That's a fair call, there's certainly places in the states that treat it as yet another utility rather than an investment. From my experience in Asia the attit

That's a fair call, there's certainly places in the states that treat it as yet another utility rather than an investment. From my experience in Asia the attitude is so wildly different, they build more houses than is ever needed, people can run stores and sell basic goods out of their spare front room for a few hours a day as side income. I'm not familiar with local laws in the US but in Australia you'd get fined a few thousand dollars trying to sell groceries from a house in suburbia, many have to get in their cars and travel a few km to the designated "commercial" area simply to buy some bread. There's a lot the West could learn from the East yet we are far too stubborn to actually do it.