I just watched episodes 1 through 3 last night. Wow. Interesting. It's like, I almost want to feel bad for Walter White, but then he keeps doing dumb things. Also I hate Skylar's sister & her husband. They seem like total douches.
or maybe the houses are just a lot bigger and nicer in America than I'm used too with the pokey semi-detached houses in England :P
You get a lot of suburban areas like what is shown, but it varies a lot depending on the location. For a big city like Chicago or Philly, a house like that in an area like that would signify our version of upper middle class. But not necessarily in Albuquerque, which has a much lower cost of living and is more developed in the suburban style. But I think also that Americans tend to invest a lot of equity in their houses and property, possibly a holdover from the kind of Stepford Wife suburbia dreams of the 50s. That is why when the housing bubble burst in 2008, it set back the "average american" to the level of savings they'd had in something like 1996 or earlier. Especially in suburbia, your main asset is your house & even then you are paying a 30-year mortgage on it.
So it is not out of the realm of expectation that a family in a nice house like that could be hurting financially. Especially if there are unforseen medical costs. Walter also seemed to be the sole breadwinner (Sklyar does the kind of stay-at-home mom ebay stuff?).
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or maybe the houses are just a lot bigger and nicer in America than I'm used too with the pokey semi-detached houses in England :P
You get a lot of suburban areas like what is shown, but it varies a lot depending on the location. For a big city like Chicago or Philly, a house like that in an area like that would signify our version of upper middle class. But not necessarily in Albuquerque, which has a much lower cost of living and is more developed in the suburban style. But I think also that Americans tend to invest a lot of equity in their houses and property, possibly a holdover from the kind of Stepford Wife suburbia dreams of the 50s. That is why when the housing bubble burst in 2008, it set back the "average american" to the level of savings they'd had in something like 1996 or earlier. Especially in suburbia, your main asset is your house & even then you are paying a 30-year mortgage on it.
So it is not out of the realm of expectation that a family in a nice house like that could be hurting financially. Especially if there are unforseen medical costs. Walter also seemed to be the sole breadwinner (Sklyar does the kind of stay-at-home mom ebay stuff?).