You might be interested in this post at FilterBuy by David Heacock on the metro areas that have seen the fastest incrases in the cost of living:
Over the last decade, many of the places where the cost of living grew the most were economically prosperous states that have seen growth in high-paying jobs and attracted more residents to their major metros, like Washignton (Seattle), Oregon (Portland), and Massachusetts (Boston). Price increases now, however, appear to be a nationwide phenomenon, and for areas where the rate of job and wage growth is slower, household expenses may take up an increasingly large share of workers’ earnings.
Highest: Seattle, Denver, Portland.
If you’re wondering where Chicago stands, it’s way down on the list—housing prices are increasing slowly because no one wants to live here.
I’m surprised Los Angeles, CA isn’t one of the top 3.
As for Washington state, perhaps some of it’s potential stringent COVID containment plans may dampen people’s desire to live there. On January 12th the WA State Board of Health will hold a virtual public meeting to discuss the application of W 246-100-040 – a measure passed 10/25/2019. Although, this plan was constructed before the first case of COVID was noted there, it has statutory ingredients that could be a heavy-hitting blow to peoples’ civil rights, authorizing a “strike force†to involuntarily detain unvaccinated families in internment camps already built.
https://app.leg.wa.gov/WAC/default.aspx?cite=246-100-040&pdf=true
This is reminiscent of what is percolating in Europe, and has been going on for months in Australia. Will it be coming here next?
Well, a few years back, on his short lived television expose program, Jesse The Body Ventura
Revealed a large FEMA storage of six body fiberglass coffins.
So I believe those plans are in place.
One thing to plan and waste public monies, another to enforce such plans.
Good luck rounding us up.
I can confirm Denver. I live well south of Denver, but even in my area, single-family homes have appreciated 15-20% in a single year.
Are we sure this is correct? Have heard from the conservatives here that Portland burned down and is a total hellhole. No now wants to live there.
jan- I think they should have leftover gear from when they placed conservatives in the FEMA camps in Texas. I think they interred a couple of million.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FEMA_camps_conspiracy_theory
Steve
Steve you obviously didn’t either read the passed measure, or just didn’t take the virtual meeting of the WA State Board of Health to consider it’s application seriously. Instead, you took the sarcastic road, equating it to FEMA camp rumors that were around years ago. I guess you also don’t believe or take seriously the COVID camps in Australia, or the clamping down of citizens’ freedoms in The Netherlands or Austria.
It’s World War “Z”, I mean “C”. It appears to be a brain issue!
“Have heard from the conservatives here that Portland burned down and is a total hellhole.”
Perhaps you could cite a concrete example. I fail to recall seeing anything about Portland burned down and total hellhole. You’d think that a whole city burned down would make the news………even if it burned “mostly peacefully.” Or is it just your whiskey haze………
Drew, digs and hyperbole are often how Steve makes a point..
For some definition or other of ‘conservative’:
Drew: Perhaps you could cite a concrete example.
“a city like Portland, where the entire city is ablaze all the time” — Donald Trump
https://www.c-span.org/video/?475333-1/president-trump-news-conference
During the unrest in Portland the fires and chaos was all that was shown by the media. So, it was appropriate to make such a statement at that time. Steve, however, was making his comment as if in a present-day context.
I might add, that in the era of the past administration, the president would at least engage with the press, almost on a daily basis. Nowadays, the current president clutches note cards, only calls on pre-approved media, and now is becoming even less visible or accessible to the press.
Given Portland is on the list, that eliminates the “Amazon effect” as an explanation.
One commonality between Seattle / Portland housing prices is both Washington and Oregon implemented “growth management acts” — laws to stop urban spawl and encourage densification.
There’s nothing wrong with discouraging urban spawl; but when the legislature enacted the acts they ignored the power of “BANANA”. Essentially when one adds no suburban development with no densification, even a moderate amount of population growth can raise property prices tremendously.
By the way, a big shocker in this years (2020-2021) migration data between states is more people left Washington then moved in.
That’s a big change from the previous decade, where the Amazon HQ effect kept Washington in the top 10 States for net migration.
I can surmise that WFH means Amazon/Microsoft/etc are no longer recruiting talent from all over the country to relocate to HQ. That has a lot of interesting implications in the decades ahead.
One of those being that support for rural broadband may end up being subsidies for the “laptop class”.
Jan: During the unrest in Portland the fires and chaos was all that was shown by the media.
“the entire city is ablaze all the time” means the entire city is ablaze all the time. As President, do you mean Trump’s only source of information was a very cursory look at the news.
“We are not ablaze.” — Portland fire department
https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/01/politics/fact-check-portland-ablaze-trump-fire-department/index.html
Jan: Steve, however, was making his comment as if in a present-day context.
All we can gather, if the entire city was ablaze all the time at the time, is that they must have rebuilt the city from the ruins.
One of the reasons people should consider voting for Democrats is the massive rebuilding effort where they completely rebuilt Portland in one year and no housing prices are even higher than they were before the fire. That kind of competency should be rewarded.
Steve
Portland is a big city – the unrest took place in a comparatively geographically small area. I don’t see how the relative size matters. Three months trying to burn down a federal courthouse in a major city is a big deal regardless.
But personally, I think the bigger deal was CHOP/CHAZ in Seattle. It’s one thing to have protests and rioting in part of a city, it’s quite another to cede law-and-order in a core part of a major city that’s home to thousands of people.
Hey Zach –
When you have been reduced to feeble citing of politicians for hyperbole you have ceded the argument. Further, reading comprehension may not be your strong point but steve cited “conservatives here.”
But thanks for trying. You get a participation trophy.
Well, Zach –
“All we can gather, if the entire city was ablaze all the time at the time, is that they must have rebuilt the city from the ruins.”
No. That’s all YOU can gather, you poor dear. If you want to engage in a hyperbole comparison it will not be pretty for Democrats, what with racism, racism, racism etc and all. And not pretty in general. And pointless. They are politicians. If you read here often you know exactly who steve meant. And he’s full of shit.
But if you want to engage in your high school debating tactics. You gotta be you.
steve: That kind of competency should be rewarded.
Heh.
steve: When you have been reduced to feeble citing of politicians for hyperbole you have ceded the argument.
The question we answered was in response to: “Have heard from the conservatives here that Portland burned down and is a total hellhole,” and “Perhaps you could cite a concrete example.”
Drew: They are politicians.
You asked. We answered.
This comment should have been attributed to Drew: When you have been reduced to feeble citing of politicians for hyperbole you have ceded the argument.
Did I hit some kind of nerve here? Really Drew, you are much better at hyperbole than I am and engage in it pretty often. It is fun sometimes and I certainly dont begrudge you. I do read and comment on several sites and I am too lazy to go back and read all old posts. It could have been all of the other sites where conservatives said Portland burned down and this is the one site where no one made that claim, but I think the point still stands even with my hyperbole. It wasn’t some politician that claimed Portland burned down, it was the leader of your party and cult, Trump.
Conservatives regularly claim that all of those west coast places are just awful. Then we see that housing prices keep going up in these places. jan helpfully nots the same for LA. As arguably the strongest advocate for markets here I would expect you to understand that prices going up suggest people dont think they are awful or at least they are voting otherwise with their money.
Steve
One really ought to be careful with real estate prices.
Big metro cities are not a single real estate market. There are significant variations depending on municipality and neighborhood. As an example, the immediate neighborhood where CHOP/CHAZ occurred (Capitol Hill/First Hill) has seen its real estate prices flatline over the last 2 years (after rising significantly for the past decade). But the real estate market on the Seattle “Eastside” (suburbia) has never been hotter; Redmond (home to Microsoft) is up 30-40+% during the same timeframe.
And high housing prices are awful. It drives up inequality (those who own houses vs those who don’t), dashes dreams (young people can’t settle down), and causes people to put on stress creating levels of debt.
CuriousOnlooker: And high housing prices are awful. It drives up inequality (those who own houses vs those who don’t), dashes dreams (young people can’t settle down), and causes people to put on stress creating levels of debt.
That’s due to the fierce competition for jobs and housing. Cities are cauldrons of activity and innovation. During the dotcom boom, people making six figures would sometimes sleep on sofas in a house shared by a group of other programmers. Short commute to work, though: through the kitchen, grab a slice of day-old pizza, and then write code the rest of the day.
“That’s due to the fierce competition for jobs and housing”
That’s an explanation, it doesn’t make it less awful. Shelter is a necessity, like food, water, medical care.
No one ever says — “This proves XYZ is a great place to live, because food/medical care is super expensive there”. Its bizarre the argument keeps getting made with respect to housing — that XYZ is a great place to live because shelter is expensive.
No, high housing prices is a pure negative. It could be counter-balanced by greater economic opportunity, i.e. Amazon will triple your salary to move to Seattle, where housing prices are double from where your current location. But the draw of Seattle in that case is the economic opportunity.
And this is where it linked to my previous comment. Pre-pandemic, it was true economic opportunity was linked to living in certain cities. As an example in technology, one had to live in San Francisco/Seattle, so you could work for the hottest companies, cutting-edge technologies, collaborate with the smartest engineers, have the access to funding for new ventures. But WFH has completely smashed that up — the commute to one’s living room is shorter than the commute from Capitol Hill to Amazon HQ. If one looked at the HR departments of the highest paying tech companies / hottest start ups for the location of their latest hires for the past year, the geography would blow people’s minds.
Technology isn’t every industry; but it won’t be the only industry.
CuriousOnlooker: “This proves XYZ is a great place to live
Cities are great places for economic opportunity. It’s only a great place to live if you can make it, either through long-term connections in established neighborhoods or by having a high income. Cities are also important centers of culture.
CuriousOnlooker: But WFH has completely smashed that up
It’s possible a new paradigm will emerge, but New York City’s housing market is bustling, with apartment sales the best in decades. Other cities will likely follow.
CO- Far as I can tell real estate prices are usually uneven in any given city. If they are overall a lot higher in Portland and stagnant around the CHAZ area that owed suggest the CHAZ area is smallish. Do I find that surprising? No. Would it shock some of the people here? Probably.
Steve
I wonder if Zach and steve truly understand the absurdity of their position that “conservatives” believe Portland burned down in its entirety. And citing nebulus and unnamed odd websites?
If you want to start citing politicians for hyperbole may I suggest you rethink that. Joe, Nancy, Chuck, Sheila, AOC, Maxine, Ilan etc etc
I cede hyperbole to no one. But that position you take is just a combination of self serving and flat damned stupid.
Drew: And citing nebulus and unnamed odd websites?
We cited President Trump.
Who is this President Trump guy? Some up and coming unknown political aspirant? We are being awfully unfair to Drew using that guy.
Steve