NYC tops U.S. list of most expensive cities

by Tom Johansmeyer on

It’s not exactly shocking to see that New York City is the most expensive city in the United States. Groceries, gasoline and other items tend to run a tad more than twice the national average. Whether you rent or buy, you’ll spend a fortune in this city, where the average price for a home is $1.1 million and an apartment, on average, will cost $3,400 a month.

So, how can so many bloggers live here? Remember: these are averages. That means someone has to be on the underside of them.

Housing prices were also among the reasons why San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. worked their way into top spots on the list. Average home prices shot past $600,000 in all four of these cities. In Austin, the average home price is a much more modest $226,998, and it’s even more comfortable in Nashville, at $201,020.

The measure used to determine the cost of leaving in each of the cities is based on expenses in six categories: groceries, housing (rent/mortgage), healthcare, utilities, transportation and miscellaneous items. The prices of 57 goods in these categories were used.Six of the most expensive cities in the country are in California, with four of them among the top 10. Texas has four – Austin, San Antonio, Houston and Dallas. Most of the costliest cities are on the two coasts, though Chicago (14), Las Vegas (18), Phoenix (25) and St. Louis (35) made the top 40.

The most surprising appearance on the list of most expensive places to live is Detroit. Even though it’s plagued by unemployment of 16.7 percent, utilities are expensive. Electricity costs an average of $243.56 a month, compared to a mere $141.64 in Atlanta.

The ten most expensive cities on the list are:

  1. New York City
  2. San Francisco
  3. San Jose
  4. Los Angeles
  5. Washington DC
  6. San Diego
  7. Boston
  8. Philadeplhia
  9. Seattle
  10. Baltimore

Check out the full list here.

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[Photo via MigrantBlogger]

President Kennedy was killed 45 years ago today. Where to head to remember him

by Jamie Rhein on

“If we can not end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity.”

John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy was assassinated 45 years ago today. As one of the events that certainly shaped the collective consciousness of Americans, at least in my opinion, here are places I’ve been where I’ve thought of Kennedy and that fateful day where the words “grassy knoll” and “book depository” became part of history books.

As a former Peace Corps volunteer, his legacy has touched me personally.

Place 1: Dealy Plaza and the grassy knoll. There is a plaque here to commemorate Kennedy. The grassy knoll was made famous by the idea that Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone. Theories abound that shots were fired from the grassy knoll as well. If you drive along Elm Street, you’ll be on the route Kennedy’s limousine was following when he became Oswald’s target. The plaza is a National Historic Landmark.

Place 2: Sixth Floor Museum at Dealy Plaza in Dallas, Texas. Located in what was formerly called the Texas School Book Depository, the museum chronicles Kennedy’s life and death. (Although, I’ve been by the building, I’ve not been to the museum.)

Place 3–The limousine that Kennedy was riding in on the day he was shot can be seen at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. I have been here. The rest of the museum is also worth a visit. It can take hours to see everything.

Place 4–His grave at Arlington National Cemetery. His inaugural address was used as the grave’s inscription.

Place 5–One place I have not been is the JFK Library & Museum in Boston, MA. Here you can learn more about Kennedy’s life and presidency through films and artifacts. Jacqueline Kennedy’s life is also included in the mix.

Here is another Kennedy quote that reminds me of travelers. Its message encapsulates one idea of what draws people towards distant horizons from where they were born. But it is also what pulls them back to the familiar.

“All of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea — whether it is to sail or to watch it — we are going back from whence we came.”

Travel or home improvement? How about travel to a home and garden show?

by Jamie Rhein on

When I lived overseas some friends of mine, who also lived overseas, complained that when they were in the U.S. on vacation, they couldn’t relate to what excited people.

For example, one friend said that a friend of hers in the U.S. was excited about getting a new deck. My friend didn’t think that getting a new deck was exciting news. Planning an adventure vacation was exciting, however–unless you are a person who enjoys staying home enjoying a party on your new deck.

I did point out that for people who live overseas, buying items like carpets and unusual furniture can also give one that new things rush and that people like to show off at their parties. She agreed.

Once we moved back to the U.S., I discovered that we were fresh meat when it came to people trying to sell us stuff for home improvement. Let’s just say we have a whole house water improvement system that we have to feed salt, because we lived in two countries where we couldn’t drink the water. I have become more savvy since that purchase. Still, there are always home improvements that loom while we are off traveling.

This is the time of year when, now that vacation fun is fading into the past, the need to nest before winter kicks in begins to build. Somehow, each fall, I’m hooked into some “Let’s spruce up the place” endeavor. A friend who is a handy fellow is doing some plaster repair work today.

Because my friend who was less than impressed with decks has not moved back to the U.S., she is unaware that there are places to go dedicated to decks and other wonders of home improvement. Home and garden shows are a nesting bonanza. This month kicks off a flurry of fall activities geared towards getting people to focus on the place where they live.

At such shows, I’m one of those people who picks up brochures just so I can imagine what a sunroom might look like in the backyard. I won’t actually put a sunroom in the backyard, but the brochures are enticing. I also like to tour model homes and trailers. It’s not like I’d actually like to live in one, but it’s like visiting a movie set where you can imagine another kind of life.

A home and garden show, to a traveler, is a place to fantasize what your house might look like if you were ever home enough to fix it up–or what life would be like if you lived in one place.

Of course, a travel show opens up the possibilities of where you might go if you didn’t need to fix the leaky roof, or felt the draw of energy efficient windows. With some financial juggling, it is possible to take the trips and do home improvements.

The Home and Garden shows listed here are some of the ones I found for September and October.

Although there is an admission price, check local grocery stores or other venues for discount tickets. For example, the Best of Fall Show in Columbus, September 12-14 has free tickets at Krogers.

One thing I noticed about the Columbus show is that there are exhibitors specific to Ohio such as Longaberger baskets, as well as local celebrities. Chances are, if you go to a home and garden show, it’s a way to learn a bit about the state where the show is located. The one in Columbus also has travel related exhibitors which illustrates the fix up the house AND travel lifestyle.

Home and Garden Show in Canada

Toronto Home Show: September 18-21

Here’s a link to a site that lists several others. If you miss the ones this fall, there is always the spring.

Best City Neighborhoods for Retirement: The Rest of the List

by Jamie Rhein on

Now that I’ve expressed my glee that Columbus’s Short North is listed as one of the best neighborhoods for retirement, here’s the low down on the rest of the list. The original article is from Money Magazine and posted at CNN.com. The version I saw yesterday was on AOL’s welcome page. It’s an abbreviated version. Instead of 30 city neighborhoods, there are 10 with a link to the other 20.

Here they are:

SoFa in San Jose, California. The sunny 300 days a year here attracted me. Cloudy days are the bane of Columbus living. According to the writers, San Jose also has a noteworthy art scene.

Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts. My closest college friend would probably second this. She lived here for one year and LOVED it. Unfortunately, the year she was living here, I didn’t have the money to visit her. The Back Bay was her dream come true, until her next dream came true which is the life she’s living now. The reason she only stayed a year? Just like the article said, it’s expensive.

Belltown in Seattle, Washington. I don’t know about Belltown, but I do know that Seattle is wonderful. I visited friends in two neighborhoods not far from downtown this summer, and living in either of them would be terrific. If I lived in Seattle, I’d head to Chinatown often.

LoDo, Denver, Colorado. Denver is another honey of a city if you don’t pay attention much to the brown cloud from the air pollution. I was just talking about how glorious the botanical garden is in Denver.

Midtown, Nashville, Tennessee is a terrific place for its music scene. The description of this area sounds a bit like the Short North.

Arts District Dallas, Texas. When I saw this choice, I was surprised. I went to Dallas years ago for a cousin’s wedding. I do remember going to the Blue Goose restaurant (I think that was the name) and liked it a lot. I vaguely remember someone talking about an art scene.

Mass Avenue, Indianapolis, Indiana. Indianapolis is a bit like Columbus. The article mentions it being a little bit sleepy. I agree there. The Children’s Museum is anything but sleepy. It’s phenomenal.

Copper Square, Phoenix, Arizona. The things you can do here are the same ones offered in downtown Columbus. The difference is, it’s sunny. With the sun in this part of the U.S. comes the heat. That’s a downside.

Riverside/Avondale, Jacksonville, Florida. Interesting architecture, the arts, the river and the weather are just a few of what puts this neighborhood on the list.

You can see the next 20 by going to this link.