Its supply and demand. People like to pretend that housing is somehow independent of or immune to this most basic principle, but its still just supply and demand.
NIMBYs and exclusionary zoning are definitely issues, but the reason for that is that they still just artificially decrease supply causing prices go up.
And crucially, in case this isn't clear or obvious to anyone: supply/demand vary wildly from place to place. Its insane to try to compare prices between a Chicago, LA, or NYC vs say a Des Moines, Cleveland, Huntsville, because the supply/demand dynamics are very very different.
Because, in general, the dirt cheap “other areas” are in sh!thole states or in sh!tty areas of non-sh!thole states.
A lot of cities are sh!tholes, yet they're still expensive.
A city in a sh!thole state is going to be more expensive than a small town in a nice nature area of that same state.
The real answer is supply and demand, and additionally higher incomes. When you've got a lot of people living in the same spot, space comes at a higher cost. Then when you add in higher average income in a city, everything gets more expensive, so that higher income isn't really what it seems since you're paying more for everything.
Yes you are correct. It’s supply and demand. In this case, as in pretty much all cases, the majority of people determine “demand” to a large extent. What determines demand for most people are things like weather, geography, opportunity, the ability to be oneself / not have to conform, freedom from hateful bigots & backwards ideology, safety (in this case not having everyone around you be so paranoid / delusional that the have to have massive arsenals of weapons), activities, nice tax payer funded open spaces / parks, access to good education, good jobs, better healthcare, true freedom of religion (rather than an assumption that you have the exact same beliefs as all your neighbors), etc. The only people you activity choose to live in sh!thole states or sh!tty areas of non-sh!thole states are people who have always lived there, religious zealots, and those who
I visited a small Midwest town as part of a family reunion. It was absolutely lovely. Houses were incredibly cheap. People were extremely friendly. But I could buy a city block in that small town for the price of my house in a big city suburb. There just aren’t a lot of well paying jobs - so houses stay cheap.
The truth is that big cities and intense competition for housing are emergent properties of modern human civilization. Densely populated areas require more cooperation between residents to live decent lives - so they vote to fund government more generously than rural and small town areas do.
I visited a small Midwest town as part of a family reunion. It was absolutely lovely. Houses were incredibly cheap. People were extremely friendly. But I could buy a city block in that small town for the price of my house in a big city suburb. There just aren’t a lot of well paying jobs - so houses stay cheap.
The truth is that big cities and intense competition for housing are emergent properties of modern human civilization. Densely populated areas require more cooperation between residents to live decent lives - so they vote to fund government more generously than rural and small town areas do.
Why don't the republican job creators create jobs in republican areas?
Housing costs in the US are primarily driven by the fact that about two dozen large cities have been chosen by business interests to be the main employment centers in the US. Of those, the ones with natural land barriers (Manhattan, Boston, Seattle, Denver, Portland, LA, Chicago, San Fran, DC, et.) see the highest real estate prices because those cities have run out of land that is easily converted into housing. However, southern cities like Houston, DFW, Atlanta, etc. are now sprawled out so far that they are also seeing housing prices starting to rival other high costs areas. Meanwhile, cities like Cleveland, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Detroit, Cincinnati, etc. are infinitely more affordable, have less traffic, sports teams, arts, etc. But they cannot get any big employers to open up shop because everyone is drawn to places like Austin, Nashville, Raleigh/Durham, etc.
Then there are hundreds of small towns that are absolutely lovely places to live and are incredibly cheap but cannot get any employers to bring jobs to their communities. Parkersburg, WV, Evansville, IN, Erie, PA, Roanoke, VA, Canton, OH are examples small cities that would be extremely affordable and great for raising a family but cannot get any interest in any sort of economic development other than an awful data center.
If you want to address cost of living, spread people out across the US, revitalize wonderful communities that have been left to the wayside for decades and take pressure off of the two dozen "winners" that are seeing real estate prices get completely out of reach for young people.
I live in a mostly lib area, a Limousine lib area. Neighborhood quiet as a mouse, probably because almost everyone is older than me. I will take it. Lots of harris, LOL, signs last election. harris lost the state. Shocking! I never got the whole signs on the lawn thing. There is a massive house across the governor's mansion (R), not far from me, that used to have a big time Virtue Signaling sign on their lawn. One of those "In this house blah blah Virtue Signaling blah" Big gates and walls of course. None of these Limousine liberals want Illegals, Vagrants, or "Culture" living anywhere near them. Can't say I blame them. :)
I visited a small Midwest town as part of a family reunion. It was absolutely lovely. Houses were incredibly cheap. People were extremely friendly. But I could buy a city block in that small town for the price of my house in a big city suburb. There just aren’t a lot of well paying jobs - so houses stay cheap.
The truth is that big cities and intense competition for housing are emergent properties of modern human civilization. Densely populated areas require more cooperation between residents to live decent lives - so they vote to fund government more generously than rural and small town areas do.
Why don't the republican job creators create jobs in republican areas?
Research the growth in Texas and Florida against the collapse in California and New York and get back to us.
Doom and gloom. Cities make people depressed. The lack of access to open space is a key factor in mental health outcomes. Depressed people are more likely to feel helpless and try to find a cause to exert control over. Compound that with the anti-growth / environmental codes and labor laws they enact that drive up the price of everything.
And the adhd meds actually make libs even more depressed. Look how many downvotes you're getting.
Housing costs in the US are primarily driven by the fact that about two dozen large cities have been chosen by business interests to be the main employment centers in the US. Of those, the ones with natural land barriers (Manhattan, Boston, Seattle, Denver, Portland, LA, Chicago, San Fran, DC, et.) see the highest real estate prices because those cities have run out of land that is easily converted into housing. However, southern cities like Houston, DFW, Atlanta, etc. are now sprawled out so far that they are also seeing housing prices starting to rival other high costs areas. Meanwhile, cities like Cleveland, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Detroit, Cincinnati, etc. are infinitely more affordable, have less traffic, sports teams, arts, etc. But they cannot get any big employers to open up shop because everyone is drawn to places like Austin, Nashville, Raleigh/Durham, etc.
Then there are hundreds of small towns that are absolutely lovely places to live and are incredibly cheap but cannot get any employers to bring jobs to their communities. Parkersburg, WV, Evansville, IN, Erie, PA, Roanoke, VA, Canton, OH are examples small cities that would be extremely affordable and great for raising a family but cannot get any interest in any sort of economic development other than an awful data center.
If you want to address cost of living, spread people out across the US, revitalize wonderful communities that have been left to the wayside for decades and take pressure off of the two dozen "winners" that are seeing real estate prices get completely out of reach for young people.
People living in cities won't believe you on this. They think anything that's not a city must be crap. But ya, every state has good and bad places, tons of small towns are great places to live. People who are able to work remote should take advantage of that situation and move to those cheaper and enjoyable areas, no need to stay in an expensive city if you don't have to.
IMHO, a huge part of the problem is that political leaders of both parties never seem to incentivize corporations to move into small to medium sized cities. They want to make Nashville, Columbus, Seattle, and such bigger and more expensive instead of growing places like Knoxville, Dayton, or Spokane. The big places get corporate campuses with good salaries while the smaller places get data centers and distribution facilities with low wages. That just perpetuates social and economic divisions.
I visited a small Midwest town as part of a family reunion. It was absolutely lovely. Houses were incredibly cheap. People were extremely friendly. But I could buy a city block in that small town for the price of my house in a big city suburb. There just aren’t a lot of well paying jobs - so houses stay cheap.
The truth is that big cities and intense competition for housing are emergent properties of modern human civilization. Densely populated areas require more cooperation between residents to live decent lives - so they vote to fund government more generously than rural and small town areas do.
Why don't the republican job creators create jobs in republican areas?