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Considering I am not a high power career person, I am very thankfull I dont live in that crazy world. I could never live anywhere near as well over there. On my modest income in the midwest (mich) I have a decent house. In the east what I make would earn me a bed in the homeless shelter. Even if you do a super commute, you still are looking at over 300k for a 2 room shack. Id be homeless for sure.
Somehow, I doubt you'd be homeless. But I do agree with you on supercommuting. Those far flung suburbs usually still have expensive real estate compared to the median home price nationwide.
And I think a lot of those marathon commuters underestimate how much they're paying for gas and wear & tear on their cars (which means you have to replace vehicles more frequently). And to top it off, you probably don't want to do a marathon commute in an economy car, so you get something larger and more expensive (with worse gas mileage) than you would if you lived closer.
.....And we haven't even gotten into the stress/negative quality of life issues that come with marathon commuting.
Other points to add.
why is the south east, mid west and west-central cheap-lots of farmland,open land, few immigrants come there. supply and demand. since 1910 to basically 15 years ago, african americans and whites have been moving out of the south because of lack of jobs. This reduced the price of housing significantly there and the price of land. The south, west central and even mid west still have lots of farms today, fewer farms exist in the north east or cali or open land because of higher population densities.
Higher population densities because immigrants prefer the coast. Indians and chinese tend to settle the west coast, where as europeans, africans and middle eastern head to the east coast. Sure some mid west towns have immigrants but nothing compared to new york. Other factors are less land and income differences. As well your also forgetting that immigrant hotbeds in the midwest like chicago can be very expensive to live in and so was las vegas in some areas before the collapse
With California, especially Northern California, it's basically the weather. Seldom does it get really hot or cold in the Bay Area so tourists can visit here all year round. Also, the beauty of San Francisco and the Pacific Ocean areas is a plus. Of course you need millions of dollars to appreciate it.
I also believe the lifestyle has a lot to do with living here. If you want an unconventional lifestyle or an alternative lifestyle then the West Coast is the place for you unlike the Midwest or the South where the Bible Belt mentality prevents you from certain lifestyles.
The trade-off is the HIGH cost of living. If I were back in my home state of Missouri my California home would probably be condemned. That is one of the things I hate about the Bay Area - the high cost of living and also the transient lifestyle of people. Here people tend to come and go in your life as opposed to the more stable lifestyles of the Midwest.
It can't just be about jobs. South Dakota has the lowest unemployment and it's cheap as dirt. CA basically has no jobs, and it's still expensive.
It can't just be about weather- New York city has an awful winter, so does Minneapolis. Houston is bad in summer so is Phoenix. What are the temps in TJ mexico like all year?
The concept of appreciation might need to be explored more. A great painting can go for cheap, while a jackass can sell for high dollar.
It can't just be about jobs. South Dakota has the lowest unemployment and it's cheap as dirt. CA basically has no jobs, and it's still expensive.
It can't just be about weather- New York city has an awful winter, so does Minneapolis. Houston is bad in summer so is Phoenix. What are the temps in TJ mexico like all year?
The concept of appreciation might need to be explored more. A great painting can go for cheap, while a jackass can sell for high dollar.
I've been wondering this myself. Why the only places "crying out" for math and science teachers are in the places that are so god-awfully expensive that a substitute teacher would be lucky to get a bed in a womens' shelter, and looking at even those outside the respective cities with a long-distance haul of a commute getting in to where the jobs were?!?!
It can't just be about jobs. South Dakota has the lowest unemployment and it's cheap as dirt. CA basically has no jobs, and it's still expensive.
It can't just be about weather- New York city has an awful winter, so does Minneapolis. Houston is bad in summer so is Phoenix. What are the temps in TJ mexico like all year?
The concept of appreciation might need to be explored more. A great painting can go for cheap, while a jackass can sell for high dollar.
I keep trying to tell 'ya....it's about: 1. Land use development policies. Where local and state government policies make it difficult and expensive to build, you will have higher housing prices and 2. Supply & Demand....in densely populated areas that are built up, it is obviously more expensive because you can't increase the housing supply easily (i.e. New York and San Francisco). But even in those cities, restrictive land use development policies play a role in the high costs.
It can't just be about jobs. South Dakota has the lowest unemployment and it's cheap as dirt. CA basically has no jobs, and it's still expensive.
It can't just be about weather- New York city has an awful winter, so does Minneapolis. Houston is bad in summer so is Phoenix. What are the temps in TJ mexico like all year?
The concept of appreciation might need to be explored more. A great painting can go for cheap, while a jackass can sell for high dollar.
I live in California. The real estate bubble from 2002-06 has warped everyones thinking. That was a once in 75 year anomoly that will probably never happen again in our lifetimes.
-In the 90's, in southern california, you could buy a home in a middle class area for $250 k. Home prices didnt vary nearly enough in the 90's, compared to the 2000's, if you look at california vs arizona vs texas vs east coast. When I was growing up in the 80's, they were all plus/minus within 10-20% of each other.
-Why did home prices increase so much in so cal? Partly, because the schools collapsed. It drives up demand for housing in good school districts. If all districts were good in so cal, then home prices would flatten out.
-I dont know about restrictive land use developments. It seems like there was enough land for everyone from 1950 to the 80's, when home prices were affordable for just about everyone. I dont know why land use would suddenly get stricter after that.
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