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Comment by runako | Hacker News Reader

Are these things true of Chicago & Austin as well, or is the the common misconception that "non-coastal" regions means "rural"?

In any case, you cite

> * Lower incomes

> * Less savings

in response to an article about a person who is miserable living in a garage. Is it strange to consider that some would rather be "worse" off living in a larger purpose-built dwelling somewhere else? Perhaps they can get paid on an SF pay scale and buy housing in cheaper markets?

> * Higher suicide rates

SF is literally building a suicide barrier on its iconic bridge.

TL;DR; It's okay that people want to live where they want to live. People thrive in different environments.

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> Are these things true of Chicago & Austin as well, or is the the common misconception that "non-coastal" regions means "rural"?

Chicago is on the longest contiguous coastline in the US; it isn't rural, it's also not non-coastal.

Good point! If we're stretching the definition of "coastal" to include proximity to bodies of water, we could also include cities adjacent to rivers and other lakes as "coastal." Then, we can add Austin, San Antonio, Memphis, Dallas, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, and of course Detroit to the ranks of coastal cities. (Depending on who draws the metro area, Atlanta could also be a coastal city using this definition.)

But that's not the grouping of cities commonly referred to as being "coastal." I obviously know that non-coastal != rural, but that equivalence is frequently used in American discourse. See also: "flyover country", etc.

Longer than Alaska?

No, I think the original statement is wrong, the Great Lakes coastline that Chicago is on is the longest contiguous coastline in the 48 contiguous states, not the whole US.

You forgot to add "Well actually" at the start of your sentence.

>Are these things true of Chicago & Austin as well,

Those are populous cities.

>in response to an article about a person who is miserable living in a garage.

Something something anecdotes.

HN is complete garbage holy shit.

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