compare qol
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3/9/2015
Farmington/Hartford Connecticut (New England in general); Kalamazoo/Grand Rapids, Michigan (MI in general) (M), and Walnut Creek/Bay Area California (CA in general, which doesn't really exist there). Assuming an income of around 200,000. E, barely haning in there. Housing in desirable areas with top school systems, you will need more with kids factoring in sports and recreation singce nothing is free, it's all clubs, like the cadillac days of the 60s and 70s. M is manageable for a more modest decent education. There is a lot more that s free, like lakes and beaches and other recreation. Both Kalamazoo and Farmington share the inbetween two great and divergent cities, Chicago and Detroit and NYC and Boston, respectively. So access to culture and entertainment is the same better or worse depending on your cultural preferences, but cheaperin the M to be sure since CT, NYC, and Boston boast the highest COL anywhere in the country. To be sure you can afford anything anywhere at great sacrifice. The M is the easiest place to sacrifice without living in a crime ridden down and out city with bad public schools. On the W, it's more complicated because of the diveristy of economies in the Northern and Southern halfs of CA-NoCal and SoCal, and really within these spaces there is a lot of variation, but overall, places can be found that rival the M, but on the higher end of things in terms of QOL and of course, CA is the BIG CITY, anywhere you go you are permantly on vacation. Having said that, there is a somewhat homogenous feel to CA, fast, light, bright, grandiose, minimization of problem reality, but it's inescapable because of the environment and the weather and "possibilities", unless of course, you're in traffic. Speaking of which, there is only decent mass transit in NYC and to some extent, Boston. Both CA and MI are severely limited. The AMTRAK runs along the 95 corrider in the E from NYC (also to DC) to almost RI and up to Hartford. But it's slow and more expensive than you would think. The easiest lifestyle is in the midwest, all things considered. If your are into glizt and glamor, finance, and all things money, then the E is a good choice, if you are a dreamer and warm weather outdoors person, then the W is the best. On the E you will find more people who have lived there all their life (remember I'm talking NE, not South of CT), in the midwest some of the same but more movement, in fact, there's a lot of exchange between MI and CA mostly heading W but so
judi | Farmington, CT