VOA慢速英语--美国年轻人离开城市到其他地方买廉价住房

Young Americans without a lot of money are increasingly¹ moving to parts of the country where the cost of living is low.

The change is especially clear among people born in the 1980s and 1990s – the "millennial²" generation. Also, many of these young people are buying old houses because they are less costly³.

Kate Reinhart is from the state of Utah. She long dreamed of living in a large Victorian house. Such houses were popular in the 1800s and are known for their unusual design details. She remembers seeing one in the popular television show the Addams Family.

Her husband Cameron found his first job near Norwich, Connecticut. It is a town with one of the largest numbers of 18th- and early 19th-century houses in the New England area.

For $85,000 the couple bought a house that was built in 1885. It has special glass, lights, and stairs. They plan to spend about $100,000 on its large rebuilding project.

Housing⁴ costs differ

Housing prices are very different between states in the U.S. Reinhart's buying price is well below the price of most houses in Connecticut. In a 2020 estimate⁵, the website Business Insider suggests that the median home value in Connecticut is around $250,000.

Reinhart said she and her husband value their home more during the coronavirus health crisis⁶ because they "have more space."

She added that people are worried about living close to each other in small apartment buildings. Many people from New York City, she added, "are fleeing to here."

The change seems clear on CheapOldHouses, a website created in 2016 by Elizabeth Finkelstein. The website's goal is to increase the sales and preservation⁷ of historic⁸ houses.

Followers⁹ of the site's Instagram page have increased every week since the coronavirus health crisis began in March. It now has about 20,000 followers, Finkelstein said. About 42 percent are aged¹⁰ 25 to 34 years old. About 75 percent are women.

"We are living in a time," Finkelstein said, "when people are willing to kind of take risks, maybe risks that they've been wanting to take their whole life."

She added that an important idea in property sales has always been "location, location, location." In other words, where a house is is the most important thing for people to consider when buying their home. But now, she said, "for the first time that's being flipped¹¹ a little bit on its head."

Flipped on its head is an expression that means to turn upside down.

Many of the homes on CheapOldHouses.com are in the Midwestern and Southern states. In those areas, many houses sell for less than $100,000.

"We feature homes people can realistically buy, but also use their hands on as opposed to sitting in a cubicle¹² all day long," she said.

Many people have moved away from some American cities after the beginning of the coronavirus crisis. It is estimated¹³ that 70,000 people left the New York City area in 2020. The moves resulted in an estimated loss for the city of $34 billion. That number comes from Unacast, an information research company.

More millennials may leave big cities even after the pandemic is over, Finkelstein said.

"With so many offices going remote, people have more opportunity to just say, ‘maybe I don't need to be paying more than half my income in rent. And I can, I can take that leap.'"

Words in This Story

median – n. mathematics : the middle value in a series of values arranged from smallest to largest

preservation – n. the act of keeping something safe from harm or loss

feature – v. to have or include (someone or something) as an important part

cubicle – n. chiefly US : a work space in a large office with a desk that is usually surrounded by low walls

opportunity – n. an amount of time or a situation in which something can be done

income – n. money that is earned from work, investments¹⁴, business, etc.

leap – n. a great and sudden change, increase, or improvement; a serious attempt to do or understand something new

1 increasingly   

adv.逐渐地，日益地，逐渐增加地

参考例句：

• Rivers are being increasingly made use of by man. 河流正在日益为人类所利用。
• I find it increasingly difficult to live within my income.我发现靠收入过日子越来越难了。

2 millennial   

一千年的，千福年的

参考例句：

• Both Russia and America looked to the future to fulfill their millennial expectations. 俄国和美国都把实现他们黄金时代的希望寄托于未来。
• The millennial generation is celebrating the global commons every day, apparently unmindful of Hardin's warning. 千禧一代显然对哈丁的警告不以为然，每天都在颂扬全球“公地”。

3 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

4 housing   

n.房屋，住宅；住房建筑；外壳，外罩

参考例句：

• Do you think our housing sales will turn around during this year?你认为今年我们的住宅销路会好转吗？
• The housing sales have been turning down since the summer.入夏以来，房屋的销售量日趋减少。

5 estimate   

n.估计，估量；评价，看法；vt.估计，估量

参考例句：

• We estimate the cost to be five thousand dollars.我们估计费用为5000美元。
• The lowest estimate would put the worth of the jewel at ＄200.按最低的评估这块宝石也值200美元。

6 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

7 preservation   

n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持

参考例句：

• The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。
• The picture is in an excellent state of preservation.这幅画保存得极为完好。

8 historic   

adj.历史上著名的，具有历史意义的

参考例句：

• This is a historic occasion.这是具有重大历史意义的时刻。
• We are living in a great historic era.我们正处在一个伟大的历史时代。

9 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

10 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

11 flipped   

轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• The plane flipped and crashed. 飞机猛地翻转，撞毁了。
• The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。

12 cubicle   

n.大房间中隔出的小室

参考例句：

• She studies in a cubicle in the school library.她在学校图书馆的小自习室里学习。
• A technical sergeant hunches in a cubicle.一位技术军士在一间小屋里弯腰坐着。

13 estimated   

adj．根据估计的

参考例句：

• She estimated the breadth of the lake to be 500 metres. 她估计湖面大约有500米宽。
• The man estimated for the repair of the car. 那人估算了修理汽车的费用。

14 investments   

n.投资( investment的名词复数 )；投资额；（时间、精力的）投入；值得买的东西

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile, investments are at great risk. 由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All their money was tied up in long-term investments. 他们所有的钱都搁死在长线投资上了。 来自《简明英汉词典》