Why the Midwest is gonna boom again. (real estate, houses)
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Cleveland. Indianapolis. Dayton. St. Louis. Cincinnati. Grand Rapids. Columbus. Pittsburgh. Toledo. Fort Wayne. Kansas City. Memphis. Chicago. Nashville. Louisville. Peoria. Des Moines. Minneapolis. Detroit. (I'm probably forgetting a few other ones.)
The midwest definitly has an interesting array of cities. But what is going to make it boom the most???
I don't think that we'll have to worry much about competition between the West Coast (California's population is, for the first time in eighty years, seeing a decline) or the East Coast (NY is not growing as much, and the only REALLY fastly growing city is D.C.). The real competition will be between the midwest (north) and the southern states. Cities like Atlanta, Miami, Tampa, Dallas, Houston, Austin, New Orleans. Thats the competition. The midwest has gotta get smart and outwit the southern states. And the BEST way to do that. THE WAY WE'RE GONNA GROW, is by mere affordability. The recession isn't over yet, but when it ends, the markets will rise in a direction where people want to spend their money in a way that they can get more BANG for their BUCK. So what should the midwest do? Not lower their standards, but provide strong middle class housing that is diverse and offers plenty of ammentities. Wanna grow our downtowns? Offer middle class housing downtown or near it. Clean up old houses with character and clean up dirty neighborhoods. It's all about making things look nice, having at least okay schools, and having an affordable, realistic setting. That is whats gonna draw people to your city in the 2010 and even into the 2020's.
Anyways, I think the only real way for the midwest to boom again is to have jobs; people have always moved to places where they can find work, that's why people have been moving away from the midwest. Cleaning up cities may make the cities seem nicer, but its the jobs that really move people. My thoughts.
I think it's already on the upswing. Cleveland and Detroit have nowhere to go but up; Chicago, Milwaukee, and Pittsburgh are beautiful examples of urab renewal. And less people are moving, due to the economy, to places like California (itself having major economic problems) and Arizona.
I agree with much of what you're saying...but one point of clarification - Nashville, Louisville, and Memphis are definitely southern cities.
There is a rise in popularity of living in the city...many large cities around the country have experienced this for the past 5-10 years. But the larger growth areas are still going to be the suburbs for at least a few more years. It will take some drastic social and economic changes to slow that trend.
Being in Michigan, it looks as if we are the most hopeless state in the midwest as far as the economy goes. You do make a good point however with affordability, and ive often wondered how many people would look at "flyover country" more seriously if they only knew that we dont pay 400k for 2 bedroom starter homes. Here in rural central Mi a decent house can be had for 60k. You can buy fixer upers for 30k or less sometimes. Then there is all that water we have, undeniable that one day the western boom towns will look less inviting when they begin to go dry. We have the water, we have the best agricultural land, this is our redemtion. We are the butt of jokes, kicked around by those in the west the south and the east but one day the midwest will recover and rise again. They will not be laughing when they have no water, while we lounge beside lake Michigan.
I'm confused. Isn't the south the considered to be the "cheapest lifestyle"? Well, I guess that's why you mean that it's Midwest vs. South.
I agree with you. People are moving out of California in droves!
The South, just like every other region, has some less expensive areas than others. Real estate in the cities is usually more expensive than in the suburbs, while in the rural areas and smaller towns it is much less expensive. It isn't a "cheap lifestyle" across the board - it varies.
Cleveland. Indianapolis. Dayton. St. Louis. Cincinnati. Grand Rapids. Columbus. Pittsburgh. Toledo. Fort Wayne. Kansas City. Memphis. Chicago. Nashville. Louisville. Peoria. Des Moines. Minneapolis. Detroit. (I'm probably forgetting a few other ones.)
The midwest definitly has an interesting array of cities. But what is going to make it boom the most???
I don't think that we'll have to worry much about competition between the West Coast (California's population is, for the first time in eighty years, seeing a decline) or the East Coast (NY is not growing as much, and the only REALLY fastly growing city is D.C.). The real competition will be between the midwest (north) and the southern states. Cities like Atlanta, Miami, Tampa, Dallas, Houston, Austin, New Orleans. Thats the competition. The midwest has gotta get smart and outwit the southern states. And the BEST way to do that. THE WAY WE'RE GONNA GROW, is by mere affordability. The recession isn't over yet, but when it ends, the markets will rise in a direction where people want to spend their money in a way that they can get more BANG for their BUCK. So what should the midwest do? Not lower their standards, but provide strong middle class housing that is diverse and offers plenty of ammentities. Wanna grow our downtowns? Offer middle class housing downtown or near it. Clean up old houses with character and clean up dirty neighborhoods. It's all about making things look nice, having at least okay schools, and having an affordable, realistic setting. That is whats gonna draw people to your city in the 2010 and even into the 2020's.
Memphis, Nashville, and Louisville are not cities in the Midwest; they are southern.
Anyway, I absolutely agree with you about both coasts struggling with declining population and economic recession along with highest cost of living in the country.
Of course, the renovation of Midwestern cities would help some, but what the Midwest needs to focus on is how to lower the cost of living and bringing more jobs to the region through lower taxes especially corporation taxes along with more incentitives to help small business owners. On the bright side, we already have highly educated population in the region but the most important thing is to keep them here without losing them to booming job market in the South.
Those are my opinions on how the Midwest could prosper and compete with the South to be the best, most stable region like it once was. Ohio and Michigan have heck of a long way to go but there is hope for these two states to bounce back also.
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