Subj : Re: Chinese Scientists Cr
To   : Mike Powell
From : Aaron Thomas
Date : Wed Feb 19 2025 22:52:24

 MP> I hate to tell you this, but if you work at Tim Horton's in a US city (or
 MP> IHOP or McDonald's or wherever), you probably are not going to be able to
 MP> afford the cheapest home in your own city, either.  Certainly not one
 MP> that is not in a run-down, likely crime-ridden part of town.

Some states have expensive housing throughout, like Maryland and West Virginia. But in New York there are cities with very affordable housing.

I bought my house in 2016 while making $10.80/hr and my wife was not making much more than that. It was $50k and was in need of a paint job. It looks like a million bucks now.

 MP> Either your city has a very unusually low cost of living, or there is
 MP> something wrong with that house.

It's just a small one (the one that I linked to.) There are severely run down homes in Binghamton & Watertown for $10k-$20k (some foreclosures, some not.)

 MP> > health care.
 MP> 
 MP> I am not so sure it is really free, at least not for citizens.

I've had low income for most of my life, so I've been on Medicaid for most of my life. When my income reached a certain threshold, I paid for private health insurance while at a few jobs. Income limits for Medicaid vary from state to state. When I lived in New Mexico, and I made $10/hr, that was too much money to qualify for that state's Medicaid at the time, so I had to buy it through my job (and was overcharged bigtime.)

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