reversing geographical arbitrage after FI or after years of frugality

[bovie]

do people really consider Sioux Falls (pop. 200k) rural? honest question

Sioux Falls is objectively not rural.

That said, drive for a bit and it gets real rural, real fast.

[Tim]

of course it does
but if everyone wanted to live in a LCOLA, it wouldn't be a LCOLA

Actually, the density and available land has a significant impact on COLA. Walmart charges the same prices in LCOLS and HCOLA stores.
Plenty suitable land available. Just not in HCOLA locations.
Location, location, location.
They would still be LCOLA, beg to differ.

[MWPT]

I certainly don't. But yes. A LOT of people consider anywhere that's not a top 20 population city "rural" or undesirable.

There are so many LCOL places that are great places to live, but those in HCOL places don't acknowledge. And for that, we thank you.

Lol, agreed. Life does exist between the coasts. But are you truly rural if you don't have truck nutz on your F-150?

[bovie]

Reputations are so different than real life.
Does anyone care to name 200,000 of their closest friends and neighbors?
What about 300k?
Aurora (/əˈroʊrə/, /əˈrɔːrə/) is a home rule municipality located in Arapahoe, Adams, and Douglascounties, United States.^[1] The city's population was 386,261 at the 2020 United States Census with 336,035 residing in Arapahoe County, 47,720 residing in Adams County, and 2,506 residing in Douglas County.

If you’re in medicine, they’re a a good chance this will be where you work in the state. The 3rd largest city in the state.

Oh. Colorado, Denver, Rocky Mountains, tons of famous ski resorts.
Media is concentrated on the coasts. Of course they would never be biased. Plenty of small towns in just about every state. Just needs to be large enough to support your practice.

To be clear, Aurora is functionally just part of Denver. Not a separate city (despite what geographers may say).

[LIFO]

FI should be liberating, not limiting. Pay attention to finances and make sure the math works, but don't get caught in the optimization feedback loop. Don't let your money own you. Live where you want.

[JBME]

do people really consider Sioux Falls (pop. 200k) rural? honest question

I think what you're hitting on is that people know South Dakota is a rural state and so everything in South Dakota is rural. But obviously that is not true, b/c Sioux Falls. I don't think even Rapid City can be considered rural.

[StarTrekDoc]

There's a lot between rural and urban. Suburban living is minimally different when talking 200k-3m population. Sure weekend activities can vary somewhat.

I bet Daily living in suburbia though is relatively constant whether in mi or ny or fl or ca.

[Tim]

To be clear, Aurora is functionally just part of Denver. Not a separate city (despite what geographers may say).

Of course. The land was available. More places outside and inside. But the image is Denver and ski resorts in the mountains. The vast majority of time for someone living and working in Aurora will be there. Not Denver nor the Rockies.
Some choose to live in Golden on a golf course and commute! Functional is where you choose to live. Not the number of residents.

[Lordosis]

Lol, agreed. Life does exist between the coasts. But are you truly rural if you don't have truck nutz on your F-150?

If that is the standard I guess my area is rural.

[JWeb]

Lol, agreed. Life does exist between the coasts. But are you truly rural if you don't have truck nutz on your F-150?

Haha, my good friend from residency lives in HCOL and drives an F-150. Have I given him an immense amount of crap for this? Yes. Yes, I have.

[childay]

Haha, my good friend from residency lives in HCOL and drives an F-150. Have I given him an immense amount of crap for this? Yes. Yes, I have.

Although I don't own one you realize it's the top selling vehicle in the us?
If they have the truck-sticles it's fair game

[orthodds]

To rule out a hernia on a truck like that do you ask the driver to cough or just rev the engine?

[PhysicianOnFIRE]

What's with the hating on Sioux Falls?

If your FI number still works in the expensive place, go for it.

I did use it as an example in my geoarbitrage blog post back in 2016.

It is a nice little town, FWIW. I took this photo and a bunch of other nice ones there one evening when I was sent there for EPIC training.