i used to work with these so called "software architects". they didnt ship any code but wrote articles like this at length that everyone pretended to read.
eg, I have worked with many so called 'developers'. They shipped lots of code, but most of it was solving the wrong problem, didn't fit any business requirement, added unnecessary complexity, had to be replaced almost immediately, etc. etc.
Architecture of open source applications, which has a free book version available on their site, has that info on some other large desktop applications .
I'm a mid 30s renter also flush with cash, living in a high COL area.
I have found a happy (to me) medium - I invest all of it diversified across low to high risk assets (muni bonds, i bonds, tips, mREITs, dividend stocks, stablecoins, growth stocks), and at this point just the interest/dividends (NOT counting unrealized gains!) almost cover even my crazy rent (3500/month, for the house we are renting which is valued at about 1.5m). I just don't have the time or the energy for a house. Also a house doesn't MAKE anything other than provide shelter. Psychologically it doesn't make much sense to me to "invest" in a single house, tied to one area, such a large % of my networth. My friends bought houses recently, and even the "flips" turned out to be fixer/uppers. The supply is so bad right now you can really get burned.
Once the supply improves - and really this means most of the government distortions disappear, I would reconsider. By government distortions i mean specifically 0) stimulus checks 1) extra unemployment (bonus monthly $, extra time, and expanding benefits to people that would not have otherwise been covered) 2) mortgage forbearance programs 3) student loan forbearance 4) super low rates. i agree at one point these distortions were necessary when we were all hunkered down and hospitals were being overrun, but we are far from that these days.
Massively, they did, yes. By both injecting money directly and taking away the burden of repayments. And this unemployment boost that expired is just one small piece of equation:
1 - unemployment boost
2 - stimulus payments
3 - extending unemployment to workers who would normally be ineligible (contractors etc)
4 - eviction moratorium
5 - mortgage forbearance programs
6 - student loans forbearance
7 - locally available , utilities payments pauses
8 - ppp grants
OP should have said
"What you will find is that SOMETIMES people are friendly, as long as you look like them (white), WHICH IS THE SAME THING AS IN BIG CITIES."
I can't believe the backlash here - surely generalizing ALL OF MIDWEST to be racist is the wrong thing to do?
There is a distinct lived difference that is based on, you guessed it! generalities. Instead of nitpicking OP, its worth the attempt of empathy.
The small towns of PA (hey! loved that someone put this here) can be just as racist as the small towns of Colorado but somehow this doesn't extend to the small towns of California.
I say this as someone who has not lived everywhere but has lived in places where the common question (and yes, each town/city I lived in had a common question/conversation about my race)ranges from:
Are you black?
Are you jewish?
Are you honduran?
Are you armenian?
Are you [some subgroup of..] indian
Only in Japan, so far, am I - told - that I am American. Its amazing.
Exposure matters. Certainly there are a smattering of places in the midwest where things are progressive. That being said, they are not as well known and compared to my life in SF/LA/DC (still kinda conservative)/NY, the amount you're allowed to live and let live varies.
I'm more likely to hear some random comment about where I do or do not belong or some idiotic belief I have to disabuse about who I am in the Midwest and South.
that's just one side of the possible story. if housing does drop, other sectors are probably dropping as well. supply might increase as over-leveraged "investors" need to get liquid. that "army of millennials" will feel much less secure at that point so a large portion may decide now is not the time.
