Would you rather make $200K in NY, or $100K in Cleveland?

When I was a child, the slogan in Cleveland was "The best location in the nation". Steve said it and I realized it more and more through the years, and especially after helping my son do a report on Ohio when he young. Steve mentioned the cold weather in the winters, but they are very tolerable, and there are only a handful of 'bad' days each year. More importantly, they are what keep the 'bad bugs', other creepies and also some diseases away. MORE GOOD POINTS!

I think it is all about what you want. I was born and raised in Cleveland and lived there 36 years and would probably still be there if my husband had not taken a job in Nashville, TN. I would not live in either place now as I don't care for the northern winters. However, Cleveland is a great place to live, you get more for your money and it's a much better place to raise a family in my opinion. You can still go visit NY. Money is not everything!

Chicago has everything that NY has and less...

I have lived in Cleveland for two-thirds of my life (I moved away for school and other "opportunities" but always came back) and love this city. The weather can be hell but I only make $35k and live very comfortably while maintaing a job that I love. I have been all over the country, lived and visited many places and would still rather live here and visit there.

Pleaseeee! Ohio? NO F-ING WAY! I am from N. Jersey and have a 12 min path ride to work in NYC. I just came back from Ohio visiting some friends who moved there. Don't ask me why.. they take drugs I think. Ohio may be relaxing but common now... there us no comparing NYC to those corn-feed hicks. Go strum your bango and we'll keep being rude.

NYC NOW THATS AMERICAN!!!!

I have lived in Cleveland and I visited New York City several times while living in Cleveland. Without question, you can do more with a six-figure salary in Cleveland. Cleveland also has enough cultural activities to keep you interested.

I no longer live in Cleveland, however, because of the weather and the low wages. When I was there, I worked as a City Attorney and made $25,000.00 per year. That was not enough to provide a very decent lifestyle.

I now live in Oklahoma City and am employed as an attorney for a governmental entity. I make more than three times the money I made in Cleveland and I can do a lot more with that money. Although Oklahoma City may not have some of the cultural advantages of New York City, or Cleveland, My husband and I live wonderfully and it is a great place to raise a family.

I love to visit New York City and have a lifestyle which will allow me to enjoy my visits and then to come home to live where it is affordable.

Good luck getting a job that pays $100,000 in Cleveland. I live about an hour from Cleveland in canton and have been looking for an entry level job of any kind for 4 years. Look at hot jobs and you'll see the jobs available. Sears is hiring, Cingular wireless, oh ya the Army is hiring a chaplin and a dentist! I can't afford to make $8 an hour it costs me $3 to put my son in daycare.

I agree that Cleveland is the worst. I had to return here for family reasons two years ago. It's provincial, narrow minded, and b-o-r-i-n-g. I'm in the senior citizen age range and am so sick of having nowhere to go and nothing to do. The people here are fat because they do nothing but eat. Why? I haven't had a good meal here in the last two years. I admit I was spoiled in San Diego, but I came with an open mind and positive attitude. The people are so negative and judgmental, the jobs pay nothing and just try to get a raise so you can afford the better things in life, like health insurance. I have tried to "adjust," but will never fit in. The homes are overpriced and the lousy weather will eat up your salary just trying to stay warm or cool. My opinion of Cleveland? It's hell -- too hot, too cold, or too wet.

So, I used to live in Dallas TX, I had a great tech job - my take home pay check was $2,100 every two weeks, I took a job in Manhattan that was $15,000 more annually, my take home was still $2,100. I live in midtown, and it is expensive! $3,500 a month for rent on a one bedroom, whereas in Dallas I had a four bedroom house that I built for $140,000 (mortgage with bills were $1,500 a month). Well I am planning to move back to Dallas any day now, and am in negotiations for a job making more than I did in NYC. In Dallas, it is a tech hub, I have many friends making NYC salaries there where the cost of living is soo much less.... I love NYC and would stay here forever if I could live the way I did in Texas, but I cant... Looking forward to a house, yard and pool again...

Ciao...

"New York may be the Big Apple, but Cleveland's a Plum" -- rememmber that one? Clevelanders love their hometown and are defensive abou it, and New Yorkers love theirs -- to each his own. But what I love most about Cleveland -- having lived on the East Coast for 8 years and then moved back -- it's its true sense of community, that sense of identity, of family, of faith -- maybe that is the Midwest coming out. And the Metroparks, Cuyahoga National Park/valley and Lake Erie are incredible assets outsiders don't realize. Day to day life is great. Highway system is a big plus. Great golfing, colleges, museums, orchestra, major league teams, medical centers and fine dining are all there, too. Inner city schools need help, though. "Cleveland -- love it or leave it."

I sure am glad you guys like it up north. Gives me more elbow room down here in Texas. Less taxes, slower pace, great weather, very little snow, real friendly neighbors.
Thanks

Just moved back to Cleveland a month ago from HONOLULU (did a 2 year Master's program at HPU). Despite an M.A., I can't find a job. Of course it is cheaper here. I love the people - family and fiance are here -I grew up here. Let me tell you it's no place for a freeze-baby. It's a love/hate relationship for some of us.

I was born and raised in Jersey. But after 27 years, I was so tired of the wintertime - freezing weather, going out to your car to de-ice the lock so you can start warming the car up, shoveling snow so you can get to work, etc. I had a friend in Florida who loved it, so I decided to move down here. Well, I've lived on the southeast coast of Florida for 27 years now. I moved to a nice "small" country-like town just because that's what it was. Loved it. Now, it's becoming another Palm Beach. When I first moved down here basically anyone could afford to buy a house. Now? Forget it! The housing is mostly in the six-figures and up range, and the salaries do not cut it. Traffic is getting ridiculous (even when we're not in season), the highways are a mess, people are getting ruder, jobs are getting less and less easier to find, etc. Oh, and now with all these hurricanes, most insurers left the state and you have to get insured through a government-funded company. My area had 3 major hurricanes pass through it in the last two years. My homeowner's insurance was already high and now it's TRIPLED from last year! We have to have two separate deductibles. One is a "hurricane" deductible and the other is a "other loss" deductible. Try living here! So now I'm seriously looking for another place to live. I miss the four seasons terribly, so maybe I'll have to consider Cleveland! Suggestions as to any another parts of the country where it's nice to live as well?

First of all, I have spent time in both NYC and Cleveland and I love them both, but Cleveland is FAR more affordable and far more culturally rich than many give it credit for. The people who have never been there think "Ohio = dump." There are some places in Ohio that don't deserve a second look, but Cleveland is surprisingly beautiful. It is a much bigger city than most realize.
Second, Dan, you need to think about what you said. Yes, $100,000 in NYC is equivalent to a much higher salary anywhere else. That's the point of the article. If you have $200 in your pocket in another city, it'll buy you about as much as $100 will in NYC because the cost in NYC is much higher.

Say what you want about Cleveland, it might be a very nice city. But just as the Reds are not the Yankees, the Browns not the Giants, the Cavaliers not the Knicks, Cleveland is not New York. New York City is the capital of the world, and has no equal anywhere. As I said earlier...Cleveland might be a beautiful city and great place to live...but it can never be New York City.

I live in NYC, and will definately agree. I don't quite make the magic 100k number, and yes, my overall quality of life is much lower than friends of mine elsewhere in the country making half of what I make. But then again, NYC is NYC. There is a reason NYC will always captivate the immagination, it is a place that exists uniquely and solely in its own world. I'd much rather have my "lower" standard of living, and not drive to Wal-Mart to buy 24 rolls of Toilet Paper at a time as passtime.

If you are making that kind of salary, you must be doing something right and you must love your job...thus you can live anywhere and love your life just because of satisfaction in the your mind and heart. We have lived in many cities and states and it is all in the heart as to how you accept each place to live.

hey ted, FYI - the reds are in cincinnati, not cleveland. they are about 4 hours apart by car. you'd better check your geography. also, im really glad the cavaliers are not the knicks! the knicks stink!
on another note, isn't it ironic that many of NYC's great movers and shakers have been imported from cleveland? rockefeller? george steinbrenner? the ratners?

As a long timer clevelander.....I have to say, as soon as I graduate, I am moving as far away as I can. Cleveland is a craphole. It is the POOREST city in the nation for the 3rd or 4th time. there are NO jobs that pay worth a damn, and the one that do, are given to the close friends of the mayor, police chief, superintentant or clerk of courts. Since I do not know any of them personaly, I guess I either take a $35,000 year job living in the city where I could actually afford to live in the depths of hell, make a few dollars more, live in an overpriced suburb, or live in NYC and make $100K and have to commute to work. Hands down, I'd take NYC

I would not take a $200,000 job offer to live in Cleveland. The city has horrible schools and high poverty rates. Futhermore, a few years ago it was noted as the poorest city in America. I am a Native-Clevelander and still have family living in the area. It is by far one of the most stagnent and complacent places to live in the United States. What I am paying for rent on the West Coast, would afford me a home in an upscale part of the city. However, because of the limited world-class universities many young, bright, sophisticated people move to more forward thinking cities. I would move back when I am done living, and want to look stupid, then Cleveland is the place to be!