Starter Cities are Great for College
I was reading an article today on MSN about starter cities. According to the author Erin Burt there is a list of second-tier cities that are ideal for young professionals. These starter cities give young professionals an urban setting with plenty of job opportunities, and a place to pay cheaper rent.
The glamorous nightlife of NYC and Los Angeles is the envy of every twenty-something, but it can also put you in debt before you can down that first trendy drink and ask for seconds. This concept of second tier city is something that I believe every college student should take into consideration when choosing a university or a place to move after school is complete.
There are some fantastic universities that offer big city excitement with a much cheaper cost of living. I should have probably read my own blog entry before I decided to go to school in Washington DC. I can speak first hand of the pain caused by overspending to enjoy a premier city. $20 for a cab, $60 for a meal, $10 parking, $12 drinks, $1000+ a month for rent….. the list could go on forever.
Cities such as Baltimore, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Portland, and Tampa Bay are just a few examples of a place you can live a big city life and still manage to save some money while in college. As Burt mentions in her article, these starter cities are just that…. a place to start your life. Think of them also as a place to start your road to financial freedom for the next 50 years. You don’t have to comitt to these locations forever, but you will thank yourself later for this decision. You can never start to save money too young.
Listen, I love New York, DC, and Los Angeles as much as the next young person. But to me everything can be boiled down to pure logic. A good meal and good company in Tulsa, Oklahoma can be just as satisfying as a meal sitting next to Brad Pitt in LA, or on the veranda of Rockefeller Square.
Back to my pure logic, that meal just cost me $200 less. I can now sleep better at night knowing I saved money. I can also sleep better knowing I no longer have to feel the rattle of subway cars passing underground.
