Would you rather be rich in a poorer area? Or poor in a rich area?

[freeazabird]

I'm curious where you think the better value and quality of life is at? Do you think it's best to live in a modest middle of the road area and make a comparatively high salary? Or live in a wealthier community and make a comparatively low salary?

[Ocelot]

"Comparatively" is the key word here - A comparatively low salary in a rich area is probably very comfortable for frugal people, whereas a comparatively high salary in a poor area may still not be all that much, and you have to deal with the higher crime etc that is likely in that kind of neighbourhood. On the other hand, if I was choosing between rich-enough-to-retire in a poor neighbourhood vs being chained to a job in a rich one, I'd take the poor area every time.

[mommad]

I live in san francisco and I make more(150K) than the average SF person(50K) but way less than many more successful folk( lots of millionaires and billionaires here, mean housing price is 1 million dollars).  I debate this often in my head as I could easily rent in texas where I have a ton of family and live < 1500 a month judging my most of family and live well.  currently I live in sf with my daughter at around 3500 a month.  My expenses will go down when my daughter is older to around 3000 a month but its still a lot by MMM standards.

[teen persuasion]

I'd rather be in a modest, middle of the road area with a comparatively high income.  KUWTJ wouldn't be a problem at all, I'd be more comfortable in average surroundings, and I prefer to hide in plain sight, so to speak.  If I were lower income in a wealthier area I'd be always on the edge, hustling to blend in to the higher level surroundings with less.  I like living below my means, I'd feel like a fish out of water in a wealthier/spendier area.

The only reason I'd consider a HCOL area would be for the higher incomes available, but I'd always be looking to get out eventually once I'd accumulated enough.  Having more than average in the LCOL area to begin with allows me to save more WHILE living in my preferred area.  Win-win.

[Roots&Wings]

Rich in a poorer area for me. I relocated from a rich area where I was comparatively poor, and don't miss the hyper-successful people/status vibe. But my job is location independent so live where I want and have better quality of life, which is a win all around :)

If I recall correctly, there are studies showing people feel happier when they have more than their peers, so the theory is you're more likely to feel happy being rich in a poor area than poor in a rich area.

[Giro]

For me, it most certainly depends on how poor we are talking.  Failing schools, high unemployment, high crime, no access to fresh produce...NO WAY.  If we are talking more middle class, then I'm in.

We are currently well above the average incomes in our area.  Our income is around $300k and the city in which we live has an average of about $50k per household.  It's nice to have affordable homes, safety, great food, etc. 

I would hate to live somewhere that our income would have us struggling to make the ends meet. 

[Thegoblinchief]

Really depends on the area. In our current city, though, I wouldn't mind being poor in the rich areas. The richer suburbs have vastly superior public parks and other outdoor rec infrastructure. That's a huge plus for me. We currently live in a poorer area and often find ourselves driving a bit to enjoy those things rather than being right there.

[norcalmike]

I am the poor renter in an area where home are 700 to millions. I live a half mile from the beach. I'll take poorer in a richer area.

[EllieStan]

We're looking to move closer to our jobs, but we're not even considering the ''poorer'' options where the rents are cheaper. We've had enough trouble with our current neighbours, who are unemployed (and dealing drugs, with people coming in and out of their apartment at all times, including at night, slamming the doors, etc.). I don't mean to say all modest neighbourhoods are made of unemployed people or small criminals, but after 3 years living in this context for the sake of getting our degrees and paying off our loans, I'm now willing to spend a bit more on a monthly rent or mortgage if it means I can live in a quiet neighbourhood, where other middle-class professionals live. Also, I want to live in a location where I would feel safe walking home from the bus stop at night.

The neighbourhood we're considering is expensive, but if you opt for a condo or townhouse insteand of a huge cottage, the price is comparable to small suburb houses (except it's close to everything and you don't need a car to run errands or to commute to work). And the location is in demand, it's important if we wish to sell the property in a few years.

We will probably earn a similar income than our neighbours', but being frugal and childfree, we would opt for a smaller property (townhouse with a small backyard). I wouldn't feel poor, but my house and lifestyle wouldn't appear as ''expensive'' in comparison.

[zephyr911]

I moved from one of the cheaper dwellings in one of the most expensive neighborhoods in my county, to a below-average neighborhood pricewise - mostly blue-collar and a few retirees who've lived there since it was built 30 years ago. We're much happier with the lack of HOA snobbery and the general level of friendliness. It's also pretty damn nice cutting costs so we can do more of what we want - with the house itself, and in general.

[EllieStan]

We're looking to move closer to our jobs, but we're not even considering the ''poorer'' options where the rents are cheaper. We've had enough trouble with our current neighbours, who are unemployed (and dealing drugs, with people coming in and out of their apartment at all times, including at night, slamming the doors, etc.). I don't mean to say all modest neighbourhoods are made of unemployed people or small criminals, but after 3 years living in this context for the sake of getting our degrees and paying off our loans, I'm now willing to spend a bit more on a monthly rent or mortgage if it means I can live in a quiet neighbourhood, where other middle-class professionals live. Also, I want to live in a location where I would feel safe walking home from the bus stop at night.

The neighbourhood we're considering is expensive, but if you opt for a condo or townhouse insteand of a huge cottage, the price is comparable to small suburb houses (except it's close to everything and you don't need a car to run errands or to commute to work). And the location is in demand, it's important if we wish to sell the property in a few years.

We will probably earn a similar income than our neighbours', but being frugal and childfree, we would opt for a smaller property (townhouse with a small backyard). I wouldn't feel poor, but my house and lifestyle wouldn't appear as ''expensive'' in comparison.

I thought townhouse and semi-detached were the same thing. I meant semi-detached. You don't have to pay HOA.

[Hank Sinatra]

I've actually done this. Perhaps your proposition doesn't have quite enough information but I'll comment to the extent that I "get your drift."

I'd rather be "poorer" living in a "rich" area. Hands down.    I've actually done this. Perhaps your proposition doesn't have quite enough information but I'll comment to the extent that I "get your drift."

[scrubbyfish]

3. 95% of the children at the zoned public school speak Spanish at home. I have walked by the playground and the kids mostly speak Spanish during recess too. I'm leery of sending my English speaking child to a school like that because I'm concerned she'll be socially isolated.

I would honestly see this as a free opportunity for kid to learn a second language! Many kids learn languages so fast, especially in exactly this context. I'm a huge fan of homeschooling/unschooling, but my heart raced at the opportunity I saw here!

I grew up poor in rich area and it was really nice, though I was self-conscious about our having "less" and craved things others had.
As an adult I've been poor in poor areas, poor in rich areas, and then financially well in both.
Definitely pros and cons of each.

At times I've preferred the liveliness and camaraderie of the poor areas I lived in, but often I really enjoy the peace and quiet and solitude of the wealthier ones.

Thrift shops, Craigslist, etc, in wealthy areas are the bomb!!

[EllieStan]

We're looking to move closer to our jobs, but we're not even considering the ''poorer'' options where the rents are cheaper. We've had enough trouble with our current neighbours, who are unemployed (and dealing drugs, with people coming in and out of their apartment at all times, including at night, slamming the doors, etc.). I don't mean to say all modest neighbourhoods are made of unemployed people or small criminals, but after 3 years living in this context for the sake of getting our degrees and paying off our loans, I'm now willing to spend a bit more on a monthly rent or mortgage if it means I can live in a quiet neighbourhood, where other middle-class professionals live. Also, I want to live in a location where I would feel safe walking home from the bus stop at night.

The neighbourhood we're considering is expensive, but if you opt for a condo or townhouse insteand of a huge cottage, the price is comparable to small suburb houses (except it's close to everything and you don't need a car to run errands or to commute to work). And the location is in demand, it's important if we wish to sell the property in a few years.

We will probably earn a similar income than our neighbours', but being frugal and childfree, we would opt for a smaller property (townhouse with a small backyard). I wouldn't feel poor, but my house and lifestyle wouldn't appear as ''expensive'' in comparison.

I thought townhouse and semi-detached were the same thing. I meant semi-detached. You don't have to pay HOA.

I thought a semi detached as two units side-by-side in one building and a townhouse was one in a whole row of side by side units?

Yes. I thought the 2 terms were interchangeable. English is not my mother tongue, so whenever I heard of townhouses, I thought ''semi-detached''. I meant we wanted to purchase a semi-detached, not a townhouse (sometimes they're renting units, or have HOA because they're considered like a multi-level condo).

[golden1]

For me, it most certainly depends on how poor we are talking.  Failing schools, high unemployment, high crime, no access to fresh produce...NO WAY.  If we are talking more middle class, then I'm in.

+1

I moved into a solidly middle class town (with a few upper middle class neighborhoods) with a then decent but not upper tier school district.  We make an upper middle class salary which allowed us to save more.  Our school systems have improved, and now our town is rapidly gentrifying.  All of the reasonable sized homes are being torn down and replaced with McMansions.  One the one hand, it is kind of horrifying, but on the other hand, property values are way up, and town services are improving.   

[Roots&Wings]

This depends on what you mean by 'rich'. I took it in the literal money sense, not quality of life factors like safety/crime, walkability, parks, etc.

I left a 'rich' area where medium income was $90k/yr and relocated to a 'poorer' area where median income is $47k/yr. My quality of life has also improved because the 'rich' area had big city air quality/pollution issues.

Still have all of the important things I value in the 'poorer' area like safety, walkability, clean air, sunshine, walking access to parks/nature preserves, awesome public library.

[partgypsy]

This is a good question. Being rich in a poor area, if a truly poor area then no decent grocery stores, higher crimes, possibly environmental hazards so no to that, unless it was for a time-delimited period.

Being poor in a rich neighborhood is also not ideal. While it is probably safer and taxes pay for nicer parks and public amenities, schools, kids may have issues of invidiously comparing themselves to kids who have much more than them, give them a distorted view of the world.

I would rather be rich or middle class and live in a middle class area, that is safe, but not ostentatious.

[Erica/NWEdible]

If the rich area had typical rich area amenities like parks, libraries, good schools, desireable landscapes, safety - for sure poor in a rich area. Rich people (and I say this as someone who lives in a pretty nice but not, you know, gated-type community) also give away a ton of stuff! It is SO easy to find high quality second hand stuff at the thrift store here, the local fancy grocery store gives free fruit to kids, and there are numerous "buy nothing" and "freecycle" type communities where stuff is literally yours free for the asking.

Caveat: as a kid I lived in a neighborhood that was legitimately RICH. Like, top three highest income area in Washington rich, and the community values there were pretty fucked up. So as long as it's not an area where things are just skewed to really superficial values, I'd pick poor in a rich area.

[teen persuasion]

I'm curious where you think the better value and quality of life is at? Do you think it's best to live in a modest middle of the road area and make a comparatively high salary? Or live in a wealthier community and make a comparatively low salary?

I can see that individual viewpoints depend on whether we are answering the thread title question, or the question posed in the first post.  I'm not sure how to interpret "poorer" area - LCOL area, or undesirable slum area.  I was definitely not thinking unsafe, no grocery stores, etc.  I was answering based on "modest, middle of the road area" from the first post.  I see few downsides in that type of area.

[scrubbyfish]

...given what I know of my daughter's personality and the genetic inputs we're working with, I don't see it being a good fit for our family.

Yep, I hear ya. I think we need to take all the factors into consideration. Free language immersion? Score! Harassment, isolation, loneliness, nopenopenope. I wouldn't choose those, either.

[Zikoris]

I live in a part of Vancouver that's in the middle of the transition from poor to rich, and I'm really enjoying the changes. It's cool seeing all the new buildings pop up around me, but the rent is still affordable and the neighbourhood and buildings still have a lot of character. So I'd say I like to be the hipster who's one of the first to move into a gentrifying area, regardless of whether I'm rich or poor :)

[Cranky]

You do have to define your terms. A "poorer area" is not necessarily synonymous with "slum".

We have a middle income in a low income, working class area. Our neighborhood is very safe. Housing is cheap. The schools - and we sent all 3 of our kids to the public schools - which have all the problems of an area where most parents have not been to college - and they've done well. Kids largely get out of school what they take to school, speaking as a teacher. We have parks and libraries.

We've been able to pay off our house and start remodeling it. We don't have to keep up with the Joneses because we ARE the Joneses. We don't yearn to retire early, because we can afford to do the work that we love.

[HazelStone]

My family has been both, in the tiny tourist town where I grew up. Not from a change in household income really; but tourist towns tend to have the dynamic of a Third World country. There's a few insanely rich people, a lot of desperately poor people, and a tiny middle class. My parents run their household as frugal but upper middle class people. In my school district, the children in rich families go to private school; most of the middle class ones are in the public school.

Therefore, my family was the "poor" family in a nicer neighborhood- others had bigger houses and luxury cars; my family lived in an older, more modest house and my parents bought American-branded cars for cash. Mom saw a herd immunity in the neighborhood's safety: if someone wanted to rob a house, ours had far less stuff of interest.

At school, my family was considered "rich" in relation to the others (since, again, the rich kids went to private school). Lots of kids there on free lunches and whose parents didn't have much education. I was from the nicer side of the tracks (and yes, there were actually railroad tracks) and I caught hell for it- mainly because I didn't put much thought into the class differences.  I didn't care about designer clothes because I had nothing to prove. Going to college was a given, I planned to make something of myself, so who gives a rat's rear end about the high school stuff anyway? Many of my friends were still from poor families, but other schoolmates were rather nasty. It's not like I was holding myself above anyone!

To my schoolmates who lived in trailers, my family was rich. To my immediate neighbors, my family seemed poor. I recall Milton's line about "Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven." I disagree. The least-wealthy families in a rich area meet mostly indifference. On the reverse? You get outright hostility. Besides, a lot of people with the fancy cars are just putting up a front. I'll take my paid-off Subaru over a leased Lexus any day of the week.

So I was able to walk to the beach after school. Yes, that was great! The crime rate was very low; it was a very safe town, but the school district had all the social pathologies of the inner city. Really, I kinda wish I'd grown up in the 'burbs in a school district that offered AP classes.

[EricP]

I don't desire to live in a HCOL area.  If that means I want to live in a "poor area" then sure, but there's plenty of "suburbia" areas in the MW and South with great schools that are mid to low cost of living that no one would consider "poor areas."

[mpg350]

Not even a question…rich in a poor area…though would rather be in a more middle class area.

What is poor in a rich area going to get me? nothing but some nice views and snotty people around me.

[Jeremy E.]

Why do people think LCOL areas have higher crime rate???? HCOL areas have higher crime rate a majority of the time.
Most HCOL places are very congested with a lot of people per square mile which leads to a higher crime per person ratio.
FYI I would choose being rich in a LCOL area

[Bateaux]

I'd prefer rich in a rural area.

[NorCal]

I've lived in both.  I prefer rich in a normal middle class neighborhood.  I just didn't have much in common with the people in the "rich" neighborhoods.

Now I live in Silicon Valley, and I don't even know how to describe it.  We have massive incomes, but can't afford (at prices we're willing to pay) to buy any house.  The area has gentrified so fast that we live next to an electrician, a school teacher, an speech language pathologist, and a hedge fund manager.  This is all in 1,000 - 1,500sqft homes in generally poor repair.  I'm not even sure what to call this place anymore.

[Rural]

I'd prefer rich in a rural area.

+1

We are "rich" in our rural area at about the US median income. I don't worry about crime; there's some meth in the area, but I've only had one encounter, years ago, and our large dogs dealt with that for me - a benefit of rural living, or at least something made easier that way. Otherwise, farmers and factory workers most of whom I never see, and the meth problem is something to read about in the local paper. We did have some break-in into the old trailer we lived in until we finished the house, but only long after we abandoned it (it's a quarter of a mile from the house).

No parks, but why would I want a park when I live in a forest? The library is a drive, but it also comes right to my tablet at the swipe of a thumb. I'm too old for bars and didn't like them when I was young. For groceries, I buy incredibly cheap staples and make the "luxury" items I can't get locally from them, and stock up on the few I can't make on rare expeditions. Or do without.

It makes a good life.

[Trimatty471]

City Living experience:

I rather be poor in a rich area because poverty breeds a lot of social ills.

[lostamonkey]

I would rather be poor in a rich area:
-Safer
-Better schools
-Better libraries
-More educated neighbours

[Ricky]

I would rather be poor in a rich area:
-Safer
-Better schools
-Better libraries
-More educated neighbours

That doesn't really exist though...you're not going to be living in a shack next to high dollar homes unless you purchased decades ago and people just happen to move in and improve the area around you.

[OUJAU]

It's really gonna depend on the specific part of the country/world but I feel like there are cultural differences that go along with wealthier and poorer areas. In addition to amenities like parks and schools, the thing I prefer about more wealthier areas is that I fit in better there. I think a lot of it has to do with education and "put togetheredness" which is often correlated with wealth.

[seanc0x0]

We definitely live poor in a richer area.  Of course, we're not, but the neighbours think we're less well off since we drive an 8 year old Honda Fit and our yard maintenance (purposely) doesn't include the Weed Man etc.  I would very much rather be perceived as poor while saving 40-50% of my income than be seen as a rich person, spending more than I earn to have the toys my neighbours have. 

The neighbours across the street are always playing with some new, loud, oil-fuelled toy. I'm happy to let them be the 'Joneses' for the neighbourhood.

I do, however, share freely of my main hobby, mead making, to ensure my neighbours have a good impression.  I've gotten a lot of positive comments, and consider the $1.50/bottle it costs me to make as an investment in 'social capital'. It's paid off quite handsomely, especially considering it costs about $25-30 a bottle for a comparable product from the liquor store.

[lostamonkey]

I would rather be poor in a rich area:
-Safer
-Better schools
-Better libraries
-More educated neighbours

That doesn't really exist though...you're not going to be living in a shack next to high dollar homes unless you purchased decades ago and people just happen to move in and improve the area around you.

There are often cheaper houses in nicer neighbourhoods. And I wouldn't actually be poor, I would just be a lot more frugal than my spendy neighbours.

[Hank Sinatra]

I would rather be poor in a rich area:
-Safer
-Better schools
-Better libraries
-More educated neighbours

That doesn't really exist though...you're not going to be living in a shack next to high dollar homes unless you purchased decades ago and people just happen to move in and improve the area around you.

There are often cheaper houses in nicer neighbourhoods. And I wouldn't actually be poor, I would just be a lot more frugal than my spendy neighbours.

Exactly. I have done this myself. Less well-off people all over the place aspire and pull whatever strings they can, to get into more affluent areas fr these exact reasons. And they don't do it on the basis of getting rich.

[Jeremy E.]

Which area is closer to my job? I choose that one

[Zikoris]

I would rather be poor in a rich area:
-Safer
-Better schools
-Better libraries
-More educated neighbours

That doesn't really exist though...you're not going to be living in a shack next to high dollar homes unless you purchased decades ago and people just happen to move in and improve the area around you.

You can often swing it if you rent. My first apartment was a basement suite in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in town, and I was dirt poor working part time in a hospital kitchen. It was a nice experience, though the grocery stores around there were pretty overpriced.