[pm90]

Agree with this comment. The culture of corruption is anathema to a lot of middle-class workers who sincerely believe in the value of hard-work and honesty and yet are prevented from doing even the most basic things in everyday life. You do not need to "have connections" to get what you're legally supposed to. Not to mention that there is just no comparison between the compensation offered in the US to anywhere else.

[reacharavindh]

I second the opinions posted above. Just a few days ago, we were comparing the costs of housing at a decent place (in the city/closer suburbs) are 3 to 4 years of my gross annual pay. If I dreamed of similar housing in India (Chennai, where I'm from), it would cost me ~30 years of my market annual salary for a similar job there. I don't want to work my life off to get a house to retire in.

[kamaal]

And yet you can buy a house in the outskirts in any major Indian city for way less. Which used to be how most middle class Indians used to buy homes in my dad's generation.

The issue is most of us want housing in luxury apartments with amenities with no match, and with transit infrastructure closer to office. This was and always will remain very expensive in any economy on earth let alone Chennai.

It will take more or less the same in any major city in the US. Most Indians think if they land in the US, all problems will vanish in thin air, milk and honey will flow from now. While what really happens is all your problems remain as is, except that you get a little better roads.

Please take a good look on all housing related threads on this forum, young people in western economies have it way difficult than any of us.

[pm90]

> And yet you can buy a house in the outskirts in any major Indian city for way less. Which used to be how most middle class Indians used to buy homes in my dad's generation.

And how do you get to the city? Through the non-existent highways? Or maybe the congested public transportation, if any? Besides which, I don't know about you, but my parents could not afford a house until I was in high school. And even after buying the house, they still could not live in the house (because of aforementioned problems with commuting).

> The issue is most of us want housing in luxury apartments with amenities with no match, and with transit infrastructure closer to office. This was and always will remain very expensive in any economy on earth let alone Chennai.

Please stop projecting your opinions on others. The demand I see is mostly for livable quarters at reasonable distances with basic amenities and some expectation of privacy... which seems to be too much to ask in any of the major cities.

> It will take more or less the same in any major city in the US. Most Indians think if they land in the US, all problems will vanish in thin air, milk and honey will flow from now. While what really happens is all your problems remain as is, except that you get a little better roads.

I don't know where you're getting these ideas from. Better roads yes, but also: better work-life balance. Decent compensation. Reasonable vacation time. Great career prospects. The prospect of living and working with people from different cultures (not just American, but from many other countries as well).

> Please take a good look on all housing related threads on this forum, young people in western economies have it way difficult than any of us.

Again, please stop projecting your ideas/views on the rest of us.

[kamaal]

Surely won't project my opinion while receiving yours.

>>The demand I see is mostly for livable quarters at reasonable distances with basic amenities and some expectation of privacy... which seems to be too much to ask in any of the major cities.

But based on what you just wrote you can relocate to pretty much any city on earth and these problems would barely change. While in US most of my colleagues who had homes lived in far suburbs. This is a international trend. Places close to office had insane rents. And from what I learn property taxes are quite high in California and Texas where most of our desi dudes stay.

This is not a US vs India issue. This basically how demand and supply economics works.

>>better work-life balance. Decent compensation. Reasonable vacation time. Great career prospects. The prospect of living and working with people from different cultures (not just American, but from many other countries as well).

Again all of this is possible if you have an expensive STEM degree. Take note that they are good deal of US citizens who work on minimum wage. There is likely nearly everyone who works for $60K or less. Tech and Medical workforce that comes from India is really like people landing into good salaries at the very start. This could all change if the persons very kids don't get a STEM degree.

I understand that for most people making these immigration decisions its very hard to reconcile with these things.

[reacharavindh]

I have lived exactly both the scenarios you just described. (1) Lived in a suburb of Chennai commuting 15-20 Kms to work. It took 1 hour to get to work and 1 hour back regardless of how much I can pay for it. That's 2 hours of my life wasted every day! - All the while paying my mortgage that would last until my retirement. (2) Now, Live in a US city. Ironically, work in a suburb, but live in Downtown 20 miles away. I spend 20 mins in commuting to work, peacefully. With my pay, I'm confident I can pay off my mortgage in under 12 years. Now, I'm not saying this is true everywhere in the US. Living in NYC might be the extreme case, whereas living in the countryside would be cheapest. I'm trying to compare equivalent in my mind.

First step towards change and improvement is to accept the need for it. IMO.