Posted May 12, 200718 yr I swear this article ran with the verbatim intro a year ago. Likely it did; does the moon-eyed rationale for living in the 'burbs ever change? The 25 Best Affordable Suburbs in the U.S. By Maya Roney Wed May 9, 8:08 AM ET Buying your first house? Fleeing the city for a life within your means? Here's a novel idea: Move to a suburb where you won't break the bank or get your car broken into. A community with reasonable home prices and decent schools. A suburb close to your city job, with a lively downtown of its own... http://news.yahoo.com/s/bw/20070509/bs_bw/nov2006db20061116063534;_ylt=Avhld9kon93tP.Ud3.mWE08E1vAI ... Jumping to this year's models... ... 25 Affordable Suburbs Anchorage, Alaska Metro: Anchorage Nearest city with pop. 200,000-plus: Anchorage Median Home Price: $550,000 Cost of Living Index: 135.4 Primary School Test Score Index*: 143 Violent Crime Index: 50 Average Commute Time: 23.7 minutes Bellingham, Wash. Metro: Bellingham Nearest city with pop. 200,000-plus: Seattle (78.3 miles) Median Home Price: $359,500 Cost of Living Index: 120.5 Secondary School Test Score Index: 113 Violent Crime Index: 100 Average Commute Time: 21.2 minutes Castle Rock, Colo. Metro: Denver Nearest city with pop. 200,000-plus: Aurora (22 miles) Nearest city with pop. 500,000-plus: Denver (28 miles) Median Home Price: $240,000 Cost of Living Index: 107.2 Secondary School Test Score Index: 137 Violent Crime Index: 22 Average Commute Time: 32 minutes Eagle, Idaho Metro: Boise Nearest city with pop. 100,000-plus: Boise (9.3 miles) Median Home Price: $569,900 Cost of Living Index: 107.8 Secondary School Test Score Index: 98 Violent Crime Index: 82 Average Commute Time: 24.5 minutes Eugene, Ore. Metro: Eugene Nearest city with pop. 200,000-plus: Portland (106.4 miles) Median Home Price: $429,000 Cost of Living Index: 110.8 Secondary School Test Score Index: 108 Violent Crime Index: 100 Average Commute Time: 19.4 minutes Folsom, Calif. Metro: Sacramento Nearest city with pop. 200,000-plus: Sacramento (22.8 miles) Median Home Price: $551,600 Cost of Living Index: 158.7 Secondary School Test Score Index: 145 Violent Crime Index: 34 Average Commute Time: 29.3 minutes Fort Collins, Colo. Metro: Fort Collins-Loveland Nearest city with pop. 200,000-plus: Denver (58.1 miles) Median Home Price: $245,500 Cost of Living Index: 107.3 Secondary School Test Score Index: 135 Violent Crime Index: 81 Average Commute Time: 20.7 minutes Grants Pass, Ore. Metro: Josephine County Nearest city with pop. 200,000-plus: Portland (218.5 miles) Median Home Price: $310,000 Cost of Living Index: 98.9 Secondary School Test Score Index: 95 Violent Crime Index: 117 Average Commute Time: 18.6 minutes Kaysville, Utah Metro: Salt Lake City Nearest city with pop. 100,000-plus: Salt Lake City (20 miles) Median Home Price: $442,900 Cost of Living Index: 100.1 Secondary School Test Score Index: 102 Violent Crime Index: 36 Average Commute Time: 27 minutes Logan, Utah Metro: Logan Nearest city with pop. 100,000-plus: Salt Lake City (69 miles) Median Home Price: $183,500 Cost of Living Index: 88 Secondary School Test Score Index: 87 Violent Crime Index: 80 Average Commute Time: 16.6 minutes Louisville, Colo. Metro: Boulder Nearest city with pop. 200,000-plus: Denver (21.2 miles) Median Home Price: $297,500 Cost of Living Index: 117.7 Secondary School Test Score Index: 120 Violent Crime Index: 36 Average Commute Time: 20.7 minutes Minden, Nev. Metro: Douglas County Nearest city with pop. 200,000-plus: Sacramento, Calif. (120 miles) Median Home Price: $499,900 Cost of Living Index: 147.2 Secondary School Test Score Index: 131 Violent Crime Index: 40 Average Commute Time: 25.8 minutes Mount Vernon, Wash. Metro: Mount Vernon-Anacortes Nearest city with pop. 200,000-plus: Seattle (54.9 miles) Median Home Price: $298,000 Cost of Living Index: 105.8 Secondary School Test Score Index: 97 Violent Crime Index: 94 Average Commute Time: 24.2 minutes Mukilteo, Wash. Metro: Seattle-Bellevue-Everett Nearest city with pop. 200,000-plus: Seattle (20.1 miles) Median Home Price: $699,900 Cost of Living Index: 126.8 Secondary School Test Score Index: 104 Violent Crime Index: 49 Average Commute Time: 31.1 minutes Olympia, Wash. Metro: Olympia Nearest city with pop. 200,000-plus: Seattle (55.8 miles) Median Home Price: $369,900 Cost of Living Index: 102 Secondary School Test Score Index: 110 Violent Crime Index: 97 Average Commute Time: 21.3 minutes Reno, Nev. Metro: Reno Nearest city with pop. 200,000-plus: Sacramento, Calif. (131.6 miles) Median Home Price: $439,000 Cost of Living Index: 147.6 Secondary School Test Score Index: 123 Violent Crime Index: 168 Average Commute Time: 19.8 minutes Sandia Heights, N.M. Metro: Albuquerque Nearest city with pop. 200,000-plus: Albuquerque (0 miles) Median Home Price: $332,800 Cost of Living Index: 130.9 Secondary School Test Score Index: 90 Violent Crime Index: 36 Average Commute Time: 24.8 minutes Spokane, Wash. Metro: Spokane Nearest city with pop. 200,000-plus: Seattle (338.3 miles) Median Home Price: $264,000 Cost of Living Index: 102.2 Secondary School Test Score Index: 135 Violent Crime Index: 140 Average Commute Time: 20.9 minutes Valencia (Santa Clarita), Calif. Metro: Los Angeles Nearest city with pop. 200,000-plus: Los Angeles (24.5 miles) Median Home Price: $624,900 Cost of Living Index: 186 Secondary School Test Score Index: 104 Violent Crime Index: 47 Average Commute Time: 40.2 minutes Winters, Calif. Metro: Yolo County Nearest city with pop. 200,000-plus: Sacramento (34.8 miles) Median Home Price: $479,900 Cost of Living Index: 146.2 Secondary School Test Score Index: 96 Violent Crime Index: 131 Average Commute Time: 27.4 minutes
May 12, 200718 yr Anchorage...Spokane...suburbs? "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
May 12, 200718 yr ^But with special introductory zero-down SuperSmartARM® all-in-one first-time buyer financing, there's NOTHING to stop YOU from affording the home of YOUR dreams, too.
May 12, 200718 yr Most of these are small towns, not suburbs. Some of them are fairly sizeable. Sloppy, stupid reporting- Yahoo.
May 12, 200718 yr Another weird list. Nothing east of the Mississippi, and affordable to few. I agree with X, stupid reporting. Looks like a list just for the sake of making a list.
May 13, 200718 yr Most suburbs are affordable compared to similar sized homes in really-low-crime parts of the inner city. Suburbs aren't as fun though. The atmosphere and the square make that 3 bedroom farmhouse-victorian with no setbacks worth 350k. If you really want "affordable" go get a dominion home...plenty of foreclosures to choose from.
May 13, 200718 yr When you're talking about a place having the best affordability...you usually rule out the west coast without question. However, the majority of the places on this list are either in CA, OR, or WA...doesn't make any sense to me. Are you saying that suburbs in CA are more affordable than those in OH, KY, PA, or wherever for that matter. I've always thought that the west coast was one of the least affordable regions in the nation...I guess I was wrong. :|
May 13, 200718 yr Ohhh...this one is good: "We're right next to a high-end city neighborhood with high taxes, but we pay county taxes," notes Max Sanchez, a sixth-generation New Mexican and a Realtor with Coldwell Banker. "Why would you want to live anywhere else?" Thats right why would you want to pay for services that you use. Live right outside of the boundaries (where those services aren't provided) where you don't pay those taxes, and simply hop across the divide and use those services for a fraction of the price...if not free. I guess its kind of like saying...why build a pool in my backyard; my neighbors have a pool...I can just use theirs! Yeah, thats great...sounds like free-loading to me! And its great that MANY Americans think this very way...oh wait thats the American way right (horay for capitalism)! :laugh:
May 14, 200718 yr Ohhh...this one is good: "We're right next to a high-end city neighborhood with high taxes, but we pay county taxes," notes Max Sanchez, a sixth-generation New Mexican and a Realtor with Coldwell Banker. "Why would you want to live anywhere else?" Thats right why would you want to pay for services that you use. Live right outside of the boundaries (where those services aren't provided) where you don't pay those taxes, and simply hop across the divide and use those services for a fraction of the price...if not free. I guess its kind of like saying...why build a pool in my backyard; my neighbors have a pool...I can just use theirs! Yeah, thats great...sounds like free-loading to me! And its great that MANY Americans think this very way...oh wait thats the American way right (horay for capitalism)! :laugh: Well of course you have the opposite end of the spectrum with older people paying for services they rarely use and families paying for public schools while their children go to private ones. Many of them are likely to not vote for tax levies though...everyone acts in their own interest I guess.
May 15, 200718 yr what the hell kind of list is this?? :drunk: Since when is a suburb 75 or 100 miles outside the central city? (Phoenix/Atlanta aside) When its in Los Angeles County!
May 15, 200718 yr Ohhh...this one is good: "We're right next to a high-end city neighborhood with high taxes, but we pay county taxes," notes Max Sanchez, a sixth-generation New Mexican and a Realtor with Coldwell Banker. "Why would you want to live anywhere else?" Thats right why would you want to pay for services that you use. Live right outside of the boundaries (where those services aren't provided) where you don't pay those taxes, and simply hop across the divide and use those services for a fraction of the price...if not free. I guess its kind of like saying...why build a pool in my backyard; my neighbors have a pool...I can just use theirs! Yeah, thats great...sounds like free-loading to me! And its great that MANY Americans think this very way...oh wait thats the American way right (horay for capitalism)! :laugh: Well of course you have the opposite end of the spectrum with older people paying for services they rarely use and families paying for public schools while their children go to private ones. Many of them are likely to not vote for tax levies though...everyone acts in their own interest I guess. Thats not what the quote was expressing. Elderly can be on the other end of the spectrum, but I would venture to say that they receive the most for their tax dollars than any other age group. There is a reason the "greying of America" is a drain on society. What I got from the quote is an example of a resident in Hamilton County moving to Butler County (claiming its more affordable), but then they use Hamilton County for the park system, library system, housing the poor/disabled and a variety of other services.
May 15, 200718 yr hmm. yahoo is westcoast, that might explain the bias here. it reads like a puff piece put out just to get you to notice the ads around it. i'm sure most of the 'burbs just around kansas city or wherever else are more affordable than those. i also notice they are all somewhat white yuppie havens too, so they are steering a certain type of reader to what they want. at least there is an element of that going on in it.
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