This is another story of a Liberal Lefties who moved to a Conservative state because the big city in her Liberal Left state became too unaffordable. (If one reads all the details in the story and sees the picture, it's very obvious and indisputable she is a Liberal Leftie) A PhD student who grew up in Seattle feels locked out of the city by its unaffordable housing costs: 'It's so strange to feel like a city is off limits' Anastasia Selby has lived in Tallahassee, Florida for almost a year. Before that, Selby lived in Seattle, Washington, their hometown, and the city they'd prefer to live in. Had it not become so unaffordable for Selby, things might’ve been different. "It's so strange to feel like a city is off limits, like a city that is part of me," Selby said. Selby always left and came back to Seattle. It always felt like home to Selby--and still does. This time around, Selby moved back to Seattle in 2019, after graduating from Syracuse University and earning a master of fine arts degree in creative writing. Selby, who is a nonbinary writer in their early 40s, intended to stay there at the time. Selby took on a full-time nanny gig, working 50 hours a week “serving tech workers” as they put it, before receiving a Fulbright to Europe. Then the pandemic happened, and Selby had to leave Europe. "If I'm going to go anywhere, it’s going to be Seattle, because that’s where I'm from," Selby said, recalling their thought process at the time. Selby moved back and got another full-time nanny job, and lived with five roommates. Eventually, Selby moved out to live on their own and paid around $1,300 for rent per month in each apartment they lived in. One apartment had mice, Selby recalled. Another, a one bedroom apartment in Wallingford, a neighborhood in Seattle, had a hole in the bathroom floor and didn't have a fully functioning heater in 45 °F weather last year. "That winter I decided to apply for Ph.D programs because I was like, I can't stay in Seattle, like I can’t afford to live here," Selby said, and at the time, they'd quit nannying and began freelancing to focus on their writing, while also recovering from a severe back injury. "My rent had gone up. It was $1,350 plus utilities for one person who’s freelance writing, it's just a lot of money." Even as a nanny, Selby said they made about $55,000 annually and their rent was roughly $15,600 for twelve months, which means Selby was close to being considered "rent burdened". It only became more harder later after she turned to freelancing. Selby went back to the same places again and again when living in Seattle, revisiting those memories previously made, until it felt like Selby didn't have the money to do so anymore. Housing costs, whether that be renting or buying, are 70% higher in Seattle than the state average, and 111% higher in Seattle than the national average. Given that the average home value in Seattle is more than $840,000, which is actually down 8% over the past year, but up close to 32% since March 2020 (the onset of the pandemic), it’s no surprise that Selby isn’t looking in the city. "I do think that with my trajectory as it is now I will eventually, hopefully, within the next five years be in a position to buy a house," Selby said. "But I don’t look at houses in Seattle." A PhD student who grew up in Seattle feels locked out of the city by its unaffordable housing costs: ‘It’s so strange to feel like a city is off limits’, Alena Botros, Fortune, 8/5/2023 full article available for free here for a limited time: (msn.com) related thread: The rise of the professional class in big cities - and others getting pushed out (posted May 22, 2018 in Economics & Trade section)
