Fixnem2Flyinem

I try to explain this reality to my parents as they think I am ungrateful for the 45k I now make as a regional pilot trying to live in Portland. They bought their house for 180k in 1997 when my dad only made about 50k. So since they were able to do it, I should be able to. I told my father to look up Zillow sometime and he accused me of calling him stupid lol.

Although not as expensive as Seattle, the housing here is soaring. Can’t find much for less than 400k anymore, even some houses for 400k I wouldn’t want to buy even if I could afford it. I won’t get the argument started on here that Californians and the tech industry are the reasons for the rapid rise in costs in the NW, but just stating that as an indicator that it will only get worse. California CoL is laughable, some places the houses don’t sell for less than 1M. To me that is asinine, that is why the whole west coast in the next 10 years will be completely unlivable for honest hard working common folk. Not mad at Californians, I don’t blame them for wanting to move somewhere cheaper and cash in on the house that their parents bought in the 70’s. That way they can offer cash well above any locals can afford in the NW. I don’t blame the techies, they listened to their parents and got a degree that wasn’t worthless. Instead of chasing a dream or getting a degree that they just had to persue for self satisfaction. Now they can afford the life that a hard working teacher, a mid level manager, small business owner or even a police officer will never even dream of in the coming years.

By 2025 for any city on the left coast, you will have to make well into the 6 figures to just have a shot at the middle class American lifestyle. Luckily, being a pilot is one of those jobs once you make it to major, if you don’t lose your medical or get furloughed.. It still does have a higher salary than most, maybe not the rich lifestyle some dream of but the other job sectors aside from tech are just as stagnant.