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I think people have for the most part eliminated this image of the south being hillbillies and hicks and pickup trucks all the time. Clearly we have diverse growing cities, that are attractive not just be cause of the COL but because we have most amenities one would need , just in a warmer climate and with an accent, lol. The climate, southern hospitality, greenery, and other factors also contribute to growth. City-data posters bash the south more then most, but everyone hates the big dog, lol.
of course, this is a no brainer. Besides the small part which makes up weather people, it's definitely mostly COL. And any of those people with money go to SoCal or SoFla or Hawaii anyway, not the south, most of the south still gets too cold for a snowbird.. The historic cities of the south with history and such like New Orleans, Charleston and Savannah aren't the ones that are growing. If they were, you might be able to make that argument.
You know one thing the South doesn't have as much of? Human capital.
Particularly in smaller cities in rural areas. Human capital is not allocated well at all, and educational attainment still needs lots of improvement. Then you have the divide between the old and new South. That exists on an urban and rural level.
Most people don't have the luxury of pulling out a map and deciding where they and their families want to live. Instead, they must live where the jobs are. Right now, the south is attracting more jobs, in some part because of the right to work climate referenced above. For non-salaried workers, non-union jobs tend to be lower-paying than union jobs. Housing and other essentials must be priced in balance with the local wages, otherwise nothing would sell. In this context, the growth spurt is not the cause of the lower COL, but is the result of local wages. Salaries and the price of goods and services will always work in balance with one another, and both sides of this equation are simply lower in the south.
While this is the driving factor for lower COL in the south, a secondary consideration is greater land availability outside the major cites, permitting development to spread (often referred to as sprawl) which is simply another supply/demand equation. Weather would be further down on the list. When I lived in Houston, most transplants I knew were interested in leaving once they retired, if not permanently, then certainly during the summer.
Particularly in smaller cities in rural areas. Human capital is not allocated well at all, and educational attainment still needs lots of improvement. Then you have the divide between the old and new South. That exists on an urban and rural level.
I find it refreshing that SOME PEOPLE actually choose to see the issues that face parts of the urban / rural divide in terms of education. Similarly it's refreshing to hear a lot of people from cities admit that there's a bad education problem in inner cities versus more affluent suburbs.
In general education in the US is broken. And it's frustrating because I don't know what would solve it beyond tearing down the whole rotten mess and trying something new.
In the real world, outside of city loving CD users, people like big houses and yards. You are the exception, however, the rule is far from ridiculous. Just look at the housing constructed within the past 50 years.
As a density lover myself, as much as I hate to say it, I think you're right.
Just out of curiousity, where are the 'bigger yards'?
I've been looking at TONS of houses in the ~250-350k range in various places south from where I'm at. Tampa, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas/FW, Jacksonville, all over S.C coast(Charleston area mostly)..(even Vegas and Henderson NV but they don't really count as south).
I would say 99 out of 100 houses I find have tiny lots and its nearly impossible to even find the half acre that is the norm up in the suburban area of Pittsburgh I live now.
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