Colorado is nice. A nice 3 bedroom in my neighborhood goes for around $250k-$300k, it's quiet and safe, and there is a nice public elementary school right around the corner. I would feel perfectly fine raising children here. I'm also about 20 minutes from Denver city center.
Edit: also I don't know about you folks but every company I've worked for since I was 19 provided heavily subsidized health insurance and even family plans were quite affordable depending on what frills you opted to tack on.