A Third-Rate American City

[@CharactersWelcome]

Join our discord! discord.gg/nQ3FSxxycT Hang out in our 24/7 twitch stream! www.twitch.tv/characterswelcome

[@matesafranka6110]

"You've put in years resisting the siren call of mediocrity and yet you wound up mediocre just the same." -- God _damn_ my 40 year old ass felt that

[@ricebeansrockroll882]

I'm concidering moving back to my hometown and getting a masters in something _practical_ at age 35... I feel called out.

[@matesafranka6110]

@@ricebeansrockroll882 I've been in IT for 20 years and I want nothing more than to open a little cafe.

[@badart3204]

@@matesafranka6110you like the fantasy of chilling you don’t want the balance sheet

[@matesafranka6110]

@@badart3204 I'd be mad at you if you weren't right

[@C05597641]

I visited new york a couple of weeks ago. I didnt like it. Dublin, Ireland much better city. Im very lucky to live where and when I do. I even like our homeless people more now.

[@Nepeta-Leijon]

as someone who lives in a 3rd rate city, let me tell you, i have fantasies of moving to a 4th rate city just because of cost. it's a slippery slope, folks!

[@gutsmasterson2488]

How long until we reach 6th rate cities?

[@EmeraldAshesAudio]

@@gutsmasterson2488 The real danger is when you start noticing the property values in small towns. Don't you want to live like a king?

[@BlueReadSomeCreepyPastaLongAgo]

Preach 🙏

[@Nepeta-Leijon]

@@EmeraldAshesAudio yes i really really do XD

[@z-beeblebrox]

Realizing the cost of rent in Pittsburgh is the same as in Los Angeles broke my brain

[@tonyofplymouth7303]

As a European I'm just happy he gave examples so I can understand the 4 different rates of cities relevant to this skit

[@warweasel2832]

Him choosing Milwaukee as THE 3rd rate city to base this skit in was the prime choice. It's sandwiched between Minneapolis and Chicago (which are definitely 2nd rate cities), so the contrast is stark.

[@ATMOSK1234]

Nothing in Minnesota is second rate brother

[@tonyofplymouth7303]

@@ATMOSK1234 I literally only know it because of Marshall Eriksen

[@no_special_person]

America sucks so hard, I wanna got to europe!!

[@notmyrealname977]

​@@no_special_person I hope you do too.

[@patjohbra]

My manager recently asked me if I'd ever be interested in relocating to Indianapolis for work and this was basically my thought process

[@Rej-gc5zi]

Salesforce?

[@mommalion7028]

You should visit and see how you feel about it. I am a fan myself.

[@someoddusername5677]

Its pretty ok here!

[@YoYoBobbyJoe]

I would honestly say Chicago is first rate and Indianapolis is second rate.

[@Generationkillx]

As someone who lives in a 4th rate city its not to bad. Sure the first & only korean bbq place that opened 2 years might close because majority of the people here don’t want to “pay to cook their own food”. But my house cost less than a first rate city’s dwellers rent.

[@ItsBofu]

Can confirm, my house was built in the 90s, my mortgage is under $1500 a month, and we have one Korean BBQ place that is somehow clawing to life.

[@warweasel2832]

3rd rate cities have a weird amount of Korean BBQ places and Sushi bars. There's almost too many. I don't know how they stay in business.

[@ericwilliams1659]

Which is funny to me since the state houses in my area also allow you to cook your own steak.

[@fabsmaster5309]

I guess 4th rate city people and I have some areas of agreement when it comes to Korean BBQ.

[@SineFineBelliCh]

What you guys talking about? I like Korean BBQ restaurants

[@carbonmonteroy]

Go 8th rate. Live in a small little town where the economy comes from a single gas station, the one guy who still knows how to farm, and 3mph speeding tickets. They'll _pay you_ to come to us.

[@baronnecas2880]

This is unironically the way. Chickens, bees, and knowing a guy who can do that for some cash and a case of beer. Then drive into town to experience everything you miss from the big city (whatever that was)

[@aquarock-fq2lm]

Honestly as long as I have a computer with internet access I feel like I could make just about anything work for me.

[@philmccracken2351]

"Basically the same except it's Chicago" being second rate to New York is a grudge that Chicago has been nursing for well over a century now

[@davidk.8434]

@@philmccracken2351 what's really funny is when Chicagoland residents play this game for other Midwestern cities. They play a game they lose out the gate for being NYC's provincial backwater

[@aradraugfea6755]

Hey, at least you can be aggressively, disconcertingly proud of your inability to distinguish a bread bowl from pizza.

[@hypothalapotamus5293]

Chicagoans: Has New York ever reversed the direction of a river so that they could poop in other people's drinking water? I think not. Take that Saint Louis.

[@ashwoods2334]

i was waiting for the indianapolis shoe to drop and it exceeded my expectations- 10/10 sketch graham, i laughed so hard

[@soymilkman]

Indiana is just boneless Ohio

[@MrMasterprocrastinat]

I appreciate that he implicitly ranked Portland OR higher than Portland ME. There's nothing more infuriating than when I'm back east, and people assume I'm a lobster person or whatever it is people in Maine do.

[@citricdemon]

weed and cocaine. basically the same as out west.

[@ethanguillemettepst9740]

We eat a lot of tasty food. Portland ME is tiny, and it of course doesn't have as many great restaurants as larger cities, but it has a thriving restaurant industry and punches above its weight class for a ton of amazing restaurants/bars compacted into a small space.

[@noggin6870]

Honestly Portland Maine goes hard. Shockingly good food and high end bar scene for a city that size, and way more access to good hiking than you'd think (though it's mostly in NH, Acadia is still a few hours away).

[@aradraugfea6755]

Get forgotten until Stephen King publishes a new book.

[@hashslingingslasher97]

If these are third-rate cities...I think I might be living in a fourth or fifth-rate city.

[@Lucks-3]

Yeah it sounds like his list of first- and second- rate cities is like 4 or 5 total

[@matthewczech2631]

His list, probably: 1st rate: New York, Los Angeles 2nd rate: Houston, Austin, Chicago, Miami, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC, Boston, Phoenix, Philadelphia, San Diego, Denver, Atlanta

[@appa609]

​@@matthewczech2631 there ain't no way you're putting Chicago in the same bracket as Austin

[@citricdemon]

​@@matthewczech2631dc gotta be a first rate city. it's the capital.

[@GodsDrunkestDriver-p9k]

@@appa609 There has to be cities at the bottom of each bracket and at the top. Chicago is top of 2, Austin is bottom of 2. But everyone knows that Chicago is the greatest city in the world, unquestionably.

[@ga4667]

That evil smile when he dances way off Broadway!

[@zacharywelter8737]

The first town he name drops being my hometown was not what I expected

[@dantebrown4399]

Hey ever since californians started moving to boise en mass the housing prices are genuinely unaffordable for anyone that didnt sell a five million dollar one story home thats two square feet and falls into the “slowly-atrophying/incredibly-dilapidated” genre of house. So if anything its second rate.

[@Sammie1053]

No, it's definitely not...

[@everydaycarrytools]

Just moved to Boise with my California salary and can confirm.

[@fabsmaster5309]

It’s got 2nd-rate home prices, but it’s not a 2nd-rate city.

[@mariagacel5098]

Yeah, i dont know anyone who is bragging about going to boise for a weekend. Its still 3rd rate, and even with the price increase its still cheaper than a 3rd rate city in california.

[@invaliduser6431]

Living in Boise taught me that humans are screwed. Much of the "native" state population hates "immigrant Californians." 🤦‍♂️ As someone not Californian, nor American, seeing straight, white, protestant Americans direct xenophobia and vitriol at... other straight, white, protestant Americans, who all have a shared lifetime of movie references, memes, and who knows what else, really proved it's human nature to find a reason to form an outgroup over any grievance, perceived or real. We're a tribal species stumbling through a global world.

[@theyearwas1473]

I make 47k net, and I never will understand how people who make less than me support a family. It literally doesn't make sense to me because I struggle paycheck to paycheck still. I don't have nice stuff and I'm constantly in debt anytime I want to do anything. I usually have to take out loans or credit cards in order to take my kid out to anything good.

[@Excalibagel]

If you make less than that and have a family, the government helps you out more.

[@StephenGwyn]

Oof.

[@hoo_maan8735]

idk probably the old gods?

[@Thunderdumpe]

The self-discipline to keep a 1-3k bank balance is probably worth like a 10% raise, cos debt is like the opposite of buying things on sale. Just treat 2k as the new $0, instead of treating -1k overdraft as $0. Buying in installments especially can be like a %20-30 price hike.

[@MySchoolProject15]

For real, if you're looking to move somewhere more affordable, St. Paul and Minneapolis are fantastic. It's genuinely great here. It's significantly more affordable, the people are great, it's an immigrant hub with new people arriving all the time (so great food and cultural diversity), and we do have most of the amenities of east-coast cities, just on a smaller scale. The transit system admittedly isn't as good as other cities' like DC's, but they're working on it, and you can get a three-bedroom house in the cities proper for under 400k, less if you're willing to move to the suburbs.

[@Gaming_Antics]

As a child, they told me a $35,000 a year job could support and spouse and a kid, but now I learned that is a lie, $35k a year just cover rent, support the car that I use to go to work, and support myself, barely with little to nothing to put in a saving account. So how much do people really need to earn to support a spouse and a kid or two these days? Either earn $100k salary or don’t have a family? Corporate greed will depopulate the world and America!

[@dftp]

You misunderstand, what they meant was that your 35k a year would support YOUR BOSS in all those things, not yourself, silly!

[@NixityNullt]

They weren't necessarily lying, they just didn't know how much worse things were going to get. Or how much worse they had already gotten.

[@youtubeviolatedme7123]

I think it's implied that your partner is also working. But it's expensive and difficult to raise a child in a 70k income household when both parents are working.

[@punkdigerati]

35k 20 years ago is like 60k today, 30 years 75k. Depending on when you were a child they weren't wrong.

[@dihexa7256]

How tf are you living in the richest country on earth and not making at least six figures? That seems like it’s more your failure than corporate greed

[@telhelki8338]

This speaks to me and I already live in a 3rd rate city

[@ironapega]

90-00s hardcore is the one common thread within all these towns

[@wizofauzz]

I live in Reno, which i expect is considered 3rd rate, and constantly think about moving to 5th rate towns in the same way.

[@blockman3508]

Pros of Reno: mentioned in a Johnny Cash song AND an REM song Cons: ???

[@wizofauzz]

@blockman3508 it is actually a nice town, but road construction and rent have spiked lately and I just start looking at houses in Tonopah and Ely.

[@appa609]

​@@wizofauzz Reno is trashy

[@lucase.2546]

@@wizofauzzHoly cow that’s *really* out there

[@steverogers8163]

savings account..... savings account..... high yield savings account

[@KaioKenneth4]

As a big fan of Minneapolis, Nashville, and Orlando, I felt this one in my soul

[@Lucks-3]

I would call each of those second-rate (multiple pro sports teams in each), but I guess that's just my fourth-rate bias talking.

[@Iaminsideofyourwalls]

I was waiting for Cleveland, but I guess it makes sense that it never came. I don’t even know if there’s a rate that can describe cleveland

[@warweasel2832]

Well, you know what Tennessee Williams said, "America has only three cities: New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans. Everywhere else is Cleveland"

[@nottheredelilah3757]

The bit about indianapolis water had me and my water filter in stitches

[@wtfproductions4262]

I'm glad the algorithm used it's one useful new recommendation a month it gets for me on this video.

[@MommyOfZoeAndLiam]

I live in Vegas and we are like a 1st, 2nd, and 4th rate city depending upon where you live. My mortgage is less than some people’s rent, but until the next housing bubble pops, we can’t move.

[@stephenwilliams163]

My long distance partner moved to my fourth rate city because I could support us both while they got their masters degree. I'll never forget the first time they came to the grocery store with me and burst out laughing in the middle of the aisle because everything was so cheap. Now we're married with the whole dog, house, yard, car thing while we both only work about half the year. These days when we talk about moving to a cool city they always say we couldn't have this life anywhere else. Dont knock it. Just try it somewhere else. Don't you dare come out here and raise our cost of living.

[@thenameisblu]

"dont come here" And herein lies the issue.

[@Weeniehutnurse]

@@thenameisbluexactly lol, then how are we supposed to try it??

[@hibiscusflowers4436]

you just described cincinnati without saying cincinnati

[@warweasel2832]

Ohio cities got their own category system after the river fire. Cincinnati is an OH-2 rate.

[@dogdad1997]

Houses are getting expensive there too now even

[@DaveDDD]

@@warweasel2832 no! Ohio cities are terrible - nobody should move here and increase the housing prices.

[@redlogicsquare]

This is now truly a hidden gem of the internet.

[@SofaKingDead]

As a person originally from New York and lives in Milwaukee, yeah it's better. Way better. You know you guys can go back and visit New York right? You will miss the variety of food, will give you that. But if you paid the same amount per meal on in Milwaukee as you did in New York, you would drastically increase the quality of food you eat.

[@ThePoeticWalrus]

You can come to Green Bay, Wisconsin if you like. We're a 4th rate city desperately trying to be a 3rd rate city, but that basically means the nice bars are just getting WAY more pricy. But it's not like you're gonna run outta bars, cuz we got like 15,000 of em.

[@Generationkillx]

To be fair everywhere in Wisconsin has 15,000 bars.

[@MommyOfZoeAndLiam]

But doesn’t it snow like crazy there??

[@warweasel2832]

@@MommyOfZoeAndLiam You get used to it. Plus, it's getting less and less heavy every year as our planet slowly boils. Pretty soon, Chicago will be the new Miami.

[@warweasel2832]

This makes me wonder what Madison is. 2.5 rate? It's better than Milwaukee in a lot of ways, but it's also not that famous outside of college ball.

[@ThePoeticWalrus]

@@MommyOfZoeAndLiam well ya, that's why we got the 15,000 bars

[@m3rrys0ngstr3ss]

I mean, I halfway get it - prestige doesn't count for shit if you can't find housing.

[@warweasel2832]

And at this point, NYC is kinda gliding on Prestige from the 90s and back. Especially with the death of cable TV, what have they got going for them? Lin Manuel Miranda, no-longer-1-dollar slices and a semi-functional metro transit system?

[@CheekiTiki]

​@@warweasel2832What does the death of cable TV have to do with anything? Is that like a reference or something?

[@noggin6870]

​@@warweasel2832NY is probably more culturally relevant now than it was in the 90s tbh.

[@TrAnMu]

I knew Baltimore was gonna get hit. Lmao

[@thelordofcringe]

Baltimore ain't even 3rd rate anymore...

[@mundotaku_org]

@@thelordofcringe If it is 3rd at something ,it would be being third-world. I am Venezuelan, and I rather go back to Caracas than live in fucking Baltimore.

[@thelordofcringe]

@mundotaku_org yeah, I willingly moved to Chicago for (not very good) work just to get out of Baltimore lmao

[@casey6556]

As someone who grew up in the city with the second highest rate of DUI in Canada (and definitely in the Canadian Third Tier), that comment about “well what else would you do” really hits home

[@StrawB0ss]

New Orleans is the perfect answer to this dilemma.

[@ImB4k4]

It's funny how close to home all of this hit, *and I live in Baltimore*.

[@hotelmario510]

I love the idea of thinking of moving to a mediocre city being presented as being tempted by a Satanic figure.

[@domoarigato2363]

This is a first rate town But all you ever notice Are the ways it's stretched too far And it has been knocked down But some of us are still Left here between the scars When you look around All you ever notice is That you can not see the stars This is a first rate town, a first rate town you know You just can't see very far - Good Kid

[@greymagic857]

"Portland... Maine" Lol

[@ilonajoy4119]

I just realized I grew up in a third rate city 😂

[@JM-bb8xi]

I left Seattle where I could barely afford an apartment in a sketchy neighborhood, for my home town in PA. I now have a house, never need a cab, and I have a savings account muchacho.

[@Odwalla_YT]

4th rates nestled closely to 3rd rates, that's the BIG move. "Oh yeah I love living in Cincinnati" (Lives in Dayton)

[@ryan7032]

I wanna see Corey Spazkid perfom this monologue at the next Third Rates show.

[@Dethmaster64]

I am deeply afraid of the sight of Corey losing his gourd on stage before a live audience

[@Gforce4999]

This is the scariest monologue I’ve ever heard

[@christopherhervey]

I live in a fourth rate city and all I wanna do is move to the big city, so it goes all around

[@someoddusername5677]

Indy native here. I have lead in my pipes.

[@hounoki]

The fact that this made me chuckle goes to show that context is everything

[@satinstitch2802]

I wanna see this guy talk about the Rust Belt

[@NZKiwi87]

I missed a bit of it as a non American but this guy has great delivery! 👍

[@dashielleonard7842]

What a great time to live in Louisville KY!

[@FirstLast-gm9nu]

Wooh Sacramento! You would've thought the capital of the fifth largest economy in the world would be more impressive.

[@Guruc13]

And they were, at some point in time, both the city of trees and the most diverse large city in the US. They were also first in bike theft, until Davis beat them out. ...Where is Davis, you say? If you have to ask, it already doesn't exist...

[@Jason_Bryant]

This is a good look for Graham.

[@Elegyofawesomeness]

Didn't mention Buffalo! PHEW we're safe

[@timwinterhalter5233]

You fucking know we exemplify this

[@flandomaltrizian4603]

As a Chicagoan: First Rate: New York, LA Second Rate: Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, DC, Raleigh(maybe), Atlanta, Miami, New Orleans (maybe), Houston, Austin, Denver, Vegas, San Francisco, Portland (Oregon) Third Rate: Anywhere else that you’ve heard of Fourth Rate: Anywhere you haven’t heard of

[@ForeverGotShorter]

Hmm, I've spent some time in D.C., I think it might be more comparable to Milwaukee or Pittsburgh. Like, pros: great music scene especially punk rock, a few nice secondhand book shops, a bunch of great museums, tons of sports teams if you're into that. Cons: pretty much nothing else to do, the metro is ok if you're sticking to city limits but otherwise you're gonna need a car, full of lobbyists and politicians. I guess pricewise it's maybe second rate, like, if you're planning on eating somewhere that isn't a Johnny Rockets or a Shake Shack or a place with all-day brunch, you're paying way too much for ok food.

[@sisifromthefuture]

lmao from Raleigh and they're 4th rate because of lack of any downtown or transit, affordability is better than a lot of the places listed (for now), and the sheer amount of axe-throwing bars and craft breweries.

[@aj76257]

As a fellow Chicagoan I’ll agree with your list if you bump LA down to second rate

[@negative6442]

LA is barely a city lol

[@a-bird-lover]

I live in flint, which many _have_ heard of, but I think the reasonings for that may downgrade it to 4th rate anyway

[@IneffablyBisexual]

This sketch is the only place Omaha is relevant

[@ChartreuseDan]

What will confuse people from anywhere else in the world about the concept of the american fourth-rate city is that was america calls a small city the rest of the world calls a medium-sized town

[@thegreatandterrible4508]

Omaha, third rate? I'm flattered.

[@rungus24]

This one's one of the best.

[@LexJones207]

I live in Portland, Maine, a third-rate American City. I fantasize about moving to a second-rate Mexican city.

[@GrandGobboBarb]

Omaha is pretty swell if you ain't trans. Alas, I am, so this Omahaean gotta try being a Baltimorian. Which is, like, actually a kinda swell place.

[@GrandGobboBarb]

I say just as he drops Baltimore. lol.

[@smcm9977]

Big shout out to Sacramento and their incredibly average state school. Stingers up!

[@thirdpedalnirvana]

Why does he move like a GTA character? I thought this was animated for a solid 20 seconds

[@thepaladxn]

@Dropout Please get this person on the horn!

[@lloydweatherford9405]

Now im choosing to believe that Fort Worth wasn't mentioned cause it's a second rate town and ima bury my head in this sand, y'all take care

[@Caseyuptobat]

Greetings from Grand Rapids

[@jsmountain]

The water, at least in the Indianapolis suburbs, tastes pretty dang great.

[@bobjones574]

"Hey, why does upstate NY hate the city?" We might be a festering mass of rust and dead malls, but at least we aren't smug about being broke.

[@cyberpunk-2O77]

Omaha is a trade hub with a life thats affordable. New York these days is mostly just an expensive joke. DC is far better

[@Yuki_Ika7]

I live in Cincinnati, i think it is either 2nd or 3rd rate, somewhere around there

[@MrRandyFlaggTDM]

it is decidely 3rd rate. I also live here.

[@goldie819]

no need to mention cleveland because we already know

[@mommalion7028]

2:22 not Indianapolis but close and yeah 100,000/yr grand there makes you feel like Scrooge McDuck 😂🎉

[@thegoof171]

Walther Battle Axe in his hand

[@AdamDGoff]

My hometown is half the population of what Medford, Texas’ would be… does that make us a fifth rate town? It’s pretty nice… and we’re near several fourth rate towns. A 45 min drive isn’t so bad, I make it about 5 times a week!

[@denimator05]

If Chicago is a second-rate city, what counts as a first-rate city (other than New York City presumably)?

[@Danc929]

Los Angeles definitely Maybe San Francisco, Houston, Philadelphia

[@wizofauzz]

For New Yorkers, New York is the only first rate city in the world. They will complain about literally anywhere else "Oh I can't get a bacon egg and cheese here!"

[@arkady0]

@@Danc929if Chicago doesn’t count as first rate then I don’t think San Francisco, Houston, and Philadelphia would count as first-rate either. Some might not count as second-rate either.

[@jakirakumahata5701]

To New Yorkers most places in LA don’t even rate above Waco.

[@warweasel2832]

@@wizofauzz "Dah bayguls an' pizza ain't made wit da right wahdah, so dey ain't taste gud, ey!" That's my impression of a New Yorker 10 seconds outside of the city limits

[@alicearial6055]

Damn, Boise first on the roast list

[@CheekiTiki]

It's the quintessential "man, maybe I could live here" city

[@kiwi-vn2yy]

as a non usamerican this was both entertaining and confusing at the same time

[@timwinterhalter5233]

unless you live in russia or china its hard to compare

[@JM-bb8xi]

So much truth

[@theresafisher8781]

Weirdly, I live in Phoenix, which despite being the fifth largest city in the US, is still definitely a third-rate city.

[@Tzgrey77]

Hilarious - very dropout type humor! Subscribed!

[@feruspriest]

I live in a fifth or sixth rate city, but I make third rate city money. Abandon the big cities, embrace small cities, and you can shape them to your needs.

[@pavelthefabulous5675]

What is a city rate? I grew up in Alabama. I have extended family in Southern and Central Missouri. In my dreams, I live in a really comfy house in Herrmann, MO and have some kind of obscure online business like running an image board or selling 3d-printed handguards or something.

[@pavelthefabulous5675]

Note to the FBI: handGUARDS, aka legal accessories, the piece that separates your hand from the hot barrel.

[@argillaxjinana]

haha i live in a downtown indianapolis apartment on $700/month income and the water is safe to drink if you dont mind lead 😊

[@wesleymitchell2460]

St. Louis is dope. You’d have to live here to find out why, though.

[@prairiebutch]

wow, Lane Montrose (yes, of the Boston Montroses) has fallen far

[@Henchgirl7342]

Something that takes the wind out of the sails of people who live in "first-rate cities" is that there really isnt anything speical about living in NYC, LA, Portland, etc, in the digital age with open commerce

[@joefer5360]

The only thing left are the sea ports and mega wholesale business super centers. If you run a export business, are in the domestic region's resale industry, or you're selling super local. It's still worth living close by. Everyone else is cooked though.

[@Henchgirl7342]

@@joefer5360 yup. At all levels you're paying for the novelty of living in "the city."

[@stellamariaviennehorton1017]

What’s Nashville then? Definitely lower than L.A. or Chicago, but surely we’re higher up than Boise, Idaho

[@CCOOKE88]

3 bed 2 bath is like 450k in boise so, no.

[@productionf1lms]

I thought this was just going to be another comedian mocking all the hillbillies who don't live in New York or LA, which is the fashion now, but it was actually pretty good.

[@hounoki]

The unspoken implications are terrifying but true (that it's incredibly difficult to "get out" of whatever situation you're in in the US; almost all of it sucks somehow)

[@eliza6971]

Look, Pittsburgh, we had a great couple of years together and I'd be lying if I said I didn't still think about you. But when your humidity managed to set off my smoke detector I started to worry that you were maybe trying to end my life in the middle of my $800 one bedroom apartment walking distance from my job and friends.

[@Lex_Lugar]

mmm $800 1 bed walking distance to downtown. 2013 Denver for me. All changed in 2015 to 1400.

[@eliza6971]

4:05 this was so crisp yet so menacing 😂

[@lydia1634]

We moved to Columbus on a 50K salary 10 years ago. A lot has changed here in 10 years. 50K isn't actually very much at all anymore, even here. Also, it's pronounced Boy-see (not zee) and Californians fleeing in 2020 raised property values to such a stupid rate, no one who lives there could afford their own houses anymore.

[@durandus676]

The average income in my city is 20k. Rent and taxes take more than that from me. 😂 without NYC inflating the state tax rate here I’d be living easy

[@jerrywemhoff]

50k a year doesn't get you far in a town of 25,000

[@milo_pox]

As someone who grew up in Los Angeles the call of Third--Rate and below cities has plagued me my whole life... I remember being in highschool dreamily fantasizing about moving to Iowa to live like a king.

[@toastpoint]

Moving from a 3rd rate city to a 2nd rate city because living in a 3rd rate city makes me want to die. I have been here 5 years. Yes the food is cheaper, but its so bad. Everything is just eh. Even the people have kind of given up.

[@gabrielrussell5531]

Fun fact: Noo Yawk is the only place in America you don't need a car. The price of a car erases most savings yiu get from cheap rent.

[@stephannahmed7918]

Wrong chicago

[@nataliedavidson4389]

Boise is not cheap lol

[@EvanFordeBarden]

this is a killer

[@mindtrick205]

Very funny that he thinks Portland Maine is affordable.

[@Tiger74147]

Actually, can y'all stay in your "first rate city" please? We quite like how nice things are down on rung 3 and below, and if you all come here, it won't be anymore.

[@yellowbelt]

Reasons I live in Indiana.

[@Madcapredcap]

Hey, don’t you call Chicago second-rate!