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Rents in Megacities Can't Go Up Forever

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Re: Rents in Megacities Can't Go Up Forever

#261

Post by sqeaky »

olalonde wrote: post #254
CPLX wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't mean to have this come across as snarky, at all, but really the reference for this is the whole of human history. Wealth is basically self-concentrating. Our political systems tend to end up with a few capital (and often Capitol) cities where the spoils from the plundering, both metaphorical and literal, end up. The original article does present some interesting and relevant examples of countervailing forces…

> Wealth is basically self-concentrating. Our political systems tend to end up with a few capital (and often Capitol) cities where the spoils from the plundering, both metaphorical and literal, end up. Plundering, seriously? Isn't HN supposed to be a community of entrepreneurs?

We might not be the plunderers, we might just be their tools.

Re: Rents in Megacities Can't Go Up Forever

#262

Post by mlrtime »

reverend_gonzo wrote: post #133
robterrin wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've heard this pitch for Chicago many times, and it seems reasonable if you are in the one of the industries, Tyler mentions, that are more diffuse. The main problem with Chicago is it lacks an anchor industry. Is it the best place to be for finance? No, that's NYC. Is it healthcare? Boston, Baltimore, Cleveland or Rochester. Energy? Houston. Technology? SF. Entertainment? LA or NYC. Politics? DC. What exactly is Ch…

Chicago is the center for futures and options trading, especially commodities. Proprietary trading is generally based in Chicago, while banks and hedge funds are usually in NYC. There are a massive number of other companies headquartered here, like Boening, CNA, Kraft Foods, Walgreens, State Farm. While NYC might be known for its comedy, it recruits directly from Second City in Chicago, and the numerous small comedy…

All those exchanges are moving to the east coast. CBOE and CFE did a number of years ago. CMK is not the data center it used to be although it is still very large.

Re: Rents in Megacities Can't Go Up Forever

#263

Post by api »

geff82 wrote: post #4

Especially for information technology, I don't understand the rationale why it has to be concentrated at certain places. As long as there is a good net connection, it could be anywhere in the world. Let's concentrate on the US for a moment. Why can't a successful startup not be in Dallas, Amarillo, Miami or Des Moines? Talented people already move from one coast to the other, so they could as well move to any other p…

It's not talent that's concentrated. It's capital. The SF bay is the undisputed headquarters for smart technology investment capital, both angel and venture.

Re: Rents in Megacities Can't Go Up Forever

#264

Post by bante »

geff82 wrote: post #4

Especially for information technology, I don't understand the rationale why it has to be concentrated at certain places. As long as there is a good net connection, it could be anywhere in the world. Let's concentrate on the US for a moment. Why can't a successful startup not be in Dallas, Amarillo, Miami or Des Moines? Talented people already move from one coast to the other, so they could as well move to any other p…

"Especially for information technology, I don't understand the rationale why it has to be concentrated at certain places."

It's concentrated _because_ it doesn't have to be at certain places. Your post office that had to be close to you is now run by a couple of thousand people at Google.

"Why can't a successful startup not be in Dallas, Amarillo, Miami or Des Moines?"

Again, without being to annoying, why does it have to be in Dallas? It doesn't, so it mostly isn't.

Re: Rents in Megacities Can't Go Up Forever

#265

Post by mlrtime »

elindbe2 wrote: post #101
robterrin wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've heard this pitch for Chicago many times, and it seems reasonable if you are in the one of the industries, Tyler mentions, that are more diffuse. The main problem with Chicago is it lacks an anchor industry. Is it the best place to be for finance? No, that's NYC. Is it healthcare? Boston, Baltimore, Cleveland or Rochester. Energy? Houston. Technology? SF. Entertainment? LA or NYC. Politics? DC. What exactly is Ch…

NYC is more the equity side of finance, Wall St. and all that. Chicago is home to the largest futures exchange in the world, the CME and the largest options exchange, the CBOE.

CBOE and CFE moved to the east coast a few years ago.

Re: Rents in Megacities Can't Go Up Forever

#266

Post by dredmorbius »

humanrebar wrote: post #132
reverend_gonzo wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in Chicago. I love it here because of everything else it has to offer. I have everything almost everything I need available to me within walking distance from home. That includes grocery store, dive bars, cheap restaurants, high end restaurants, clubs. For anything else I may want to do (concerts, sports games, plays, comedy), there are dozens of world class options within a ten minute cab drive / 30 minutes o…

> If you wanted culture, you'd have to get in your car and drive at least an hour. Everywhere has culture. You just didn't like the one you were in. In tiny towns, the culture looks more like running around in the woods, country music, 4-H club, and church potlucks. That's a culture, even if you don't like it. And, besides, in the internet age there are plenty of farmers' daughters that get really into oil painting o…

There's complexity and sophistication. Which you don't simply find anywhere.

Having lived in small towns, big cities, and desert planets.

Re: Rents in Megacities Can't Go Up Forever

#267

Post by maccard »

pc86 wrote: post #48
maccard wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't have any interest in living in many of those cities you listed, and as a result wouldn't be willing to move and work there. I'm sure there are many out there who feel the same.

But most people would be willing to work remotely regardless of where the company headquarters is.

That's not what the parent comment said.

> Talented people already move from one coast to the other, so they could as well move to any other place.

Re: Rents in Megacities Can't Go Up Forever

#268

Post by legulere »

> Many more economic sectors tend to be spread out geographically -- such as higher education, caring for the elderly, installation of smart-home equipment, fracking, restaurants -- and if more economic activity takes these forms, to some extent rents will equalize across different cities.

I do not buy this. In the countryside the economy is backed by the local resources (forestry, agriculture, if it applies fracking etc.). The rest of the economy in the countryside lives off the money brought in by those, and especially off the wages of the workers.

The more automatisation you have, the less you need people spread out. The trend is that things get cheaper and need less work that is more centralized. What you need to be able to do is creating new things, and that is easier in centralized megacities.

Re: Rents in Megacities Can't Go Up Forever

#269

Post by lordCarbonFiber »

amyjess wrote: post #233
lordCarbonFiber wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a young person that grew up in the suburbs and deeply influenced by the "automobile life"; can confirm you'd have to quadruple my salary before I even considered moving back to the suburbs and sitting through a driving commute. The false American dream of the oversized house, piles of kids, and picket fence just isn't appealing anymore to a growing population of young people. Life is too short to spend your prime…

As a young-ish person ( technically a Millennial, born in 1984) who also grew up in the suburbs, you literally couldn't pay me enough to leave the suburbs. I don't care if you're offering me seven figures; I won't live in the city. I detest noise, grime, and crowds. I like having lots and lots of space all to myself. I worked in the city once; I got sick to death of hobos on the streets shouting at me and demanding I…

Honestly it's probably that half decade or so making the switch. Different strokes for different folks for sure; but Im fairly sure the cities you describe don't exist in the US anymore, at least on the east coast. You're more likely to die in a car accident than be killed by a stranger in nyc (and the heart disease brought on by the sedentary car shaped life is a far bigger risk factor).

Live fast, die young, make bank; that's the counter culture philosophy. A slow death as we watch our homes devalue in the burbs worked for our parents, but there's a growing wave of nihilism attracted to the other life urban living offers.

Re: Rents in Megacities Can't Go Up Forever

#270

Post by acchow »

glibgil wrote: post #94
startupdiscuss wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not snarky, and you have a point. But even if things seem "really obvious" and we can tell "just by looking at the facts", I feel better if someone has looked at the data and shown that to be the case. We aren't living in the feudal era, and a lot of people like to think that the reason people move to the cities is because of (for instance) bars and restaurants, museums and the opera, high-paying jobs and so o…

> bars and restaurants, museums and the opera, high-paying jobs And these would actually be rent seeking activities? Is that the idea?

Is that a typo? Rent seeking refers to a specific kind of behavior

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent-seeking

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