"Yeah, housing costs are lower here than in many parts of the country," Justin said.
He's right. Justin and his wife own an 1800-square-foot home on 0.3 acres of land. Their place has four bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms. There's only one place for sale in Portland right now that matches these stats and it's going for $430,000 — more than twice the price the same home would fetch in Raleigh.
Housing is by far the largest slice of the average American budget, representing one-third of typical household spending. Because of this, the best way to cut your costs (and, therefor, boost your "profit margin") is to reduce how much you spend to keep a roof over your head.
One obvious way to cut costs on housing is to choose a cheaper home or apartment. But if you truly want to slash your spending, consider moving to a new neighborhood. Or city. Or state. If you're willing to change locations, you can supercharge your purchasing power and accelerate your saving rate.
Living in less costly areas can enable you to spend less and to invest more of your income. You will pay less for your home and correspondingly less for your property taxes. Your neighbors will be less likely to drive expensive motor vehicles. You will find it easier to keep up, even ahead, of the Joneses and still accumulate wealth.
It's one thing to talk about the effects of high cost of living, but another to actually experience it.
On our fifteen-month road trip across the United States, Kim and I made a point of watching how prices varied from city to city and region to region.
While stranded for ten days in rural Plankinton, South Dakota, for example, I paid $10.60 for a fancy men's haircut. At home in Portland, I pay $28 for the same fancy haircut. In Fort Collins, Colorado, I paid $30 for a haircut. In Santa Barbara, California, I paid $50 or $60 for the same fancy cut.
Gas was cheaper in South Dakota too. So was food. So was beer and whisky. So were movies. So was just about everything, including housing. Housing prices followed a similar pattern to the haircut prices I mentioned above. A $280,000 home in Portland might go for $300,000 in Fort Collins and $500k to $600k in Santa Barbara. In South Dakota, that same home would cost about $106,000.
I had been saving about 40% of my relatively modest salary for eight years. I had built up an emergency fund as well as a good sized savings…and then we had kids.
We lost our rent-stabilized apartment right after our children were born. We live in New York City, and while I maintain that there are many things about the city that are actually very budget-friendly (public transit and free entertainment top my list), the cost of rent and daycare in NYC are over the top.
In one year, the cost of a market-rate apartment in our neighborhood plus two kids in daycare ate into my hard-earned savings. By the end of the year, the pot of money that I had worked so hard to save was down by almost $50,000.
We are the very definition of penny wise and pound foolish!
Eventually, we moved into a cheaper apartment. Although we haven't had to dip into savings since we moved, we're still essentially living month to month because of daycare and rent. The neighborhood is cheaper for a reason.
Real Life will force us to make another move in the spring. One of our jobs is going away, so it will force a decision one way or another since we can't stay in New York on one salary. Change is definitely coming.
This reader and her husband are already frugal-minded — that's how she built her buffer of savings to start with — so there isn't much more the family can cut. This is an example where the only real solution is to seek a city with a lower cost of living.
Which places are cheapest to live? Which are most expensive? This map from Governing magazine shows how far the average paycheck goes in 191 U.S. metro areas.
As you can see, large coastal cities tend to be more expensive than smaller towns in the center of the country. If you have a fixed budget, you'll get more bang for your buck by buying a home in Oklahoma City or Sioux Falls than by living in San Francisco or Washington D.C.
We could rent a small apartment in the downtown historic district for $1750 per month. The place would have been a lot of fun because it was surrounded by shops and restaurants, and it was close to anything we might want to do.
We could opt instead for a modest-sized condo on the outskirts of town at $1325 per month. This location was next to nothing. We could walk to the grocery store, but we'd have to drive into the city if we wanted to indulge ourselves.
After considering financial and lifestyle factors, we chose to rent the condo in the middle of the marshlands. On the surface, this decision saved us $425 per month. In reality, it saved us much more than that.
If we had lived downtown, we would have had to pay to park the Mini Cooper ($95/month). We would have been constantly tempted to eat out or go for drinks. It would have been too easy for window shopping to become actual shopping. Instead, we enjoyed one Date Night each week. We spent the rest of our time working and exercising.
I believe that opting for the less glamorous location saved us a minimum of $5000 over our six month stay — and the real savings are probably far greater.
This same concept — certain neighborhoods costing less than others — was a driving factor in our decision last year to sell our condo and move to "the country". We loved where we lived, but the costs were crazy.
Plus, there was the sneaky cost of lifestyle inflation. Our condo was in a fun neighborhood filled with restaurants and bars. It was all too easy after a long day to simply walk up the street to one of our favorite spots, where we'd drop $50 or $100 on food and drinks. Moving to our new place cut our restaurant spending in half.
Lastly, the cost of goods in our new neighborhood is lower than in our old. In Sellwood, our grocery options were limited. And expensive. The nearest markets were both high-end organic-only affairs, the kind of places you might see on an episode of Portlandia. Yes, the quality was outstanding. But since we've moved, we're spending about 25% less on groceries each month.
My point is that even within a city, there are cost-of-living differences you can leverage to your advantage — especially if you're willing to live in a rougher part of town.
Obviously there's more to picking a place to live than pure price.
Here's the bottom line: Where you choose to live has a greater effect on your long-term financial success than almost any other factor. How much you earn is sometimes more important (not always), in which case cost of living is a close second.
Cost of living can wreak havoc on your pursuit of financial freedom. Or it can help you achieve your goals sooner than you thought possible. The choice is yours.
Other ways to make the most of your housing budget? Consider renting. Live close to where you work so that you can walk, bike, or take the bus. Purchase a house that fits your lifestyle and needs rather than the commonly cited "buy as much home as you can afford". The latter is self-serving advice from real-estate agents and mortgage brokers. You don't need a big house; you just need someplace comfortable.
There are 54 reader responses to "Cost of living: Why you should choose a cheap place to live".
I think the map should have a high cost of living for the Boston area. I have lived here nearly 15 years and I just barely hit the "median" salary. I live in the suburbs where housing is less, but I would say we are nowhere near "relatively inexpensive." I have lived in TN and MI, so I feel those areas are better suited to this description.
Yes! Thank you for mentioning this. I live in Los Angeles and have a well-paid job in entertainment. Living in any other city would mean a drastic pay cut, and probably a less fun job.
Also live in the DC metro area and am able to save more than when I was living in a rural town. I work in tech and the job market is hot here versus Roanoke VA :) I'd have to save an additional 10% (30% savings vs 20% savings) of my Roanoke income in order to make the same dollar amount of savings monthly.
Very true! I am a librarian in South Dakota, and while it is cheap to live here, it has to be because wages are far lower than other places. I could get $20,000-$30,000 more per year for the same job if I moved just a state or two away.
Depending upon your career path, where you choose to live can also have a strong effect on your earnings trajectory, so I think the best target should not be either earnings alone or living costs alone, it's the after-tax difference ('net margin') that you should aim to maximize.
Decades ago after finishing my engineering degree from a Big-10 school, I joined the hordes of similarly equipped new grads from the Midwest who were piling into silicon valley. Even back in those days living costs in the Santa Clara Valley were much higher than the place I grew up, but then so was the opportunity to land a high-paying and steep-salary-trajectory tech job that simply never existed in my Rust Belt hometown.
The trick to pulling off rapid-FIRE is to make the tradeoffs that most in your income cohort would not consider, for example roommates, long-commute, garage-conversion living, etc. Maybe the median cost of living in the eye-watering coastal cities is double or more that of flyover, but this ratio can shrink substantially at the low end. If your retirement target is a low-cost location, you can get there quicker if you combine an above-median paycheck with well-below-median living expenses.
Another wrinkle if you don't want to spend a long time living small is to dig your way into a specialty niche that allows for remote work after gaining a few years experience. Once you hit that point you can relocate to your retirement destination and double-dip (high salary + low-but-comfortable cost of living) your remaining tour of duty. I got lucky getting into a corner of 'big data' that opened up this path.
Anyway my point is don't focus on just the top line or the middle line, aim for the highest bottom line.
I moved from DC to Raleigh 10 years ago. It was one of the best decisions I ever made. I would advise young folks to live in a large city with lots of job opportunities for a few years and then take that experience and move to a mid-major city. You'll likely be higher up on the food chain with the big city experience you will get. The smaller city will never be as exciting, but, many of the smaller cities have tons of activities. Raleigh is great because we have so many universities. There are always events and the universities offer their own activities that the "townies" can also go to. If you are going to choose a smaller city, I would recommend choosing one that is also a thriving college town. The house I own in Raleigh costs probably 60% of what it would cost in the NOVA suburbs and my salary is not significantly less than I was earning up there.
We also live in Raleigh (24 years now). We loved it 24 years ago and might love it more now.
We actually moved from a cheaper place (BR, LA) but our earning was better right away. We actually considered moving to Charlotte (even turned down job offers) a year before we settled on Raleigh — it just didn't feel right. Perhaps it's because Raleigh feels like Baton Rouge (university, state capital) but with so much more (4 seasons, more progressive, mtns and beaches nearby, etc).
We are almost empty nesters (youngest graduates from college this week) and friends our age are talking about retirement. One of them recently said 'we always thought we'd move to the coast or mountains, but Raleigh is getting so cool with so much to do'. I think that's how we feel as well.
I'm curious about the neighborhood in which JD took his walk.
I got lucky on the location portion. The southeast does have some rather pricey areas (Mountain Brook, AL is $$$), but by and large, there are plenty of affordable options in nice areas, with good people and low crime. My bigger concern, and something you've likely already covered, is more controversial: Divorce.
While your locale is likely the biggest factor during your working/saving years, from what I've seen in the lives of those around me, divorce is by far the bigger wrecker of financial health. When it happens early in life, it's recoverable. Later on, it can ruin you if you don't anticipate it.
Missing from this discussion is the question of whether one wants to live close to family. This can be important (including its impact on bottom line, though certainly not only for that reason) when kids are young or parents are old, but I also found that when I was working in a different part of the country I spent all my (limited) vacation time traveling "home," often at (expensive to travel) times when I didn't want to be traveling at all (Thanksgiving). Others may not find themselves as affected by this challenge as I did, but it's worth factoring into the math if it will be an issue.
This is absolutely true and was one of the reasons we moved from the deep south to NC. My in-laws were in PA, my parents had retired to the mtns of NC.
There were other reasons too, but after spending vacations driving 20+ hours to PA, then swinging back thru NC, it was much nicer to move within a day's drive for each set of grandparents.
We're moving from Seattle to Portland this summer. I'm definitely having trouble picking a neighborhood that balances our desire to be frugal, live a Portland lifestyle, and have good schools for my kids. Seattle – it's all expensive and the differences between school districts aren't as great – at least on the north end of the city. Because my husband works as a journalist and my salary is average, Seattle doesn't feel "relatively cheap" for us, but selling our almost-paid for house in this market will be an instant windfall.
Why is this always a throwaway line in considering where to live for finance bloggers?
If you're living according to your true life values & missions, these things are not throwaways, they are essential. I guess some folks may not value family & friends, but then, what's the point of becoming financially independent if you can't spend time with those you love? Wouldn't you just end up spending all your "savings" on travel back to wherever your family & friends live? Seems like a poor return on investment to me.
I thought the same thing! There are places in the US you couldn't pay me to live, no matter how low the cost of living/housing/etc is.
This is exactly why I have been researching out-of-state investing in the Midwest! I can buy six duplexes in many places for the price of one of our duplexes here in the Portland Metro and they all have WAY better ROI. It's a no-brainer to me, since I'm just lil ol' me who wants to do real estate investing and realizes that our lovely area just isn't for me.
I'm lucky that where I live, southwest Ohio, is both low-cost-of-living combined with several decent-paying jobs. I probably could make more living somewhere such as Silicon Valley, but I have a feeling the cost-of-living would make it not worth it.
We're selling our house in Portland (Mississippi Ave area) and simply renting a 1 bedroom apartment 5 miles west of downtown. Cuts our commute by 75%, the proceeds from the house will be simply put into a high yield savings acct. which will pay for the apartment rent. We'll then explore some other smaller towns this year to see where we want to settle down in a cheaper area where housing costs about 1/2 of Portland.
I live in an area where homes are inexpensive but property taxes are higher (SE Pennsylvania). I have family in a small town in eastern NC where you can get a decent home for around $100-$150k, and property taxes are much lower. There are less social services in that area than our area (in PA for instance, you can be paid by the state to take care of an aging parent who would qualify for home health care aids) and the public schools aren't great. But if you are someone who plans ahead financially and takes care of your health, you can do well moving to a lower COL area like eastern NC and just living out your early retiree life there. For us, by having family in the area, it would make the transition easier when the time comes to move out there. We may not be able to move for another 20 years, but we'll definitely be saving up for it. Plus I prefer retiring in areas close to major bodies of water, and 1.5 hours from the shore ain't bad!
I would add though, that a lot of "cheaper" locations can be surprisingly expensive to rent. My SIL is paying $1700 for a 2 bedroom apartment in Cleveland, OH! No disrespect to Cleveland, but a 2 bedroom on the outskirts of trendy neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY can still be had for $1,700 a month (maybe a little smaller and without as many apartment amenities) and with better public transportation and better job options. Philly is another city where you can get all the same apartment features for that price and have more job prospects. So don't just move to a city because you think it's cheaper–research before jumping the gun, you might be surprised on the costs!
If your sister is paying $1,700 for an apartment in Cleveland, she is getting ripped off. She likely lives in one of those new loft-style places in or near downtown. You can get something nice for around $1,000, perhaps a part of a duplex that is in a "real" neighborhood. I pay less than $700 for a one-bedroom in the southern suburbs, but I don't work downtown and it would be a bit of a commute.
We have a low cost of living here in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with great weather (and all 4 seasons), beautiful scenery, terrific food and shops. The crime is kinda off the hook, tho. Anyone ever seen Breaking Bad?
I've also lived in Las Vegas, Nevada, another low-cost place with no state income tax and TONS to do all time, whether it's all the entertainment options or the great hiking out in the foothills or Red Rock Canyon. Plus in Vegas, a person isn't very far from the beaches and theme parks in Cali. I think Vegas will be my place to retire to. May as well live in vacationland and save on travel costs too.
Oh, and as a bonus, Vegas just got an IKEA, so you can furnish your new place for cheap hehe.
Vegas is more reasonably priced than the tan dot would lead you to believe. I know many many people who have moved here from SF and LA because they can afford to buy a house here. However, you've got to be able to take the summer heat. (If you like to garden, you can do it year-round, but you have to plan!) But yes, there are many things to see and do in Vegas that don't involve gambling or the strip.
However while Nevada has no state income tax, the sales tax is around 9% so beware.
Vegas seems to always be about 10 degrees warmer than we are here. However, Vegas has about the least humidity of any major city in the US, which makes a big difference — not that Abq is humid, mind you, but Vegas is still a much drier heat. And yeah, I didn't quite understand the tan dot re: Vegas. It's known for being a cheap place to live. Even Mr. Money Mustache included it in one of his posts on fun places to move to for a lower cost of living.
Las Vegas is the 7th layer of hell in July. ABQ is only the 3rd.
"But it's a dry heat" only works as you pass 90. After you hit 100 it's all miserable.
Lol I know, I know. I can't believe I played the "dry heat card." I feel like it's almost a kind of social faux pas to say, "But it's a dry heat." But it *is* a nice, dry heat in Vegas hahaha!!!!!
I'd really be curious, S.G., where you would move if you ever decide to leave NM.
It would depend on why we moved. If we moved for jobs it would be wherever the jobs were. I wouldn't live in CA but maybe FL or TX (both hot AND humid, ugh).
If we were moving to retire somewhere with a good property and low COL like southern midwest. MO maybe?
We talk about it, but the liklihood of us leaving any time soon is low.
As for Vegas, i was just there last week visiting family. I'd only live therw as a snow bird. May to Sept isn't safe for man nor beast.
Interesting you mention FL, as that's where I vacation the most. Orlando has a low cost of living, similar to Abq. I know Orlando is not a beach town, but by living in the center of the state, one drastically lessens the possibility of storm disruption. Besides, Orlando does have fun theme parks, plus Cocoa Beach is only an hour away. And there's a high-speed train being built right now that will link Orlando to Miami. I'm just not sure I could take the humidity, tho.
Our neighbors moved to Orlando. He was Lockheed and transferred.
I haven't been to FL yet but I've heard horror stories about the massive bugs. Though I have survived the red headed centipedes. I guess I'll see for myself in about a year as we're planning a DW trip. Any advice?
Advice-wise, you want at least 4 days for DW, one day per park. Get the hopper pass so that you can move from park to park if you want. Universal is super fun too, but it may be best to save it for another trip. The crown jewel of Florida is Miami Beach, so that may be worth taking one day to work in. And by the time you get to Orlando, that high-speed train linking to Miami should be up and running. A lot of people don't realize that Miami Beach is an island city, with its own mayor, that sits off in the Atlantic, just like a Caribbean island out in the Bahamas — same white sands and crystal clear blue warm water. And South Beach is the most interesting section of the island. Be sure to take the art deco tour. And, you know, speaking of Miami Beach, it's one of the BEST places to live car-free in the entire US, right up there with New York. Hardly any locals on the island own a car; everybody uses a bicycle to get around, as the island has one of the best biking infrastructures in the world. And for a tropical island, it also has a relatively low cost of living. Plenty of condos can be had for under 200k.
And as far as bugs go, you aren't gonna see any lol!! Disney doesn't have bugs!!! Okay, the spray guys miss a few here and there but nothing to worry about hehe.
Vegas locals don't consider it "triple digit" heat until it hits 110.
Anything up to 105 is fine, but above 107 you can really start to feel each degree of increase.
I know all about Vegas. I grew up in Northern Nevada and a large chunk of my family live in Vegas. And 105 is hot.
I'm not sure what you mean by different meanings of "triple digit" since it literally means a number with 3 digits.
105 is hot, no matter how you slice it. You'll start to feel that when you breathe. But yeah: when you can look forward to the hundred and teens you dont curse the demons necause you'll tempt the devil to come out and play.
Glad you reminded people about your time in South Dakota! Not only is cost of living lower, but SD is one of the states with no state income tax.
In the spirit of your post, people will be sure to complain "my work is too focused to be able to move", but more often than not I think the flexibility will exist.
Also, in the category of "it's a small world", the RV park you stayed at was my grandparents' farm of 50ish years – the building by the cabins was a secondhand shop.
That's funny. We had dinner with a realtor friend of a friend the other day (we live in Raleigh as well) and I was making comments how there are absolutely no houses under construction around us that would sell for less than 500K (most are quite a bit higher). The realtor said that it's almost impossible to find any affordable (as in 150-200K) housing in Raleigh at the moment.
We live in a townhouse (a rather nice one) and already had two realtors knock on our door to see if we weren't interested in selling. Another sign: in our 60 home community are exactly zero homes for sale at the moment – every last spring it was at least three).
So yes, general cost of living in Raleigh is quite a bit cheaper than it would be in the major metropolitan areas – but good luck finding actually affordable housing at the moment.
Durham and Chapel Hill I would imagine wouldn't be much better….
I get that incomes are higher in HCOLAs, but a majority of people living there are not in the type of careers that are paying 10s of thousands more than their comps in LCOLAs. Even if you are "big fry" there may be more opportunity (because of less competition), to get promoted positions that you'd normally have to spend years working up to.
I already live in a fairly LCOLA (but in a state that has several HCOL), and even still sometimes I dream of trying it out in a small town in another state. Mostly because I want to buy more land.
COL in Georgia is great in some areas, however the school system vary widely. We chose an area that is a bubble with a higher than average COL, but excellent schools. With an LD child, it was a priority to get in a school system that would serve all of our children's needs. The trade off of higher housing costs is still cheaper than private LD school tuition. However we do plan to sell the house and move to a cheaper area once the youngest graduates in 5 years.
I think its a trade off of your personal choices when choosing what is more important and finding a balance of income, COL, and lifestyle that works for the entire family.
I'd like to see how moving to a house work out for you guys in the long term. Is it really cheaper in the long term?
I don't like paying our HOA either so I'm planning to move soon. We're moving in town, though so we won't save that much. Maintenance, repair, and remodeling will cost a ton when we move.
Will you include (though I suppose it's another, related topic) reflections on purchasing *this house* as opposed to others…or waiting longer to find "the house"?
I'm curious if you think that costs with the home you bought are higher than others (purchase + repair) or about right (buying a less needy house, but for more)?
At the risk of repeating myself, I'll put forward the unpopular opinion that one should not consider the house you live in as an investment. It's an asset.
Yes, this real estate asset might occasionally bring a profit. I've made tidy bundles twice in selling primary-residence coop apartments in Manhattan. But those were lucky unicorns in my financial history.
A house (especially if you love it, and lavish time and money on it) is an asset that comes with a ton of expenses—maintenance, repairs, upgrades and reno-projects. And then there's the garden!
For the past 15 years, we've been fixing our Upstate 1925 wreck. We will never get out of this asset what we put into it, and I envy the folks who will eventually buy it from us, those lucky dogs. We love our home, and even with its challenges, we loved the process of bringing an old house back to life. I don't regret for a second the money and effort we've poured into it, because it brings me pleasure every day.
However, our experience is not the norm. Most people in the U.S. count their home as a large slice of their net worth, so they need to think of it as an investment rather than an asset.
I too am looking forward to J.D.'s post on the English Cottage–I hope the experience has not been too painful. Remember that horrific photo of the termites?…..ugh.
The first few years in a fixer-upper are not always a joy, but then, as the house begins to take shape, and holds the memories of life well-lived day after day, it becomes something more than just a house. And that's priceless.
I work in NYC and live in the suburbs. Even with a two-hour commute to work today, my housing is expensive. The nice thing about living in a high cost of living area is that wages are inflated too. The best case scenario is to earn an NYC salary and spend it in a rural setting.
Yes, I agree with you. Since we are in the same state, the higher salary fits the higher costs in some aspects. If one was able to work from home or online, then definitely would be a far better choice to live in a lower cost area!
My mother always lived where she felt entitled to live, not where she could actually afford to live. I tried and tried to convince her to move to less expensive housing, but she always had a Real Good Reason for staying put (and struggling to pay the rent). Fiddle de dee, I'll think about that tomorrow.
My brother moved from Louisville (where most things are way cheaper) to San Diego (where the price of everything is astronomical) because he felt he could make more money in California. No matter how many times I suggested that he go get a copy of the San Diego paper and look at the rents, he just lah-di-dah figured the money would come from somewhere once he got here. He lucked out and got a sublet from a friend, but that friend will be moving back someday and my brother not only can't afford rent anywhere else, he'll be up against landlords who require credit checks just to look at you.
I took a lot of heat for "being so negative all the time" when I was just trying to explain reality.
People keep trying to convince me to move back to SD but, no, for many reasons. In the (2) larger cities, houses can still be fairly pricey and you have to DRIVE everywhere. I remember having to drive 10+ mi one way, every day to high school, 8 mi to the nearest grocery store, etc. My cousins are driving all over the state for their kids sports and over 100 miles a few times a month for shopping trips in the "big city". There are other reasons, too.
OTOH, I wouldn't mind leaving Portland for somewhere else less expensive if other factors worked out.
I've never lived anywhere that wasn't LCOL (grew up in the South and now live in the Midwest [St. Louis]). People should consider STL more than they do. For one, you can get a beautiful home for a fraction of what it would cost elsewhere. The weather isn't nearly as bad as it used to be (climate change). We haven't had a real snowfall in a long time at this point. There are four distinct seasons. There is a park that truly rivals Central Park, free museums and fantastic (also free) zoo…lots of universities and a steadily growing tech sector. Schools aren't universally good but, if you live in the suburbs or choose magnet or charter schools, there are some excellent ones. Also, you're close to Chicago and many other cities, and plenty of good concerts and the like make it here. That said, a part of me will always regret not trying out a HCOL big city when I was younger. I think if I made a move now it would be to another mid-size city (Raleigh appeals, but I take note of the comment above about the housing) or somewhere like Asheville, NC. I'd love to be back in the South at some point, but we'll see if anything aligns in that area. That said, I've been in STL for 18 years at this point, so it's possible I will stay. I do miss my family in the South, though, although they're only about 4 hours away.
The Ozarks are a place I'd like to explore more. I have some family on the Arkansas side, and I've been to Eureka Springs and Branson. There's a biannual publication called OzarksWatch that you might want to check out. Fascinating history and stories! Cincinnati is definitely a lot like St. Louis from what I've heard. I can see where it would be hard to leave Portland, which is ideal in so many ways–outside of COL!
Great article, JD. We moved from Chicago to Louisville in 2012 in order for me to accept a great job opportunity. Louisville was never on our radar screen, even as a place to visit. But it turns out it's a great city with lots to do, better weather than Chicago, easier traffic, and a much lower cost of living. For a comparably priced home, our property taxes are less than half what we paid in Chicago. That has a huge impact on cash flow.
Well written, and I liked the interactive map. I also think it depends on the type of job/career you or others have in your home on where you end up living. Oftentimes I feel people who are on their way to FIRE work in flexible jobs, at home jobs, or other private jobs that they can change around. My husband and I work in education, and for us to move to a lower cost area would also mean a far lower salary. That's something that isn't mentioned when the idea comes up to just "move somewhere cheaper." I would love for you to write on that concept based on employers and what the options are. We'd have to change careers to live in a lower cost area for what we do, and when we reach FI that may happen, but for now we're semi-rooted in this higher cost space.
The problem with choosing a place cheaper to live is that there's a reason for the lower price. Or the neighborhood isn't the ideal safe and stable place. Or is too far away from the center of the city/place that of work. What you save in money buying cheaper, you will spend more in transportation plus time loss in commuting. And time is money.
I prefer to consider a smaller place but near the center of my personal activity (workplace, gym, beach, and so on).


text:
From his election in 1998 until his death in March 2013, the administration of the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez proposed and enacted populist economic policies as part of his Bolivarian Revolution.

In the early 2000s when oil prices soared and offered Chávez funds not seen since the beginning of Venezuela's economic collapse in the 1980s, Chávez's government became "semi-authoritarian and hyper-populist" and consolidated its power over the economy in order to gain control of large amounts of resources. Domestically, Chávez used such oil funds for populist policies, creating the "Bolivarian missions", aimed at providing public services to improve economic, cultural and social conditions.

As Chávez's successor Nicolás Maduro began to increase domestic spending after the oil price collapse, high inflation, currency controls, an unfriendly environment with private businesses, as well as the risk of default, prevented the entrance of stronger foreign currencies into Venezuela. Previously, the Chávez government turned to China to fund its overspending on social programs. Despite warnings near the beginning of Chávez's tenure in the early 2000s, his government continuously overspent in social spending and did not save enough money for any future economic turmoil, which Venezuela faced shortly before and after his death. Other industries suffered as a result of the over-reliance on oil, with the share of manufacturing in GDP dropping from 17.4% in 1998 when Chávez took office to 14.2% in 2012. As a result of Chávez's overspending and policies such as price controls, there were shortages in Venezuela and the inflation rate grew to one of the highest in the world.

Government policies

Petroleum and natural resources

Venezuela is a major producer of oil products, which remains the keystone of the Venezuelan economy. Under the Chávez government, crude oil production decreased from 3.12 million barrels a day when Chávez took office in 1999, to 2.95 million barrels a day in 2007, whilst oil prices increased 660%. Stephen Randall, Director of the University of Calgary's Latin American Research Centre, points out that during Chávez's years in power Venezuela increased its dependency on oil exports to 95% (2012) from 80% when he took power in 1999. Furthermore, before the financial crisis in 2008 Venezuelan oil was selling at $129/bbl. It then dropped to $43/bbl by March 2009. Instead of reining in spending Chavez responded to reduced revenues by introducing more exchange controls and continuing with nationalizations. A 2014 article by CNBC stated that under Chávez, oil production declined from 3.5 million barrels per day to 2.6 million barrels per day, though Venezuela only made a profit from 1.4 million barrels per day due to Venezuela giving large amounts of its oil away for free. CNBC continued stating that though oil production decreased, public spending increased to over 50% of the GDP, spending more than received in oil profits which led to foreign loans that amounted to over $106 billion as of 2012. Foreign investment flows by the end of his presidency in 2013 were half what they had been in 1999.

On 13 November 2001, under an enabling law authorized by the National Assembly, Chávez enacted the Hydrocarbons Law, through which it sought to gain greater state control over the oil industry. The law increased the transnational companies taxation in oil extraction activities to 30% and set the minimum state participation in "mixed companies" at 51%, whereby the state-run oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), could have joint control with private companies over industry.

Chávez used PDVSA funds to support political projects. Chávez also explored the liquidation of some or all of the assets belonging to PDVSA's US-based subsidiary, Citgo, which received criticism amongst the Venezuelan public due to corruption. According to finance minister Nelson Merentes, the Venezuelan 2006 budget would get more income from taxation than from the petroleum industry, unlike formerly.

In 2012, analysts said that PDVSA was in a "crisis" since "in the last ten years, they haven't been able to grow production". Analysts and OPEC also disagreed with Venezuela's claims of oil output. Critics have also noticed that investments in oil and natural gas production only amounted to US$17.9 billion while the government spent US$30.1 billion on social programs and Russian fighter jets. The secretary general of the United Federation of Petroleum Workers of Venezuela (FUTPV) said "PDVSA is falling apart" and that "lack of direction, investment and maintenance are wrecking the oil and natural gas industries". Critics have also accused Chavez of letting loyalists run PDVSA instead of those qualified for the positions since the company only hires political supporters of the president. In 2013, PDVSA took more than US$10 billion in loans from China and Russia due to an alleged lack of hard currency and had a financial debt of US$39.2 billion.

Cooperatives and economic democratization
Since Chávez was elected in 1998, over 100,000 worker-owned cooperatives—representing approximately 1.5 million people—were formed with the assistance of government start-up credit, technical training, and by giving preferential treatment to cooperatives in state purchases of goods and equipment. There has been an increase in the amount of cooperative enterprises that have tax incentives in the new 1999 constitution. As of 2005, approximately 16% of Venezuela's formally employed citizens were employed in a cooperative. However, a 2006 census showed that as many as 50% of the cooperatives were either functioning improperly, or were fraudulently created to gain access to public funds.

Additionally, several thousand "Communal Councils" (Consejos Communales) were created. In these Communal councils, citizens form assemblies to determine what will be done with government funds in their local area. Groups are made up of 150-200 or more families in urban areas, and starting at around 15-20 families in rural areas, and their decisions are binding to local government officials. 21,000 of these groups were created in 2007, and 30,179 by 2009. As of 2007, about 30% of state funds were directly controlled by communal councils, with a goal of eventually having them control 50%.

Banking laws passed in 2001 require that all banks set aside at least 3% of their capital for micro-loans.

Poverty reduction programs and social spending

One of the primary ways that the Chávez administration attempted to fix the problem of economic inequality was by wealth redistribution, primarily via land reform, and social programs. The Chávez government pursued a series of Bolivarian Missions aimed at providing public services (such as food, healthcare, and education) to improve economic, cultural, and social conditions. According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), poverty rates fell from 49.4% in 1999 to 23.9% in 2012. Data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) shows that Venezuela's poverty rate decreased between 1999 and 2013 from 48.7% to 32.1%. A 2010 OAS report criticizing Venezuela's human rights standards indicated achievements in addressing illiteracy, healthcare and poverty, and economic and social advances.

The Chávez government overspent in social spending, however, and did not save enough money for any future economic difficulties. On 31 March 2000, Chávez initiated policies that resulted with the Venezuelan government spending more than it received as oil prices began to rise. Poverty in Venezuela began increasing going into the 2010s. During Chávez's campaign before the 2012 presidential election, he tripled Venezuela's deficit while on a "spending spree". In 2014 El Universal reported that in the previous five years that included years under Chávez's policies, purchasing power for those with minimum wage jobs had dramatically decreased compared to other countries in the region, supposedly due to the high inflation rate and the multiple devaluations of Venezuela's currency.

Price controls
The Venezuelan government also set price controls in 2003 on around 400 basic foods in an effort according to The Washington Post, to "counter inflation and protect the poor", and in March 2009, they set minimum production quotas for 12 basic foods that were subject to price controls, including white rice, cooking oil, coffee, sugar, powdered milk, cheese, and tomato sauce. However, the lack of free-floating currency meant that the government was overpaying for these foods, which led shortages as limited amount of these foods began to be imported, even while demand was growing.

Missions and other projects
Chávez created many projects and missions during his presidency, though he often took credit for some started by his predecessors as well. Many projects initiated during his presidency have remained incomplete and have experienced difficulties due to funding issues, political costs, corruption and bad execution. As of late 2013, over 4,000 projects initiated remained incomplete with 25% of those projects beginning before 2006. Despite the investment of billions of dollars, such projects that were not completed and experienced multiple delays included repairs to the Parque Central Complex, moving the Las Mayas garbage center, the clean up of the Guaire River, a National Cancer Center, Plan Vargas 2005, and multiple transportation projects.

Chávez also initiated Mission Habitat, a Venezuelan government program to construct new housing units for the poor. The housing mission has also experienced difficulties with El Universal stating that one of the Chávez administration's outstanding weaknesses was the failure to meet its goals of construction of housing. Chávez promised to build 150,000 houses in 2006, but in the first half of the year, completed only 24 percent of that target, with 35,000 houses. In 2013, the Venezuelan government also failed to complete nearly 50% of projected homes. The housing market in Venezuela had also shrunk significantly. Developers have avoided Venezuela due to the massive number of companies who have had their property expropriated by the government.

According to the Venezuelan government, the "Miracle Mission" program had the Venezuela and Cuban governments collaborated to perform free eye care to over 1,139,798 people, with an average of 5,000 operations occurring on a weekly basis in 74 medical centers around Venezuela, as of July 2010. Several thousand people from other Latin American nations—including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay—were also given free treatment under the program.

Agriculture and land reform
From 2003, Chavez set strict price controls on food, and these price controls caused shortages and hoarding. In January 2008, Chavez ordered the military to seize 750 tons of food that sellers were illegally trying to smuggle across the border to sell for higher prices than what was legal in Venezuela. In February 2009, Chavez ordered the military to temporarily seize control of all the rice processing plants in the country and force them to produce at full capacity, which he claimed they had been avoiding in response to the price caps. In May 2010, Chavez ordered the military to seize 120 tons of food from Empresas Polar. In March 2009, Chavez set minimum production quotas for 12 basic foods that were subject to price controls, including white rice, cooking oil, coffee, sugar, powdered milk, cheese, and tomato sauce. Business leaders and food producers claimed that the government was forcing them to produce this food at a loss. Chávez nationalized many large farms. Chávez said of the farmland, "The land is not private. It is the property of the state." Some of the farmland that had been productive while under private ownership is now idle under government ownership, and some of the farm equipment sits gathering dust. As a result, food production fell substantially. One farmer, referring to the government officials overseeing the land redistribution, stated, "These people know nothing about agriculture." Chávez seized many supermarkets from their owners. Under government ownership, the shelves in these supermarkets are often empty. In 2010, after the government nationalized the port at Puerto Cabello, more than 120,000 tons of food sat rotting at the port. In May 2010, after price controls caused shortages of beef, at least 40 butchers were arrested, and some of them were held at a military base and later strip searched by police.

The Chávez government passed several laws designed to support food sovereignty by increasing domestic agricultural production in Venezuela and reducing agricultural imports, and to more equitably redistribute unused agricultural lands. Before Chavez was elected 75% of the agricultural land in Venezuela was owned by 5% of landowners and the smallest 75% landowners controlled only 6% of the land. Much of the land held by large landholders, was held in extremely large "latifundios", and was idle and unproductive. The "Law of the Land" passed by the Chávez administration, declared such landholdings to be illegal, and mandated that it be given to families who needed land to grow food. As of January 2009, the Venezuelan government had redistributed nearly 2.7 million hectares of idle land (6.6 million acres—nearly 1/3 of the latifundio land existing prior to 1998) to 180,000 landless peasant families. Additionally, reforms to Venezuela's Penal Code de-criminalized the occupation of idle private lands by landless peasants, and started an initiative known as Mision Zamora to assist small and medium scale producers gain title to land. Although the Venezuelan government allows small farmers to work the land, it does not always give them title to the land, and they are sometimes required to work as part of a collective. This reallocation of land does not necessarily lead to better food production; farmers are hurt by the state setting low prices for their produce.

Agricultural credit also increased dramatically, from approximately $164 million in 1998 to nearly $7.6 billion in 2008, with many of the credit decisions being made by local communal councils, rather than government bureaucrats.  Additionally, in 2008, several laws were passed to provide financial assistance to struggling small farmers, such as debt relief programs and crop-failure insurance.

The Venezuelan government, under the Chávez administration, also began offering free technical assistance and education to farmers, through its National Agriculture Research Institute (INIA), which performs agricultural research and projects with small farmers.

The government also tried to introduce large-scale urban agriculture to the populace, to increase local self-reliance. In Caracas, the government launched Organoponico Bolivar I, a pilot program to bring organopónicos to Venezuela. Urban agriculture was not embraced in Caracas as it has been in Cuba. Unlike Cuba, where organopónicos arose from the bottom-up out of necessity, the Venezuelan organopónicos were clearly a top-down initiative based on Cuba's success. Another problem for urban agriculture in Venezuela was the high amounts of pollution in major Venezuelan urban areas.  At the Organoponico Bolivar I, a technician comes every 15 days to take a reading from the small pollution meter in the middle of the garden.

Nationalizations
In 2006, the Chávez government began nationalizing several industries as part of its policy of wealth redistribution and reducing the influence of multinational corporations. As a result of these nationalizations, production of goods in Venezuela had dropped.

A 3 January 2007 article in the International Herald Tribune reported that price controls were causing shortages of materials used in the construction industry. In 2008, cement production was largely nationalised, with Venezuelan-located plants belonging to Mexico's Cemex, Switzerland's Holcim, and France's Lafarge being bought by the government. Compensations of $552 million for Holcim and $267 million for Lafarge were agreed upon, with both of those companies agreeing to stay on as minority partners and retaining 10 to 15 percent shares; the takeover from Cemex was less friendly and compensation had not been agreed on as of March 2009. According to a 4 April 2008 article from CBS News, Chavez ordered the nationalization of the cement industry, in response to the fact that the industry was exporting its products in order to receive prices above those which it was allowed to obtain within the country. In 2013, it was reported that production of cement dropped by 60%, furnaces stopped and cement had to be imported from Colombia. It was also reported that some stores had shortages of cement and would ration the number of cement bags purchased. Workers of the Socialist Cement Corporation protested against their employers due to not being paid and not being able to receive help at clinics due to company debt.

Chavez nationalized Venezuela's largest telephone companies and electric utilities. The main telephone company, CANTV, was nationalised by buying US-based Verizon Communications' 28.5 percent share for $572 million. Since the nationalizations of communication companies, allegations of censorship by the government and CANTV have been made, especially during the 2014 Venezuelan protests.
The nation's largest private electricity producer, 82-percent owned by US-based AES Corp, was obtained by paying $740 million to AES for its share. Since then, Venezuela's electrical grid has been plagued with occasional blackouts in various districts of the country. In 2011, it had so many problems that rations on electricity were put in place to help ease blackouts. On 3 September 2013, 70% of the country plunged into darkness with 14 of 23 states of Venezuela stating they did not have electricity for most of the day.
In 2008 the Venezuelan government nationalized the leading steel company, Argentine-controlled Sidor, following months of strikes and labour-management disputes. Since the nationalization of Sidor, the production of the company has dropped ever year.

In 2008 Chávez ordered the halting of the construction of a mega-shopping mall, in downtown Caracas by Sambil, saying that it was inappropriate development in an already overcrowded, over-trafficked area. He suggested the land would be nationalized and turned into a hospital or university. Since then, the mall has rarely been used. It opens occasionally and its parking garage shelters the homeless.
A food plant owned by US giant Cargill was nationalised in early 2009.
On 28 February 2009 Chavez ordered the military to temporarily seize control of all the rice processing plants in the country and force them to produce at full capacity, which he claimed they had been avoiding in response to the price caps.
Banco de Venezuela was nationalized in 2009; Banco Bicentenario was created in late 2009 from nationalized banks taken over in the course of the Venezuelan banking crisis of 2009-2010.

Taxation
The Venezuelan government instituted several new taxes on non-priority and luxury goods, aiming to shift the nation's tax burden from the poor to the wealthy, and to control inflation. In 2012, Venezuela's taxes were ranked 188th out of 189 countries due to the high number of payments per year and a 61.7% tax on income per year.

From November 2007 until the end of 2007, all bank transactions between businesses had a 1.5% tax extracted, as a means of controlling inflation by soaking up excess liquidity.

From March 2009 VAT tax rate was raised to 12% to cover for oil price reduction

In October 2009, SENIAT, the Venezuelan tax collection agency announced that it would tax cigarettes and alcohol, in order to reduce their consumption.

Infrastructure

Transportation
Despite the large scale of road building beginning in the 1960s that benefitted the aluminum and oil industry; public services, especially within the infrastructure of Venezuela, was poor.
At the beginning of August 2008, Chávez announced that Venezuela would partner with Argentina and Brazil to build a train that would connect Venezuela's capital (Caracas) with Argentina's (Buenos Aires), and cities in between.

Venezuela's rail project is being put on hold due to Venezuela not being able to pay the $7.5 billion and owing China Railway nearly $500 million.

International economic policies

One of the Chávez administration's primary goals was to reduce the influence of foreign capitalists in Venezuela, as part of its overall push towards localized economic democratization. Towards this aim, it strongly promoted various forms of Latin American economic and political integration—such as regional currencies (e.g. SUCRE, somewhat analogous to the Euro), regional credit/financial institutions such as Bancosur (to remove dependence on the IMF/World Bank), and trade pacts (such as ALBA, Petrosur, or bartering oil for doctors with Cuba).

The SUCRE system is a virtual currency system used mainly by Venezuela and Ecuador. There are some risks such as money laundering and fraud. However, it has been seen as beneficial for trade since Ecuador uses the United States dollar as its national currency and Venezuela's strict currency controls have created a US dollar shortage in Venezuela.

Regional integration

Cuba, Nicaragua, Honduras, Bolivia, and Ecuador joined Venezuela as members of the Bolivaran Alliance for the Americas (ALBA). For example, in exchange for discounted Venezuelan oil (which Cuba needs due to the U.S. embargo), Cuba (which has a relatively well-developed system of medical care) has provided Venezuela with thousands of doctors and teachers, who provide healthcare and education to Venezuela's poor. Chávez described ALBA as "a flexible model for the integration of Latin America that places social concerns in the forefront."

Eudomar Tovar, president of the Unified System of Regional Compensation (SUCRE) said:

Foreign debt
Chávez announced Venezuela's withdrawal from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank after paying back all his country's debts to both institutions; he charged them with being an imperial tool that aims to exploit poor countries, news sources reported. But as of March 2008, Venezuela is still a member of both institutions.

In 2005, the Venezuelan government partnered with Argentina, and Brazil to negotiate their foreign debt as a collective bloc. Chávez also suggested that at least 10% of all Latin American foreign debt be paid into an "International Humanitarian Fund", that would be used to fund social programs without having structural adjustment requirements attached.

The Venezuelan government had been running out of hard currency to pay bills before the death of Chavez. A major railway project in Venezuela was delayed because Venezuela cannot pay US$7.5 billion and owes China Railway nearly US$500 million. Many international airlines such as Air Canada, Air Europa, American Airlines, and United Airlines suspended operation in Venezuela. The Venezuelan government faced accusations of owing international airlines more than $3.7 billion and violating treaties, with the International Air Transport Association accusing the government of failing to "repatriate" $3.7 billion in air ticket revenue owed to foreign airlines.

Currency and foreign reserves
When initially elected into office in 1998, Chávez promised that he would not create currency exchange controls.

In order to prevent capital flight, and maintain the stability of the Venezuelan bolívar, the Chávez administration enacted strict currency controls in January 2003, making it more difficult for investors to exchange bolívars for dollars. The controls forced many Venezuelan investors to seek out domestic investment opportunities, rather than foreign investments. It also resulted in a large increase in foreign currency reserves, which had reached $35 billion by 2006, which is as high as Canada's (which has a slightly higher population), and on a per capita basis is much larger than Germany's ($55 billion)
By the end of 2013, gold and foreign reserves of Venezuela dropped $9 billion in one year to $21 billion.

Since the currency controls were imposed in 2003, there was a series of devaluations, disrupting the economy; the devaluation of February 2013 was the seventh since Chavez took power.

Foreign trade
Foreign trade from Venezuela was ranked 179 out of 185 countries due to many reasons. One was the large number of documents that are needed in order to export and import. The amount of time to export goods from Venezuela is more than 5 times longer than the average country with the time importing is 8 times longer than average. Prices for trade are also 3 times higher than the average country.

Even though Venezuela has been trying to seek autonomy from most foreign countries, the United States has continued to be its largest trade partner. Venezuela sends 39.3% of its exports to the United States and the majority of imports compiling to 31.2% are from the United States.

Economic indicators

Economic growth and production

The Chavez government's confiscations of private businesses, especially oil businesses, greatly weakened the private sector; oil production collapsed. The government of Venezuela treats PDVSA as a cash-cow, and the company only hires political supporters of the president. The GDP of Venezuela was approximately the same in 2012 as it was in the 1970s.

For the year 2009, the Venezuelan economy shrank by an average of 2.9% due to the global recession.

Income and poverty
Datos reports real income grew by 137% between 2003 and Q1 2006. The World Bank estimates that 31.9% are below the poverty line.

Social scientists and economists have declared that the government's reported income poverty figures did not fall in proportion to the country's vast petroleum revenues in the last two years, much of which was directed to social spending to decrease the cost of living.

Venezuela's infant mortality rate fell by 18.2% between 1998 and 2006.

Consumer prices and inflation

When Chávez took office, the annual inflation rate was at 29.5% and according to Banco Central de Venezuela, inflation dropped to 14.4% in 2005. During 2005, imported goods were cheaper than commodities made in Venezuela; variability in the price of goods was linked to import performance and exchange stability. In the second quarter of 2006, gross fixed investment was the highest ever recorded by the Banco Central de Venezuela since it started tracking the statistic in 1997.

In 2009 the inflation rate was 27.1%. According to the Economist, the Chávez government's economic policies, including strict price controls, have led to Venezuela having the highest inflation in the world at the time. When Chávez left office, the inflation rate was at 29.4%, which was .1%  less than when he first took office.

Government spending
Teresa A. Meade wrote that Chávez's popularity "rests squarely on the lower classes who have benefited from these health initiatives and similar policies".

Implied value and currency black market

The implied value or "black market value" is what Venezuelans believe the hard bolívar is worth compared to the United States dollar. In the first few years of Chavez's office, his newly created social programs required large payments in order to make the desired changes. On 5 February 2003, the government created CADIVI, a currency control board charged with handling foreign exchange procedures. Its creation was to control capital flight by placing limits on individuals and only offering them so much of a foreign currency. This limit to foreign currency led to a creation of a currency black market economy since Venezuelan merchants rely on foreign goods that require payments with reliable foreign currencies. As Venezuela printed more money for their social programs, the bolívar continued to devalue for Venezuelan citizens and merchants since the government held the majority of the more reliable currencies.

At the end of 2013, the official exchange rate was US$1 to Bs.F 6.3 while the black market exchange rate was over ten times higher since the actual value of the bolívar is overvalued for Venezuelan businesses. Since merchants can only receive so much necessary foreign currency from the government, they must resort to the black market which in turn raises the merchant's prices on consumers. The high rates in the black market make it difficult for businesses to purchase necessary goods since the government often forces these businesses to make price cuts.
This leads to businesses selling their goods and making a low profit, such as Venezuelan McDonald's franchises offering a Big Mac meal for only $1. Since businesses make low profits, this leads to shortages since they are unable import the goods that Venezuela is reliant on. Venezuela's largest food producing company, Empresas Polar, has stated that they may need to suspend some production for nearly the entire year of 2014 since they owe foreign suppliers $463 million. The last report of shortages in Venezuela showed that 22.4% of necessary goods are not in stock. This was the last report by the government since the central bank no longer posts the scarcity index. This has led to speculation that the government is hiding its inability to control the economy which may create doubt about future economic data released.

Food and agriculture
When agricultural measures of the Chávez administration took effect, food imports rose dramatically, and such agricultural mainstays as beef, rice, and milk saw drops in production. With declining oil revenues, food shortages became more widespread. Venezuela faced serious food shortages, as the Chávez government's price controls distorted the market.

In January 2008, Chávez ordered the military to seize 750 tons of food that sellers were illegally trying to smuggle across the border to sell for higher prices than what was legal in Venezuela. In February 2009, Chávez ordered the military to temporarily seize control of all the rice processing plants in the country and force them to produce at full capacity, which he claimed they had been avoiding in response to the price caps. In May 2010, Chávez ordered the military to seize 120 tons of food from Empresas Polar after inconsistencies in reports from the Empresas Polar conglomerate were said to have been detected by authorities.

As part of his strategy of food security Chávez started a national chain of supermarkets, the Mercal network, which had 16,600 outlets and 85,000 employees that distributed food at highly discounted prices, and ran 6000 soup kitchens throughout the country. The food was sold at as much as 40% below the price ceiling set for privately owned stores. Simultaneously Chávez expropriated many private supermarkets. The Mercal network was criticized by some commentators as being a part of Chávez's strategy to brand himself as a provider of cheap food, and the shops feature his picture prominently. The Mercal network was subject to frequent scarcities of basic staples such as meat, milk and sugar – and when scarce products arrived, shoppers had to wait in line.

In March 2009, the Venezuelan government set minimum production quotas for 12 basic foods that were subject to price controls, including white rice, cooking oil, coffee, sugar, powdered milk, cheese, and tomato sauce, which is intended to stop food companies from evading the law. Business leaders and food producers claimed that the government was forcing them to produce this food at a loss. Chávez expropriated and redistributed 5 million acres of farmland from large landowners, saying: "The land is not private. It is the property of the state... The land is for those who work it." But, the lack of basic resources made it difficult or impossible to make full use of the expropriated lands by its new tenants – leading to a lower overall degree of productivity in spite of a larger overall area of land under cultivation.

In 2011, food prices in Caracas were nine times higher than when the price controls were put in place and resulted in shortages of cooking oil, chicken, powdered milk, cheese, sugar and meat. Datanálisis, an independent polling firm found that powdered milk could be found in less than half of grocery stores in Venezuela and that liquid milk was even more scarce in the country. Jose Guerra, former executive of the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) explained that Venezuela's large increases on purchasing food in 2012 and reserves that are at their lowest levels since 2004 contributed to dollar shortages that Venezuela suffered in the years following 2012.

In 2007 14,383 tonnes of milk, rice, pasta, beef and chicken, worth $54 million were also abandoned. In 2010, after the government nationalized the port at Puerto Cabello, more than 120,000 tons of food worth 10.5 bolívars sat rotting at the port. In May 2010, during a shortage of beef, at least 40 butchers were detained on charges of speculation for allegedly selling meat above the regulated price; some of them were held at a military base and later strip-searched by police.

Employment
According to government figures, unemployment dropped by 7.7% since the start of Chávez's presidency. It dropped to 10% in February 2006, from the 20% high in 2003 during a two-month strike and business lockout that shut down the country's oil industry. According to the government, an unemployed person is a citizen above the age of 15 who has been seeking employment for more than one week.

Business environment
According to Gilberto Gudino Millán, president of the Trade Union and Business Services in the Zulia State (UCEZ), 490,000 businesses had left Venezuela from 1998 to 2014 in what he called a "business holocaust". In 2006, the business environment in Venezuela was listed as "risky and discouraged investment", by El Universal. As measured by prices on local stock exchanges, foreign investors were willing to pay on average 16.3 years worth of earnings to invest in Colombian companies, 15.9 in Chile, 11.1 in Mexico, and 10.7 in Brazil, but only 5.8 in Venezuela. The World Economic Forum ranked Venezuela as 82 out of 102 countries on a measure of how favorable investment was for financial institutions. In Venezuela, a foreign investor needed an average of 119 days and had to complete 14 different applications to organize a business, while the average in OECD countries was 30 days and six applications. The International Finance Corporation ranked Venezuela one of the lowest countries for doing business ranking it 180 of 185 countries for its Doing Business 2013 report with protecting investors and taxes being its worst rankings. In January 2013, the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal gave Venezuela's economic freedom a low score of 36.1, twenty points lower than 56.1 in 1999 and was ranked very low at 174 of 177 countries on its 2013 Index of Economic Freedom report with its freedom trend heading downward.

Foreign investment
In 2006, the business environment in Venezuela was listed as "risky and discouraged investment" by El Universal. As measured by prices on local stock exchanges, foreign investors were willing to pay on average 16.3 years worth of earnings to invest in Colombian companies, 15.9 in Chile, 11.1 in Mexico, and 10.7 in Brazil, but only 5.8 in Venezuela. The World Economic Forum ranked Venezuela as 82 out of 102 countries on a measure of how favorable investment was for financial institutions. In Venezuela, a foreign investor needed an average of 119 days and had to complete 14 different applications to organize a business, while the average in OECD countries was 30 days and six applications.

See also
 Economy of Venezuela
 Shortages in Venezuela

References

Crisis in Venezuela
Economic history of Venezuela
Hugo Chávez

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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text:
Life of a Southern Siberian Husky
Detailed history of the Siberian Husky breed
The Siberian Husky were bred and raised by the Chukchi people of Russia, for thousands of years. This tribe of Siberian nomads needed dogs that could offer fast, efficient transportation over the enormous frozen Tundra. Known for their gentle nature, Siberian Huskies often served as soft, furry beds for the children, hence the phrase "three dog night". Powerful and agile, this average size dog was able to swiftly cover extensive distances on a nominal amount of food.
The Siberian Husky andr the Chukchi people developed a special relationship derived from mutual need and nurtured by shared respect. In the virtual isolation of the tundra, they thrived together for centuries before the outside world discovered and fell in love with this magnificent dog. Although the Siberian Husky of modern day has changed since entering this country in the early 1900s, the breed still maintains many of the qualities that made the Chukchi sled dog such a prized possession.
The first Siberian Husky was introduced into the United States in Alaska by a trader in 1908. They were used for pulling sleds. These dogs started winning Alaskan races almost instantly. The word was spreading about this superior strain of sled dog in Siberia.
The first Siberian Husky team made its appearance in the 1909 All Alaska Sweepstakes Race. Charles Fox Maule Ramsay and his team imported a large number of Huskies to Alaska that year. Driven by John "Iron Man" Johnson, they won the grueling 408-mile race in 1910. Siberian Huskies, particularly those bred and raced by Leonhard Seppala, captured most of the racing titles in Alaska over a ten year span, where the rugged terrain was ideally suited to the endurance capabilities of the breed. Leonhard Seppala and became famous for his outstanding racing Siberians. One particularly famous lead dog of Seppala's was Togo. from about 1917 to 1925 Togo was Seppala's permanent leader, although Seppala frequently used him as a lead dog even before 1917. Togo was the most famous and most traveled dog in Alaska, with many racing victories to his credit. He was scrappy, fast, and brilliant.
Togo was instrumental in saving many lives in the Alaskan village of Nome. In January 1925, doctors realized that a potentially deadly diphtheria epidemic was poised to sweep through Nome's young people. Unfortunately for them, the only serum that could stop the outbreak was nearly a thousand miles away, in Anchorage. The only aircraft that could quickly deliver the medicine had been dismantled for the winter. Officials, In desperation, turned to a much lower-tech solution: moving the medicine by sled dog.
The serum was transported by railroad from Anchorage to Nenana, the train stop closest the trail that led to Nome. Yet, the distance from Nenana to Nome was still more than 670 miles, and the serum had to be transported across rough, potentially deadly terrain. Battling temperatures that rarely rose above 40 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, more than 20 mushers took part, battling winds that sometimes blew strong enough to knock over sleds and dogs. Reporters brought news of the race to a world suddenly transfixed by the drama in the far north.
Led by Togo, Leonhard Seppala's team ran 91 miles, the longest and most dangerous leg of the relay, including a treacherous stretch over the unpredictable ice of Norton Sound. Togo faithfully led his team into a gale force winds, on the way to the handoff to the next musher. Seppala's team covered more than 260 miles, out from Nome and back, in the serum run
On February 2, 1925, just six days later, Gunner Kaassen drove his heroic dog team lead by a husky named Balto, into the streets of Nome. Balto's furry face soon became known around the world. A year later, in honor of the epic trek, admirers erected a statue of Balto in New York City's Central Park. The statue is inscribed with the following:
"Dedicated to the indomitable spirit of the sled dogs that relayed antitoxin six hundred miles over rough ice across treacherous waters through arctic blizzards from Nenana to the relief of stricken Nome in the Winter of 1925. Endurance, Fidelity, Intelligence"
Balto was suddenly a world-famous celebrity; for two years after the serum run, the dog and some of his teammates traversed the continental United States as part of a traveling show. After his death in 1933, Balto's body was preserved and displayed at Cleveland's Natural History Museum. In 1995, a popular animated movie about Balto was released, adding to his fame.
Many of today's Siberian Huskies have pedigrees tracing back to Seppala's great racing dogs, including Siberians used primarily for showing and Siberians used primarily for working.
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This is a 150 page story, the 3rd in a 4-book series. The second book felt a little pricey. The last 3 were released in May, August, and October, 2018. So it's a 600 page novel split into four full-priced morsels.
I'm certain that I've detected a trend in Tor books. If they've got a good author, they sell mini-sized books at full price and extend the experience (and revenue). I thought this when I reviewed The Consuming Fire. The Murderbot series is clearly another one. I was happy to pay, so clearly I am their intended audience.
Reading this was like watching a really good episode on Netflix. It's clearly not a complete novel but it is a very complete episode. Actually, it's like watching a half hour show. It's too short to be a full hour. They even made space for commercials, so 22 minutes (I read it in an evening).
In Rogue Protocol, Murderbot is following another lead. It stows away on a transport (again), picks up surrogate clients (again), protects them from the evil corporation (again), and fights bad guys with ingenuity and sarcasm (again, do we see a pattern here?).
Murderbot picks up clues along the way, which can be used against evilcorp if it can only get the memory modules to Client Number One from the first book. This plot thread dumps us into the next book (reading now), searching for Client One.
There is a ton of great action, sarcasm, self reflection, personality, and getting the bad guy. If you liked the first two in the series, you will not be disappointed. I just started reading the final book in the series (though I've heard that there will be more).


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Home » Animals » Poultry » Judicious use of antibiotics in poultry production
Judicious use of antibiotics in poultry production
By Glenneis Kriel
Consumers have become more informed and concerned about what goes into their food. One of the areas of concern has been the use of antibiotics in intensive farming systems such as poultry.
A high stocking density makes it more difficult to carry out strict biosecurity measures, resulting in a greater risk of disease. This, in turn, makes it difficult to reduce the use of antibiotics.
Photo: Adobe Stock
Antibiotic resistance has resulted in the majority of producers in some countries launching programmes to reduce and, where possible, eliminate the use of antibiotics.
READ Diseases in the fish farming sector
The trend is similar in South Africa, although not to the same extent as in the US and some European countries, according to Dr Ziyanda Majokweni, director of the Poultry Disease Management Agency.
However, Majokweni says reducing the use of antibiotics could lead to a higher incidence
of diseases such as coccidiosis and necrotic enteritis that were previously kept in check through the use of antimicrobials or other products, and this, in turn, may lead to animal welfare problems if not managed properly.
Farmers, for this reason, should employ the services of a veterinarian to ensure a smooth transition to a regime where antibiotics are reserved only as a last resort when there is a serious threat to the flock.
READ Some bacterial and parasitical pig diseases to look out for
When antibiotics are used under such circumstances, however, products from such flocks cannot be marketed as antibiotic-free.
Majokweni says the programme should be well thought out, taking into consideration the unique circumstances of the farm, as well as the disease burden.
'It needs to be implemented in a gradual fashion to ease problem-solving when challenges arise, and be accompanied by strict biosecurity measures to prevent the introduction of diseases," she says.
The use of probiotics, vaccines and essential oils to improve gut health and performance, in combination with good animal welfare practices and modifications to the production environment, will all help to bridge the gap left by the use of antibiotics.
Learn about the SA Mutton Merino sheep breed


With all the hassle that goes into the Christmas dinner, many of us often fancy something quick and easy in the days before and after the big festive binge.
Luckily, Bath has a wide range of great fast food restaurants able to provide you with exactly that.
We've taken a look at the current top ten fast food places in the city on TripAdvisor and some of the reviews that have seen them rise up the rankings.
No surprises here. Vegetarian street food vendor Chai Walla was Bath's number one restaurant overall for a long time – despite not actually being a proper sit-down restaurant.
It has a full five out of five average rating from 474 reviews, with 89 per cent voting it 'excellent'.
Located in Green Park Station, JC's Kitchen has quickly built up a great reputation for delivering tasty barbecue street food.
It also possess a perfect five out of five average rating from almost 100 reviews, with a huge 99 per cent of reviewers giving it an 'excellent' rating.
Another very popular Bath street food business, which can usually be found by following the large queue on SouthGate Street during the day.
The simple and tasty food gets a five out of five average rating on TripAdvisor, with 97 per cent voting LJ Hugs' offering as 'excellent'.
Found in Broad Street, Taka Taka provides customers with Greek food, including classic dishes like Souvlaki and Gyros, as well as kebabs and wraps.
It has a 4.5 out of five average rating and 74 per cent of reviewers gave it an 'excellent' rating.
Bringing some Mexican food to the party, Mission Burrito has a four out of five rating on TripAdvisor.
Located in New Street, it has a slightly more mixed reception compared to some of those higher up the list, but it is still highly regarded by many.
The Batheaston restaurant and takeaway serves up a vast range of food, with everything from fish and chips and burgers to pizzas and pies.
It has a 4.5 average rating from just under 50 reviews and the large portion sizes certainly go down well.
For those after something a bit heartier, The Cornish Bakery in Abbey Churchyard could be ideal.
It also has a 4.5 average rating on TripAdvisor out of almost 250 reviews.
Considered by many to do the best burgers in the city, the Saw Close restaurant has a four out of five average rating from almost 150 reviews.
One of the best places to go to following a night out in Bath, according to many TripAdvisor reviewers, with a four out of five average rating.
Hidden away in Stall Street, it is highly regarded for serving delicious freshly-baked baguettes, wraps and Paninis for those who want something quick.
It has a 4.5 out of five TripAdvisor rating and the reviews tell you everything you need to know.
"Amazing food, freshly prepared, vegan option available, reasonably priced, friendly helpful staff, so happy we found this little gem as we were walking around bath all day to make the most of our visit and wanted food on the go," said one reviewer.


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Q: GridView Row editing - change values I need to change values during edit in GridView. I'm using a method Decrypt(object) from codebehind.  It works for Eval(), but not work Bind().
<asp:GridView ID="GridView1" runat="server"
          DataKeyNames="ID" DataSourceID="entityDataSource1" >
  <Columns>
     <asp:TemplateField>
        <ItemTemplate>
            <asp:Label ID="lblTab1" runat="server"
                             Text='<%# Decrypt(Eval("Name")) %>' />
        </ItemTemplate>
        <EditItemTemplate>
            <asp:TextBox ID="lblTab1" runat="server"
                             Text='<%# Decrypt(Bind("Name")) %>' />
         </EditItemTemplate>
     </asp:TemplateField>
  </Columns>
</asp:GridView>

A: When I need to do this, I usually set the TextBox Text property on the code behind on the RowDataBound event. It's like this:
protected void GridView1_RowDataBound( Object sender, System.Web.UI.WebControls.GridViewRowEventArgs e ) {
    if( e.Row.RowType == DataControlRowType.DataRow && e.Row.RowState == DataControlRowState.Edit ) {
        TextBox txt = ( TextBox )e.Row.FindControl( "lblTab1" );
        if( txt != null ) {
            DataRowView drv = ( DataRowView )e.Row.DataItem;
            txt.Text = Decrypt( drv["Name"].ToString() );
        }
    }
}

For this work, your GridView EditIndex property must be set with your actual index being edited.

A: Eval() and Bind() are quite different creatures - Eval() is just shorthand for DataBinder.Eval() but Bind() is interpreted by the ASP.NET parser and broken into two parts - one for binding data to the control and the other for moving data from the control to your model.
This is described nicely in this old blog post: How ASP.NET databinding deals with Eval and Bind statements
You don't mention what you are binding to; if you are binding to a business object then you could create a getter/setter property for an un-encrypted Name.  Alternatively you could provide an implementation of OnRowUpdating, and perform the Decrypt there.  (hint: update the NewValues[] member with the decrypted value).

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Review a story about a payday loan online or perhaps from a store front, this all goes through the very same; exuberantly higher APRs generate money catches for folks that second-hand short-term loans. A payday loan are going to have fees attached to the loan volume to be settled off in one benefit time span. Those folks that perform end up having a year in order to pay off a temporary loan, misjudged their budget plan when using for an over the internet payday loan.Go over a report relating to a payday loan online or even through a storefront, it all goes over the very same; exuberantly high APRs make money catches for people who utilize short-term loans. A payday loan will definitely possess expenses fastened to the loan volume in order to be actually paid off in one benefit duration. The loan term is established up derived on your pay cycle. The longer you keep out a short loan, the more you will certainly finish up paying. Those folks who do end up having a many years in order to pay off a short-term loan, misjudged their budget plan when applying for an online payday loan.
While it is actually regretfully the case that a certain seedy underbelly accomplishes exist in the industry, a 2010 report identified that some temporary borrowers are able to seeking out secondhanding payday loans a beneficial experience, provided the loan is paid off in the short term. This is actually a reality that people that are able to certainly not oversee their funds sensibly utilize the short term credit rating services, learning full well that they will not be actually equipped to settle up the loan come payday. In contrast, the UK payday loans industry is actually had to some of the greatest administrative requirements in the world.While it is actually unfortunately the case that a specific seedy underbelly carries out present in the industry, a 2010 record identified that some temporary customers could discover secondhanding payday loans a beneficial experience, provided the loan is actually compensated off in the short term. It is actually a reality that individuals who are able to not manage their finances responsibly second-hand the short term credit solutions, recognizing total properly that they will definitely certainly not be capable to settle the loan come payday. In contrast, the UK payday loans field is had in order to some of the highest possible administrative specifications in the globe. Recently, a huge bank took on a new policy as well as revealed that this would certainly no a lot longer solution payday loan business. If your bank has just recently shifted the position on payday loan business as well as are going to zero much longer give the financial services you need to have, companies that provide a repayment processing product could be in a great location in order to assist.


text:
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Document from CIS Legislation database © 2003-2020 SojuzPravoInform LLC
LAW OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
of July 14, 1998 No. ZR-229
About enforcement of the Civil Code of the Republic of Armenia
(as amended on 22-01-2007)
Accepted by National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia on June 17, 1998
Article 1. Enact the Civil code of the Republic of Armenia (further - the Code) since January 1st, 1999.
Article 2. Recognize voided since January 1st, 1999:
1) the Civil code of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic approved by the Law of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic of June 4th, 1964 "About approval of the Civil code of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic" ("Sheets of the Supreme Council of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic", 1964, No. 17, Article 84), with subsequent changes and amendments;
2) the Decree of Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic of November 26th, 1964 "About procedure for enforcement Civil and Civil procedural codes of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic" ("Sheets of the Supreme Council of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic", 1964, No. 34, Article 182);
Article 3. Till July 1st, 2000 to bring into accord with the Code the laws and other legal acts containing regulations of the civil law.
Before reduction of the laws and other legal acts containing regulations of the civil law in compliance with the Code, they are applied so far as do not contradict the Code.
The regulations of the President of the Republic of Armenia, the Government, ministries and other state bodies published before introduction of the Code in action governing the relations which, according to the Code, shall be regulated only by the law are effective before introduction of the relevant laws in action.
Article 4. The code is applied to the civil legal relationship which arose after introduction of the Code in action, except as specified, provided by this Law.
To the contractual and other civil legal relationship which arose till January 1st, 1999, the Code is applied regarding those rights and obligations which will arise after introduction of the Code in action.
Article 5. Agreement obligations, put before introduction of the Code in action, remain if the parties voluntarily do not bring condition of these contracts into accord with requirements of the Code.
Article 6. From the date of introduction of the Code in action legal entities can be created only in the forms of business provided by Chapter 5th of the Code.
Organization-legal types of the companies created to the introduction of the Code in force, not provided by Chapter 5th of the Code till January 1st, 2001 are subject to reorganization and registration. In case of non-realization in the specified time of reorganization and they are subject to registration to liquidation.
The legal entities created to the introduction of the Code in force and having the form of business provided by Chapter 5th of the Code shall bring till January 1st, 2001 the constituent documents into accord with requirements of regulations of Chapter 5th of the Code and re-register them. The constituent documents which are not brought into accord and not re-registered at the scheduled time are recognized invalid.
Article 7. The legal entities specified in article 6 of this Law in case of re-registration for the purpose of reduction of the legal status in compliance with regulations of the Code are exempted from payments for it.
Article 8. The operating order of registration of legal entities remains before enforcement of the law on state registration of legal entities.
Article 9. The operating order of registration of property remains before enforcement of the law on state registration of the rights to property.
Article 10. Norma Kodeksa about the bases and consequences of invalidity of transactions are applied to transactions, requirements about recognition of which invalidity will be considered by court, including arbitral tribunal, after January 1st, 1999, irrespective of time of the conclusion of the corresponding transactions.
Article 11. The terms of limitation period established by the Code are applied to claims which the presentation terms provided by the legislation existing earlier did not expire till January 1st, 1999.
To the claim, stipulated in Article 317 Codes, about recognition of the debatable transaction invalid and application of consequences of its invalidity, the right to which presentation arose till January 1st, 1999, the term of limitation period established for the corresponding claim by earlier current legislation is applied.
Article 12. Operation of article 187 of the Code (acquisitive prescription) extends as well to cases when ownership of property began till January 1st, 1999 and continues at the time of introduction of the Code in force.
Article 13. The procedure for the conclusion and form of separate agreement types established by the Code are applied to agreements which proposal to the conclusion is made after January 1st, 1999.
Norma Kodeksa, establishing content of separate agreement types, are applied to the agreements signed after Kodeksa's introduction in action.
Article 14. Code regulations, obligatory for agreement parties, about the bases, consequences and procedure for termination of separate agreement types are applied as well to the agreements continuing to be effective after introduction of the Code in action irrespective of date of their conclusion.
Code regulations, obligatory for agreement parties, about responsibility for violation of contractual relations are applied if the corresponding violations are allowed after introduction of the Code in action, except as specified, when for similar violations responsibility was provided in the agreements signed till January 1st, 1999.
Article 15. Action of Items of 2nd and 3rd of article 903 of the Code extends as well to cases when sums of money are attracted in deposits before introduction of the Code to action, and the arisen with respect thereto relations remained after introduction of the Code in action.
Article 16. Operation of articles 1063 and 1064 of the Code extends as well to cases when harm is done till January 1st, 1999, but not earlier than January 1st, 1996.
Article 17. Operation of articles 1078-1087 of the Code extends as well to cases when harm of life or to health of the citizen is caused till January 1st, 1999, but not earlier than January 1st, 1996.
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Lights FC Announce U.S. Men's National Team Veteran Steve Cherundolo as New Head Coach & Affiliation with Major League Soccer's Los Angeles FC
March 13, 2021 By VegasPublicity
United Soccer League's 2021 Season Begins in May at Cashman Field.
Las Vegas Lights FC has announced that U.S. Men's National Team veteran Steve Cherundolo is the new Lights FC head coach. In addition, the Club has entered into a new affiliation with Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Football Club.
Cherundolo, 42 years old, is widely regarded as having had one of the most impressive European soccer careers of any American in history having played an unprecedented 16 straight seasons in Germany (all for Hannover 96). His national team career is equally impressive, having been named to the U.S. Men's National Team roster for the 2002, 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cups. At the 2010 World Cup, he played every single minute for the red, white & blue as it won its group and advanced to the knockout rounds.
Lights FC x LAFC Affiliation
Since retiring, he has earned the prestigious UEFA "A-Level" coaching license and has served in recent years as an assistant coach for Germany's under-15 national team, as well as an assistant for Hannover 96 and Stuttgart in the Bundesliga. In 2018, Cherundolo also briefly joined the U.S. national team staff for a European training camp and matches.
"Today is an exciting day for Lights FC. Coach Cherundolo is an amazing addition and LAFC is a world-class organization — we are very lucky to be working with both," said Lights FC Owner & C.E.O. Brett Lashbrook. "To be clear, our expectations for Lights FC have not changed. We have the ability to continue to turn Las Vegas into a true 'soccer city' and today's announcements without a doubt help accelerate our growth plan."
Related iLuminate Announces New Show Times & Adds Dinner Package
LAFC's inaugural Major League Soccer season was in 2018, the same year as Lights FC, and it has since quickly established itself as one of the premiment clubs in Major League Soccer. Led by former U.S. Men's National Team Head Coach Bob Bradley, LAFC sent shockwaves around the North American soccer community just weeks ago when it advanced to the finals of the CONCACAF Champions League as only a three-year old club. Buoyed by one of the best fan bases in American sports, LAFC plays its home matches at Banc of California Stadium, a new 25,000-seat venue located adjacent to the historic L.A. Olympic Coliseum.
LAFC also currently features two Las Vegas natives on its rosters — Tristan Blackmon & Danny Musovski. Blackmon is a Bishop Gorman High School graduate selected #3 overall in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft and recently called into the U.S. Men's National Team Camp. Musovski is a graduate of both Liberty High School and UNLV where he finished his career in the Rebels' record book for being in the top 5 all-time in career goals, assists and points.
Related Crazy Horse 3 to Host Big Game Party Featuring 100s of Gorgeous Entertainers and 50+ Jumbo Flat Screen TVs
The 2021 USL Championship season is expected to return around May 1st and will feature 31 clubs competing across four regionalized divisions.
Voted the "Best Sports Value" by Las Vegas Weekly, Lights FC season tickets are available starting at the low price of only $200. Additional information may be found at LightsFC.com.
Additional announcements regarding Las Vegas Lights FC's player roster & 2021 USL Championship match schedule will be publicly announced in the weeks ahead.
Lights FC Opens Season This Wednesday
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Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: California, Cashman Field, football, Head coach, Las Vegas, Las Vegas Lights FC, Los Angeles FC, Major League Soccer, Sports, Steve Cherundolo, Tickets, Training, United Soccer League