This is a bullshit story for sure. Anyone who lives in Seattle knows this is simply not true. If you move south to Kent or Tacoma you will find a lot of places with a decent rent.
Same if you start moving north to Shoreline and above.
Those places are not far from Seattle. If you live in a freaking RV in downtown that's definitely your choice.
I don't make 250k, my wife's income included, and we own a home just north of Seattle. I bus it in and she drives to her job in Ballard. That must be some new hipster trend, 'cause that ain't forced =[
If it isn't some hipster trend, they should hit up some Seattle companies...
not to be crass, but in the past week I've had a few recruiters from there write me about interesting (and probably better paying compared to here) job opportunities that I've had to turn down because I'm 1) not very interested in moving to the US right now, and 2) somewhat rooted here in Toronto at the moment.
Unrelated to the last bit, but related to my experience: sounds like just hipster stuff to me. That, or maybe a quiet protest of sorts— or both. If they're happy, and functional, and it's not a problem to people, then I'm not sure it's worth much worry.
Just a little further north in Vancouver... now that's a homeless problem. (East Hastings area, for the unaware)
Agreed. There is a huge difference in having bought just three or four years ago versus now. The median price in the city has skyrocketed to $777k and on the Eastside it's just short of $1 million. Even in Shoreline, I don't see anything for under $400k on Redfin. "Just north of Seattle" used to mean Shoreline or Lake Forest Park. These days, it's the Alderwood side of Lynnwood and almost up to Paine Field.
(Also, there's a pretty big gap in salary of "we don't make $250k and we own." It's possible to buy a $600k house on under $200k/year and $600k will still buy you something even in Bellevue.)
We bought about two years ago and live in Wallingford. It's starting to get crazy but there are still reasonable places to be had, especially as you get into summer. Seems to work out, and we're very happy with the area.
No offense, but there's only so specific I'm going to get about my income with a bunch of people on ycombinator.... Hackernews if you prefer. I'm not throwing the specifics around the internet, at all =)
I think it's also a mistake to think that someone living in an RV is homeless: a) Is an RV any less a home than a mobile home in a trailer park? b) More people are opting for a nomadic lifestyle that combines the advantage of working anywhere with the ability to "see the world".
I also think that finding a dead-end street full of RVs near down-town Seattle might mean there's not a convenient Wal-Mart parking lot or a campground close enough to the center of the action. With the huge increase in campground prices, I'd probably be looking for safe, free parking if I was RVing full-time.
When I started college, I commuted from Bothell to UW, it was totally doable if not very nice. But back then, I could rent a room for $215/month two blocks north of UW and tuition was only $800/quarter. Kind of stupid to do that given living in Seattle was much more reasonable.
Tacoma at least has a commuter train these days, though I guess that would add to your commute costs. I have a relative who reverse commutes from West Seattle to Tacoma and it’s decent enough (because traffic goes the other way).
Tukwila or SeaTac should have decent rents and are accessible to downtown by light rail.
