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I'm certain there are many pleasant and warm places the globe over that are poor and isolated. People go where the jobs are. Nice weather is secondary. If we al

I'm certain there are many pleasant and warm places the globe over that are poor and isolated. People go where the jobs are. Nice weather is secondary. If we all start working in VR and location becomes irrelevant, then all bets are off. But why even have cities then?

vinceguidry 6y ago
Nice weather really isn't secondary. It's the entire reason Southern California is what it is. Anywhere the weather's nice, people flock. If location becomes irrelevant, that will just make people flock even faster. Everywhere the weather sucks, ask around and you'll find the cheap place people go all the time for vacation, and wish they could live, if they could but afford it. For Atlanta where I live, it's nearby Destin, or Savannah. Nice weather is a primary determinant of where people choose to retire. It pumps land values up 10x or more. I'll turn your argument around and say that the only truly location-dependent industries are extraction based. Everything else moves where the people are. And people will pay through the nose to live where it's nice.
- shuntress 6y ago
  > I'll turn your argument around and say that the only truly location-dependent industries are extraction based. Everything else moves where the people are. I don't think I would call the transportation industry (as in: ports, trains, planes, and related infrastructure) "extraction based". But that is an example of something very clearly location-dependent.
- inglor_cz 6y ago
  "Anywhere the weather's nice, people flock" Well, yeah, prior to Covid, Andalusia in Spain was a favorite tourist destination. It really is lovely sitting at 10pm with a sangria in hand on a historic staircase of a palace and watching the nightlife milling around. But all this flocking is temporary. People do not move there to start businesses. (They do to Gibraltar, but that is a tax haven.) They just enjoy they stay, spend some money on recreation and fly back to gloomy-but-rich Amsterdam, London or Hamburg.
inglor_cz 6y ago
In Europe, much of the economic growth is concentrated in the countries with colder weather, while the pleasant weather countries (France, Spain, Italy etc.) struggle with high unemployment and economic stagnation. "Nice weather implies good economy" does not seem to pass even the basic correlation test.
- Apocryphon 6y ago
  Maybe it doesn't imply good economy, but it at least implies desirability for people to live in. Retiree Florida doesn't have a booming economy but it certainly has a steady influx of people moving to there for the environment.
  - dougmwne 6y ago
    Try telling that to the southern Italians. That area of the country is depopulated and also gorgeous. The foreign retirees all move to Tuscany.
    - Apocryphon 6y ago
      Isn't it mainly rural? It's not as if Napa is very crowded.

vinceguidry 6y ago

Nice weather really isn't secondary. It's the entire reason Southern California is what it is. Anywhere the weather's nice, people flock. If location becomes irrelevant, that will just make people flock even faster. Everywhere the weather sucks, ask around and you'll find the cheap place people go all the time for vacation, and wish they could live, if they could but afford it. For Atlanta where I live, it's nearby Destin, or Savannah. Nice weather is a primary determinant of where people choose to retire. It pumps land values up 10x or more. I'll turn your argument around and say that the only truly location-dependent industries are extraction based. Everything else moves where the people are. And people will pay through the nose to live where it's nice.

shuntress 6y ago
> I'll turn your argument around and say that the only truly location-dependent industries are extraction based. Everything else moves where the people are. I don't think I would call the transportation industry (as in: ports, trains, planes, and related infrastructure) "extraction based". But that is an example of something very clearly location-dependent.
inglor_cz 6y ago
"Anywhere the weather's nice, people flock" Well, yeah, prior to Covid, Andalusia in Spain was a favorite tourist destination. It really is lovely sitting at 10pm with a sangria in hand on a historic staircase of a palace and watching the nightlife milling around. But all this flocking is temporary. People do not move there to start businesses. (They do to Gibraltar, but that is a tax haven.) They just enjoy they stay, spend some money on recreation and fly back to gloomy-but-rich Amsterdam, London or Hamburg.

inglor_cz 6y ago

In Europe, much of the economic growth is concentrated in the countries with colder weather, while the pleasant weather countries (France, Spain, Italy etc.) struggle with high unemployment and economic stagnation. "Nice weather implies good economy" does not seem to pass even the basic correlation test.

Apocryphon 6y ago
Maybe it doesn't imply good economy, but it at least implies desirability for people to live in. Retiree Florida doesn't have a booming economy but it certainly has a steady influx of people moving to there for the environment.
- dougmwne 6y ago
  Try telling that to the southern Italians. That area of the country is depopulated and also gorgeous. The foreign retirees all move to Tuscany.
  - Apocryphon 6y ago
    Isn't it mainly rural? It's not as if Napa is very crowded.