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Small cities in America’s Mountain West are booming

economist.com

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Re: Small cities in America’s Mountain West are booming

#181

Post by watchdogtimer »

giantg2 wrote: post #122
isaacimagine wrote: post #15

As someone who lived in a small city in the American Mountain West, the boom does have consequences. Sleepy farming towns are becoming endless suburbia, hiking up prices as developers spill over from the Lehi 'Silicon Slopes' area. Midway, for instance, a town on the Wasatch back situated in a location that feels similar to Switzerland, has gone from about 150 diaries to 2, as expanding housing developments buy out t…

You can always move to mountain towns in Appalachia. The population has been stagnate or shrinking over the past decades with the mills and mines shutting down.

Same with rural communities here in the Midwest. We would love to have FAANG refugees move here.

Re: Small cities in America’s Mountain West are booming

#182

Post by bumby »

ghaff wrote: post #160
eysquared wrote: post #24

There seems to be a lot of negativity in the comments so far. Is this not the dream that is often touted on hacker news? Work at a FAANG and "retire" somewhere more affordable? I'm personally doing just this. I was lucky enough to land a good job out of college, buy a house in a desired area, and see it appreciate in the last 10 years. This increase plus the birth of my kids left me wondering if there wasn't a better…

I honestly don't get a lot of the comments on this thread. So, say I can work remote or retire and live basically anywhere I want. Is the suggestion that I have some moral obligation to live somewhere that's already expensive?

I think the sentiment is about how it can create perverse incentives that may be good for a small subset but bad for the population in the aggregate. I think it’s about a host of different systemic issues beyond just where one person decides to live. I.e., income inequality, housing policy, class disparities etc. It just manifests itself in the problems raised in the article.

Edit: The Indicator recently had an interesting podcast that demonstrates this effect.[1]

https://www.npr.org/2021/03/15/977533022/please-sell-me-a-ho...

Re: Small cities in America’s Mountain West are booming

#183

Post by airhead969 »

drdeadringer wrote: post #155
throwaway0a5e wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're seeing negativity because it's getting harder and harder to deny that this "dream" involves the locals getting screwed when tech monopoly money turns their local economy upside down. Sure the guy who had the foresight to start a brewery wins but everyone else loses. You know what the end game of this looks like? It looks like Vail CO, Cape Cod MA, coastal Long Island and CT, the Hamptons, wealthy retirement ar…

> Cape Cod MA I used to vacation there. As one of those clueless people who can't buy marijuana in a legal state, I am equally clueless on the signs of terrible addiction if I drove through Cape Cod, MA today. I'm not sure what makes me more sad -- the existence, or my incapability to notice the existence.

My late paternal grandmother (1 of 9 from a rare single mother) was from there. Cranberry bogs.

You can increase your "street-smarts" by getting out of your comfort zone, by choice or circumstances, and with life experiences. I locale and talk to the saner homeless people, especially the older who are just there by personal circumstances: I met a former teacher and elevator repairman who makes money today as a tutor; a former hippie, Navy radar and aircraft electronics technician, and Apple II rework technician; and a law school dropout, former hippie, merchant marine, and writer for the Village Voice and the NY Daily News.

Re: Small cities in America’s Mountain West are booming

#184

Post by bluGill »

blunte wrote: post #102

My last home in the US was near a ski resort in Colorado, and it was a fantastic life - incredible mountain biking in the summer, and of course snow skiing in the winter. It was truly heaven. That was before remote work was as common as it is now. If I had to go back to the US, that would be the place. Sure, you miss out on the cool things the city offers; but a couple hours drive and you're in a big city. I found th…

Worth an upvote, but the counter is many people wouldn't do those things. If you sit on your couch watching re-runs every night, you will probably do that in the mountain condo as well.

If you get outside the house, then you can find interesting things to do anywhere. In the city that means a different experience than in the mountains, which is different from lake country, which is different from the plains; but there is always something.

Re: Small cities in America’s Mountain West are booming

#185

Post by sobellian »

throwaway0a5e wrote: post #157
sobellian wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you lived in any of these places? I grew up in Fairfield County and you seem to greatly exaggerate its dystopian qualities. What's more, industry's flight from the area has nothing to do with folks coming from NYC.

I grew up in one of those places. How else would I have developed such disdain for that economic model? Replacement of whatever (necessarily small, otherwise the big city money wouldn't be a problem) industry there is/was with entertainment and tourism isn't the issue. The reality of an economy that is dependent on a specific image or perception (many would say facade) of quaintness is the problem. You get all sorts…

Naturally Vail, Cape Cod, or whathaveyou may be a different story, but Fairfield County really isn't driven by tourism or entertainment. Finance, real estate, and industry each generate more value per year. I'm not fixated on defending the place's honor so much as providing a counterexample of how dealing with other regions is not necessarily negative.

Re: Small cities in America’s Mountain West are booming

#186

Post by nickelcitymario »

airhead969 wrote: post #179

I went through many of them moving from Chico CA area in a grand US west/southwest roadtrip moving to Austin TX to escape climate change fires/power outages (ironically), increasing taxes and housing prices, and a decline in general happiness. I didn't see any obvious signs of this. I can recommend not moving anywhere near Greely CO where cattle are slaughtered by the thousands. It smells very bad. Also, driving in W…

While I share your sentiments, I don't think it's fair to deride cities as "terrible places overall". Many of us prefer the quiet of rural life, but many others find that quiet to be stifling and want the busy hustle-bustle of a big city. To each their own.

Re: Small cities in America’s Mountain West are booming

#187

Post by nonameiguess »

eysquared wrote: post #24

There seems to be a lot of negativity in the comments so far. Is this not the dream that is often touted on hacker news? Work at a FAANG and "retire" somewhere more affordable? I'm personally doing just this. I was lucky enough to land a good job out of college, buy a house in a desired area, and see it appreciate in the last 10 years. This increase plus the birth of my kids left me wondering if there wasn't a better…

It's not just the locals being impacted. This was my parents' plan, too. My dad retired a few years back after 40 years of working for LA County and seeing the house I lived in as a child tremendously appreciate in value. Unfortunately, they found out in retirement that any small town worth actually moving to has also seen prices tremendously go up, they're on a permanent fixed income, and now instead of living the dream, they live with my sister.

Re: Small cities in America’s Mountain West are booming

#188

Post by bluGill »

ghaff wrote: post #180
blunte wrote: post #102

My last home in the US was near a ski resort in Colorado, and it was a fantastic life - incredible mountain biking in the summer, and of course snow skiing in the winter. It was truly heaven. That was before remote work was as common as it is now. If I had to go back to the US, that would be the place. Sure, you miss out on the cool things the city offers; but a couple hours drive and you're in a big city. I found th…

I think a lot of people assume you're either 200 miles from the nearest Walmart or you're in downtown Manhattan/a dense close-in suburb. Go 1-2 hours from pretty much every large city and you can be in pretty rural areas--although not necessarily a mountain town of course. I do like going into cities now and then but I really don't need or particularly want one on a day-to-day basis.

If you own a car it is hard to get 200 miles from a Walmart in the US. Not impossible, but very hard.

Re: Small cities in America’s Mountain West are booming

#189

Post by ubermonkey »

airhead969 wrote: post #179

I went through many of them moving from Chico CA area in a grand US west/southwest roadtrip moving to Austin TX to escape climate change fires/power outages (ironically), increasing taxes and housing prices, and a decline in general happiness. I didn't see any obvious signs of this. I can recommend not moving anywhere near Greely CO where cattle are slaughtered by the thousands. It smells very bad. Also, driving in W…

"Big cities are (and were pre-pandemic) only useful for conducting high-level economic activity due to the density of connectedness and potential for rapid wealth accumulation, but in general, they often tend to be terrible places overall"

yeah, seriously "citation needed" here. Cities offer a LOT of things not usually found in rural areas. Try explaining to my trans sister about how cities are bad, and that she should live in a rural area, for example.

Re: Small cities in America’s Mountain West are booming

#190

Post by throwaway6734 »

adamcstephens wrote: post #177
throwaway6734 wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Locals wouldn't get screwed if they advocated for better zoning policy and allowed more housing to be built. This doesn't happen because those same locals that are homeowners love the value of their house exploding upwards

It only takes a handful of non locals to move in and start showing up at council meetings. Don’t of this blame solely on locals.

That's a fair point
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