TBD

[Brian_Wallace]

And this country is pretty messed up.  Certainly you can see that.  The income inequality, the poverty, the long work schedules.

...the lines at Starbucks....bad phone reception....not having a college football playoff THIS YEAR.  Yeah, it's a horrible place to live, isn't it?

"But if we just learned to LOVE a little more....like LOVE your fellow man...things would be a lot better, wouldn't they?  And Phish shows.   If like, the whole COUNTRY could hang at one big Phish show...."

Brian

[stevewizzle]

On a Tuesday at 3PM the park will be packed with people. 

Having lived on both coasts, I much prefer the work to live philosophy of the west coast over the live to work philosophy of the east coast.

hi. i just moved to the west coast. i agree.

[hutch]

interesting

I agree with Chaz, Steve Wizzle, etc.

I think the increase in cost of living in the DC area - combined with a rather unpleasant cultural mindset- no longer makes it smart to live here...not unless you are one of the ones making bank with some job likely having to do with the national security state or military industrial complex or government corruption or lobbying/greasing....in other words something rather unsavory....some job that requires you to spend most of your time here because its where the "business" is done...or unless you have a job in this area and can't get one elsewhere

I mean who wouldn't rather live in the San Francisco bay area? I remember 10-15 years ago thinking "well, I'd like to live there but its just so expensive..." same for NYC... well now, unbelievably, DC is as expensive as those areas...

A house was just built in my hood with barely any garden and sold for over a million bucks... virtual hovels are selling in the 700s...

This is not to mention the houses being sold in DC in relatively unsafe neighborhoods with poor schools for astronomical sums....

Junior one bedrooms in DC are renting for $2000 a month...I mean its just insane... and you can get an apartment on Miami Beach on Collins Avenue for less than in NW DC... you may not like Miami Beach but at least you got the beach..

I think things have gotten wacky in DC and wonder if its not due for some "adjustment" but I can't really see it.... I mean maybe if someone like Rand Paul came in on a strong anti-DC platform and tried to dismantle the national security state, downsize government, and change the rules of the game.. but I don't see that as likely...there is too much built up momentum to really effect substantive change of any sort.... but I'd be very reluctant to purchase real estate in DC right now (I say that as a new bubble has taken shape the past few months... houses in north Arlington are barely on the market a few days right now)...

[atomic]

Yeah living in DC doesn' t make sense.  I live in Baltimore and have a 3 mile, 5 minute commute.  I doubt I would make anymore money in DC.  But I probably would all stressed-out because I had to drive in all that traffic and I would spend all my money on housing instead of fancy cars, expensive watches, traveling the world and contributing the max to my 401k. 

As for San Francisco the housing prices are ridiculous out there as well. 

[atomic]

And this country is pretty messed up.  Certainly you can see that.  The income inequality, the poverty, the long work schedules.

...the lines at Starbucks....bad phone reception....not having a college football playoff THIS YEAR.  Yeah, it's a horrible place to live, isn't it?

"But if we just learned to LOVE a little more....like LOVE your fellow man...things would be a lot better, wouldn't they?  And Phish shows.   If like, the whole COUNTRY could hang at one big Phish show...."

Brian

You have a weird take on life.  Who gives a shit about college football? And who waits in line at starbucks or gives a shit about phone reception?

[vansmack]

This country is as great as it is because of it's "east coast work ethic."  If America worked like they do on the west coast, we'd be France. 

Fortune 500 2013

1. Walmart: Bentonville,  Arkansas
2. Exxon: Irving, TX
3. Chevron: San Ramon, CA
4. Philips 66: Houston, TX
5. Birkshire-Hataway: Omaha, NE
6. Apple: Cupertino, CA
7. General Motors: Detroit, MI
8. General Electric: Fairfield, CT
9. Valero Energy: San Antonio, TX
10. Ford: Dearborn, MI

Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

[killsaly]

Maybe the East Coast doesn't have the top ten numbers, but it does have way more entries on the list than the West Coast.

Maryland
    59 Lockheed Martin 47.2 2,745
    195 Coventry Health Care 14.1 487.1
    230 Marriott International 11.8 571
    469 Host Hotels & Resorts 5.3 61

DC
    12 Fannie Mae
    152 Danaher
    483 Pepco Holdings

Virginia
    31 Freddie Mac 80.6 10,982
    98 General Dynamics 31.5 -332
    120 Northrop Grumman 25.2 1,978
    127 Capital One Financial 23.8 3,517
    153 AES 18.2 -912
    159 Altria Group 17.5 4,180
    176 Computer Sciences 15.9 -4,242
    210 Dominion Resources 13.2 302
    213 Smithfield Foods 13.1 361.3
    240 SAIC 11.2 525
    247 Norfolk Southern 11 1,749
    259 CarMax 10.5 413.8
    271 Genworth Financial 10 323
    297 Owens & Minor 8.9 109
    346 Dollar Tree 7.4 619.3
    365 Alpha Natural Resources 7 -2,437.1
    380 Huntington Ingalls Industries 6.7 146
    409 Advance Auto Parts 6.2 387.7
    421 NII Holdings 6.1 -765.2
    436 Booz Allen Hamilton Holding 5.9 240
    448 MeadWestvaco 5.6 205
    453 Exelis 5.5 330
    467 Gannett 5.4 424

Pennsylvania
32 AmerisourceBergen 79.7 719
    46 Comcast 62.6 6,203
    113 Rite Aid 26.1 -368.6
    147 United States Steel 19.3 -124
    170 PNC Financial Services Group 16.6 3,013
    182 PPG Industries 15.2 941
    205 Aramark 13.5 138.2
    224 PPL 12.3 1,526
    234 H.J. Heinz 11.6 923.2
    235 Lincoln National 11.5 1,313
    273 Air Products & Chemicals 9.9 1,167.3
    312 Crown Holdings 8.5 557
    337 Universal Health Services 7.8 443.4
    374 Mylan 6.8 640.9
    384 Hershey 6.6 660.9
    385 WESCO International 6.6 201.8
    388 UGI 6.5 199.4
    437 Dick's Sporting Goods 5.8 290.7
    455 Erie Insurance Group 5.5 160
    463 Consol Energy 5.4 388.5
    490 Allegheny Technologies 5 158.4

Delaware
    72 DuPont 39.5 2,788
    418 SLM 6.1 939

New Jersey
    29 Prudential Financial 84.8 469
    41 Johnson & Johnson 67.2 10,853
    58 Merck 47.3 6,168
    78 Honeywell International 37.7 2,926
    142 PBF Energy 20.1 2
    202 Chubb 13.6 1,545
    204 Toys "R" Us 13.5 38
    255 Automatic Data Processing 10.7 1,388.5
    276 Public Service Enterprise Group 9.8 1,275
    285 Bed Bath & Beyond 9.5 989.5
    293 Hertz Global Holdings 9 243.1
    314 NRG Energy 8.4 559
    332 Becton Dickinson 7.9 1,169.9
    333 Sealed Air 7.9 -1,410.3
    338 Campbell Soup 7.7 774
    341 Quest Diagnostics 7.5 555.7
    350 Avis Budget Group 7.4 290
    352 Cognizant Technology Solutions 7.3 1,051.3
    432 Actavis 5.9 97.3
    456 Celgene 5.5 1,456.2
    477 Avaya 5.2 -344

New York
    16 Verizon Communications 115.8 875
    18 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. 108.2 21,284
    20 International Business Machines 104.5 16,604
    26 Citigroup 90.8 7,541
    38 American International Group 70.1 3,438
    39 INTL FCStone 69.3 15
    40 MetLife 68.2 1,324
    43 PepsiCo 65.5 6,178
    48 Pfizer 61.2 14,570
    68 Goldman Sachs Group 41.7 7,475
    75 Hess 38.4 2,025
    89 New York Life Insurance 34.3 1,333.2
    90 American Express 33.8 4,482
    91 News Corp. 33.7 1,179
    96 Morgan Stanley 32.4 68
    97 TIAA-CREF 32.2 2,060
    99 Philip Morris International 31.4 8,800
    105 Time Warner 28.7 3,019
    116 Travelers Cos. 25.7 2,473
    128 Alcoa 23.7 191
    134 Time Warner Cable 21.4 2,155
    158 Bristol-Myers Squibb 17.6 1,960
    165 Colgate-Palmolive 17.1 2,472
    178 Icahn Enterprises 15.7 379
    180 Bank of New York Mellon Corp. 15.5 2,445
    186 CBS 14.7 1,574
    188 Loews 14.6 568
    191 Omnicom Group 14.2 998.3
    197 L-3 Communications 14.1 810
    198 Viacom 13.9 1,981
    226 Consolidated Edison 12.2 1,138
    228 Marsh & McLennan 11.9 1,176
    238 Guardian Life Ins. Co. of America 11.3 265.8
    252 Avon Products 10.7 -42.5
    277 KKR 9.7 560.8
    279 Estée Lauder 9.7 856.9
    286 BlackRock 9.3 2,458
    289 Leucadia National 9.3 854.5
    296 Henry Schein 8.9 388.1
    309 Assurant 8.5 483.7
    326 Corning 8 1,728
    348 MasterCard 7.4 2,759
    360 Barnes & Noble 7.1 -68.9
    366 Interpublic Group 7 446.7
    370 Ralph Lauren 6.9 681
    382 Cablevision Systems 6.7 233.5
    383 Jarden 6.7 243.9
    390 McGraw-Hill 6.5 437
    413 Foot Locker 6.2 397
    422 PVH 6 43
 495 JetBlue Airways 5 128
499 CA 4.8 9

Massachusetts
    81 Liberty Mutual Insurance Group 36.9 829
    94 Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance 32.9 1,114.6
    115 TJX 25.9 1,906.7
    122 Staples 24.7 -210.7
    124 Raytheon 24.4 1,888
    133 EMC 21.7 2,732.6
    157 Global Partners 17.6 45.5
    220 Thermo Fisher Scientific 12.7 1,177.9
    268 State Street Corp. 10.1 2,061
    357 Boston Scientific 7.2 -4,068
    402 Northeast Utilities 6.3 525.9
    454 Biogen Idec 5.5 1,

Rhode Island
    13 CVS Caremark 123.1 3,876.9
    225 Textron 12.2 589
    474 United Natural Foods 5.2 91.3

VS

California
    3 Chevron 233.9 26,179
    6 Apple 156.5 41,733
    14 McKesson 122.7 1,403
    15 Hewlett-Packard 120.4 -12,650
    25 Wells Fargo 91.2 18,897
    54 Intel 53.3 11,005
    55 Google 52.2 10,737
    60 Cisco Systems 46.1 8,041
    62 Safeway 44.2 596.5
    66 Walt Disney 42.3 5,682
    76 Ingram Micro 37.8 305.9
    80 Oracle 37.1 9,981
    102 DirecTV 29.7 2,949
    125 Occidental Petroleum 24.3 4,598
    149 Qualcomm 19.1 6,109
    162 Amgen 17.3 4,345
    179 Gap 15.7 1,135
    183 PG&E Corp. 15 816
    196 eBay 14.1 2,609
    212 Edison International 13.1 -183
    222 Western Digital 12.5 1,612
    236 Health Net 11.5 122.1
    248 URS 11 310.6
    249 Jacobs Engineering Group 10.9 379
    260 Visa 10.4 2,144
    262 Synnex 10.3 151.4
    278 Ross Stores 9.7 786.8
    280 Gilead Sciences 9.7 2,591.6
    281 Sempra Energy 9.6 859
    302 Applied Materials 8.7 109
    313 Reliance Steel & Aluminum 8.4 403.5
    320 AECOM Technology 8.2 -58.6
    327 Broadcom 8 719
    331 Spectrum Group International 8 4.1
    362 Franklin Resources 7.1 1,931.4
    368 Core-Mark Holding 6.9 33.9
    369 Pacific Life 6.9 460
    371 Agilent Technologies 6.9 1,153
    372 Dole Food 6.8 -144.5
    375 Avery Dennison 6.8 215.4
    379 Symantec 6.7 1,172
    387 CBRE Group 6.5 315.6
    395 Mattel 6.4 776.5
    408 NetApp 6.2 605.4
    420 Sanmina 6.1 180.2
    423 Molina Healthcare 6 9.8
    439 Live Nation Entertainment 5.8 -163.2
    440 Allergan 5.8 1,098.8
    461 Clorox 5.5 541
    464 Advanced Micro Devices 5.4 -1,18
 482 Facebook 5.1 53
487 SanDisk 5.1 417.4
488 Charles Schwab 5 928
494 Yahoo 5 3,945.

Oregon
    126 Nike 24.1 2,223
    355 Precision Castparts 7.3 1,224.1

Washington
    22 Costco Wholesale 99.1 1,709
    35 Microsoft 73.7 16,978
    49 Amazon.com 61.1 -39
    168 Paccar 17.1 1,111.6
    208 Starbucks 13.3 1,383.8
    227 Nordstrom 12.1 735
    363 Weyerhaeuser 7.1 385
    428 Expeditors International of Washington 6 333.4

[vansmack]

Maybe the East Coast doesn't have the top ten numbers, but it does have way more entries on the list than the West Coast.

What ever helps the old guard sleep at night....one area's going one way and the rest of the country is going in another.  And your "work ethic" isn't going to right the ship.

[atomic]

How is Fannie Mae on that list at 12.  They have been delisted and under government control.

[James Ford]

If you're that frustrated, why not just leave?

Portland (OR or ME), Seattle, Austin, Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, dozens of smaller liberal college towns...there must be something out there that's more suitable for you.

interesting

I agree with Chaz, Steve Wizzle, etc.

I think the increase in cost of living in the DC area - combined with a rather unpleasant cultural mindset- no longer makes it smart to live here...not unless you are one of the ones making bank with some job likely having to do with the national security state or military industrial complex or government corruption or lobbying/greasing....in other words something rather unsavory....some job that requires you to spend most of your time here because its where the "business" is done...or unless you have a job in this area and can't get one elsewhere

I mean who wouldn't rather live in the San Francisco bay area? I remember 10-15 years ago thinking "well, I'd like to live there but its just so expensive..." same for NYC... well now, unbelievably, DC is as expensive as those areas...

A house was just built in my hood with barely any garden and sold for over a million bucks... virtual hovels are selling in the 700s...

This is not to mention the houses being sold in DC in relatively unsafe neighborhoods with poor schools for astronomical sums....

Junior one bedrooms in DC are renting for $2000 a month...I mean its just insane... and you can get an apartment on Miami Beach on Collins Avenue for less than in NW DC... you may not like Miami Beach but at least you got the beach..

I think things have gotten wacky in DC and wonder if its not due for some "adjustment" but I can't really see it.... I mean maybe if someone like Rand Paul came in on a strong anti-DC platform and tried to dismantle the national security state, downsize government, and change the rules of the game.. but I don't see that as likely...there is too much built up momentum to really effect substantive change of any sort.... but I'd be very reluctant to purchase real estate in DC right now (I say that as a new bubble has taken shape the past few months... houses in north Arlington are barely on the market a few days right now)...

[kosmo vinyl]

There is part of me that wants to move back to the Detroit area, there is a certain energy there now which is hard to beat.  Not many places have as low of real estate prices as there right now even in the nicer suburbs.  My only selling point is Kosmette wouldn't likely have to work, but she rather likes her current job here.  I'm sure competition is stiff for existing jobs there....

[kosmo vinyl]

David Cameron has come out recently to say The Jams - "Eton Rifles" and Housemartins "London 0 Hull 4" are among his favorites, guess that whole anti-Tatcher message is some how eluding him.  He needs to go back to listening to his old public school old timey music maker favs Mumford and Sons.

[hutch]

If you're that frustrated, why not just leave?

Portland (OR or ME), Seattle, Austin, Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, dozens of smaller liberal college towns...there must be something out there that's more suitable for you.

interesting

I agree with Chaz, Steve Wizzle, etc.

I think the increase in cost of living in the DC area - combined with a rather unpleasant cultural mindset- no longer makes it smart to live here...not unless you are one of the ones making bank with some job likely having to do with the national security state or military industrial complex or government corruption or lobbying/greasing....in other words something rather unsavory....some job that requires you to spend most of your time here because its where the "business" is done...or unless you have a job in this area and can't get one elsewhere

I mean who wouldn't rather live in the San Francisco bay area? I remember 10-15 years ago thinking "well, I'd like to live there but its just so expensive..." same for NYC... well now, unbelievably, DC is as expensive as those areas...

A house was just built in my hood with barely any garden and sold for over a million bucks... virtual hovels are selling in the 700s...

This is not to mention the houses being sold in DC in relatively unsafe neighborhoods with poor schools for astronomical sums....

Junior one bedrooms in DC are renting for $2000 a month...I mean its just insane... and you can get an apartment on Miami Beach on Collins Avenue for less than in NW DC... you may not like Miami Beach but at least you got the beach..

I think things have gotten wacky in DC and wonder if its not due for some "adjustment" but I can't really see it.... I mean maybe if someone like Rand Paul came in on a strong anti-DC platform and tried to dismantle the national security state, downsize government, and change the rules of the game.. but I don't see that as likely...there is too much built up momentum to really effect substantive change of any sort.... but I'd be very reluctant to purchase real estate in DC right now (I say that as a new bubble has taken shape the past few months... houses in north Arlington are barely on the market a few days right now)...

well, there are good reasons for staying... do you want me to tell you them? they are kind of - like- personal... but if you really want to know i could tell you!

 

[James Ford]

I'll be glad to listen if we ever meet up for a beer.

I probably have the same like of thinking as you. I've been here for 16 years and definitely wanted to leave for the first five. It's definitely not my dream Metro region, but I've learned to appreciate certain things about it. My wife and I both like our jobs, so that's the biggest thing.

So staying seems in the cards for us for now, the real battle would be where to go after here (if anywhere) when it is time to move on.

If you're that frustrated, why not just leave?

Portland (OR or ME), Seattle, Austin, Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, dozens of smaller liberal college towns...there must be something out there that's more suitable for you.

interesting

I agree with Chaz, Steve Wizzle, etc.

I think the increase in cost of living in the DC area - combined with a rather unpleasant cultural mindset- no longer makes it smart to live here...not unless you are one of the ones making bank with some job likely having to do with the national security state or military industrial complex or government corruption or lobbying/greasing....in other words something rather unsavory....some job that requires you to spend most of your time here because its where the "business" is done...or unless you have a job in this area and can't get one elsewhere

I mean who wouldn't rather live in the San Francisco bay area? I remember 10-15 years ago thinking "well, I'd like to live there but its just so expensive..." same for NYC... well now, unbelievably, DC is as expensive as those areas...

A house was just built in my hood with barely any garden and sold for over a million bucks... virtual hovels are selling in the 700s...

This is not to mention the houses being sold in DC in relatively unsafe neighborhoods with poor schools for astronomical sums....

Junior one bedrooms in DC are renting for $2000 a month...I mean its just insane... and you can get an apartment on Miami Beach on Collins Avenue for less than in NW DC... you may not like Miami Beach but at least you got the beach..

I think things have gotten wacky in DC and wonder if its not due for some "adjustment" but I can't really see it.... I mean maybe if someone like Rand Paul came in on a strong anti-DC platform and tried to dismantle the national security state, downsize government, and change the rules of the game.. but I don't see that as likely...there is too much built up momentum to really effect substantive change of any sort.... but I'd be very reluctant to purchase real estate in DC right now (I say that as a new bubble has taken shape the past few months... houses in north Arlington are barely on the market a few days right now)...

well, there are good reasons for staying... do you want me to tell you them? they are kind of - like- personal... but if you really want to know i could tell you!

 

[atomic]

There is part of me that wants to move back to the Detroit area, there is a certain energy there now which is hard to beat.  Not many places have as low of real estate prices as there right now even in the nicer suburbs.  My only selling point is Kosmette wouldn't likely have to work, but she rather likes her current job here.  I'm sure competition is stiff for existing jobs there....

Yeah a certain energy of vacant houses and no services like fire department.  Good place to be a pyromaniac.