What do you do?

Vinen · Sep 4, 2016

Noodleface said:
How is Atlanta a redneck city? Isn't it like 75% black people?

You may know me from my shit-posting and general dislike of any state on the east coast south of Rhode Island.

It's also only a few hours from Birmingham. The most fucked up place in the country I have ever visited. So much stupidity.

Heylel · Sep 4, 2016

Atlanta's pretty cosmopolitan, but it has a very southern character to it. I've been all over the country, including the bay area, and most places feel more similar than different. New York has been the only city that truly felt like another world. The places where I immediately thought, "okay I could live here" as soon as I stepped off the plane were Seattle and Denver. Both good tech cities, if it ever comes to it.

Cad · Sep 5, 2016

Heylel said:
I don't get it either. It's on my list of things to ask when I go out there. I sincerely do not understand the point of sending 3500 out the door in rent.

I live in an older home in Atlanta with 3 beds, a finished basement, 3 bathrooms, and a pool on 2/3 of an acre. I'm *lucky* if my house is worth 200k. A fucking broom closet in SF will cost me triple that just to be walking distance to a bus line. It's a serious worry for me.

3500 isn't too bad, try living in NYC where 3500 gets you a 1-room studio with no kitchen in a so-so neighborhood.

I don't understand why you guys would take some like 50-60k jobs to go live in SF or NYC though. Fuck that shit. Go live in Denver or Dallas where you can live like a normal person on that money.

Heylel · Sep 5, 2016

Cad said:
I don't understand why you guys would take some like 50-60k jobs to go live in SF or NYC though. Fuck that shit. Go live in Denver or Dallas where you can live like a normal person on that money.

I wouldn't. Ever. I don't know how anyone in a service job makes it out there at all. My income is low/mid 6 figures now in Atlanta, and I enjoy my job(s). I'm just accepting the interview because it's with one of the big tech companies and the potential future opportunities it could bring. For all I know I'll scrub out during the interviews and it won't amount to anything anyway.

The financial upside is probably close to a wash in terms of take home income, with much higher bonuses in terms of equity that I don't get in my current position. We have a stock purchase plan and that's fine, but it's not going to make me wealthy. It might not even be a solid investment given how the last year has gone for my current employer. We're righting the ship, but still a lot of rough days ahead. In SF, that same take home pay which seems great now would end up covering rent. Granted, I've been spending a sizable amount on remodeling, but that's with an intention to sell. And it isn't coming close to 3k a month. My mortgage is something like 10-12% of my income and it has completely spoiled me.

Borzak · Sep 5, 2016

Noodleface said:
How is Atlanta a redneck city? Isn't it like 75% black people?

It's called black mecca for a reason. Seriously, it's on their wiki page I think.

I'm sure the suburbs and outlying areas are much whiter.

kudos · Sep 5, 2016

Cad said:
3500 isn't too bad, try living in NYC where 3500 gets you a 1-room studio with no kitchen in a so-so neighborhood.

I don't understand why you guys would take some like 50-60k jobs to go live in SF or NYC though. Fuck that shit. Go live in Denver or Dallas where you can live like a normal person on that money.

It's not really a choice for me. The job starts at 55k at most because that's what the GS level allows. I'd have to sign a mobility agreement anyway saying I'll go wherever they want me. The field I am going into has specific cities I'd most likely work in and NYC and DC are pretty much on top. The only other city I could see being sent to right away would be LA and I fucking HATE LA.

I'd be stupid NOT to take the job because it's a huge resume booster and is incredibly interesting work so I kind of see it as a really good internship. The other benefit is a 75% pension when I retire and they allow you to retire at 55.

Cad · Sep 5, 2016

kudos said:
It's not really a choice for me. The job starts at 55k at most because that's what the GS level allows. I'd have to sign a mobility agreement anyway saying I'll go wherever they want me. The field I am going into has specific cities I'd most likely work in and NYC and DC are pretty much on top. The only other city I could see being sent to right away would be LA and I fucking HATE LA.

I'd be stupid NOT to take the job because it's a huge resume booster and is incredibly interesting work so I kind of see it as a really good internship. The other benefit is a 75% pension when I retire and they allow you to retire at 55.

I think you're thinking of CSRS, the defined-benefit plan that was available to federal employees who started work before like 1987. After 1987 they have a much more normal retirement plan called FERS. You should check into that before banking on it.

Heylel · Sep 5, 2016

Borzak said:
It's called black mecca for a reason. Seriously, it's on their wiki page I think.

I'm sure the suburbs and outlying areas are much whiter.

"Atlanta" itself sprawls but actually has a relatively small footprint. The metro area including the exurbs tends to be referred to as Atlanta, and yes it's lilly white in a lot of parts. Ith as blended a lot over the years though, especially downtown in the areas where gentrification has taken root.

Borzak · Sep 5, 2016

I read an article I guess last year that the blacks are moving out of Atlanta. To where I don't know. I want to say the census numbers for blacks had actually gone down.

kudos · Sep 5, 2016

Cad said:
I think you're thinking of CSRS, the defined-benefit plan that was available to federal employees who started work before like 1987. After 1987 they have a much more normal retirement plan called FERS. You should check into that before banking on it.

FERS seems like a normal 401k. Which to be honest doesn't impress me much.

I did the math for the pension they still offer and if you retire at age 60 with 3 years of $80k/year as your highest income and did 30 years of service as "Professional Staff" you get a pension of $24k/year. Which is great if you include your 401k type FERS benefits (and I go back into contracting like I plan to do when I retire). This may change based on which area you work in the govt though. This is what was on the specific place I am potentially working for. I already put 10% of my paycheck towards retirement in some way.

Professional staff receive a basic retirement of 1 percent of the three consecutive and highest salary years times the length of work service. Once professional staff reach retirement age and have at least 10 years of federal service, they can retire.

If they retire at age 62, for example, the benefit can increase to 1.1 percent times their highest salary -- calculated as an average over 36 consecutive months – multiplied by service years. Minimum retirement ages vary based on date of birth but start at age 55 in some cases. All retirees receive an annual cost of living adjustment.

Hopefully my math didn't suck. Also, if you go over seas you get hazard pay which is amazing. Also, I plan to pivot to a different agency eventually which offers higher pay as they are not stuck with GS scale.

kudos · Sep 5, 2016

Borzak said:
I read an article I guess last year that the blacks are moving out of Atlanta. To where I don't know. I want to say the census numbers for blacks had actually gone down.

I heard Atlanta is the African-American version of Hollywood.

My guess is the majority of the black population cannot afford to live there anymore.

Heylel · Sep 5, 2016

kudos said:
I heard Atlanta is the African-American version of Hollywood.

My guess is the majority of the black population cannot afford to live there anymore.

Accurate.

McCheese · Sep 6, 2016

If you're going to work in DC, I'd say move to MD somewhere near the ICC and take that and 270 down to the beltway/city. It's really not a terrible commute on those roads, at least until you hit the beltway.

I used to commute from Baltimore to Fairfax, and the ICC/270 was the best part of the commute. You couldn't pay me to live and commute in Northern VA.

Zaara · Sep 6, 2016

Borzak said:
I read an article I guess last year that the blacks are moving out of Atlanta. To where I don't know. I want to say the census numbers for blacks had actually gone down.

They're getting bussed in to my neck of the woods, somehow. I've seen two people in the last two weeks wearing the same 'STRAIGHT OUT OF ATL/404' T-shirt despite the fact I live hundreds of miles away from Georgia.

kudos · Sep 6, 2016

Zaara said:
They're getting bussed in to my neck of the woods, somehow. I've seen two people in the last two weeks wearing the same 'STRAIGHT OUT OF ATL/404' T-shirt despite the fact I live hundreds of miles away from Georgia.

Time to gentrify.

Borzak · Sep 6, 2016

Zaara said:
They're getting bussed in to my neck of the woods, somehow. I've seen two people in the last two weeks wearing the same 'STRAIGHT OUT OF ATL/404' T-shirt despite the fact I live hundreds of miles away from Georgia.

See it a lot in Baton Rouge and New Orleans over the last 25 years. Those that could make a decent living moved to black mecca. Guessing it eventually slowed down.

Heylel · Sep 6, 2016

We had a massive influx after Katrina. It was always a heavily African American city, but we got a TON of people from the hurricane that just never left. Combine that with trap music and Tyler Perry, which are legitimately the two largest (legal) financial forces in the Atlanta black community, and you get the black Hollywood motif.

Alex · Sep 7, 2016

There are like 20 black people that live in SF. It's weird because across the Bay in Oakland it's like 50/50.

Cad · Sep 7, 2016

Alex said:
There are like 20 black people that live in SF. It's weird because across the Bay in Oakland it's like 50/50.

It was weird being in SF and it was Asians working at the fast food places and the homeless were all white. I was like, god damn this is an upper class city.

Eomer · Sep 7, 2016

That's pretty much all the West coast cities. Portland, Seattle and Vancouver are the same.

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