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Idaho housing boom is insane. They are building thousands of cookie-cutter homes in the Boise area, and they sell well before they are finished, and they sell f

by smsm42 5y ago

Idaho housing boom is insane. They are building thousands of cookie-cutter homes in the Boise area, and they sell well before they are finished, and they sell for prices that would look at home in California about 5 years ago (of course, California got more expensive since). And they have nowhere near enough infrastructure for all those houses (the roads are tiny for the number of people in those houses, for example) and I have no idea how people living on Idaho salaries could afford any of that California-priced housing. I have no idea how it would work - my hope is all taxes from all those housing would be used by the government to upgrade the infrastructure and do something smart with it, but my trust in governments being smart is kinda low... No idea what would happen. I once thought about moving there but I really don't want to end up in the middle of the volcano...

jrs235 5y ago
>but my trust in governments being smart is kinda low Particularly in governments run by politicians who agree with and were elected by folks that don't trust governments. Which means [that] government can't be trusted to maintain or upgrade infrastructure because that requires government to collect and spend tax dollars. >my hope is all taxes from all those housing would be used by the government to upgrade the infrastructure and do something smart with it "all taxes from all those houses" is likely not going to be enough to properly upgrade, let alone maintain, the infrastructure. I'm interested to see what those parts of Idaho look like in 5 to 15 years from now.
- smsm42 5y ago
  Given how many houses there are and how expensive they are, I'd think there's quite a chunk of change coming in - property taxes, sales taxes, permits, etc. - so I think financially it should be enough, but I haven't seen this really being addressed. And building new roads when the existing ones are already choking up would be really tough, they need to do it now before all those new houses are fully occupied. Doesn't look like they realize it, at least from my vantage point (I of course have no inside info, maybe they're working on it day and night...)

by smsm42 5y ago

jrs235 5y ago

>but my trust in governments being smart is kinda low Particularly in governments run by politicians who agree with and were elected by folks that don't trust governments. Which means [that] government can't be trusted to maintain or upgrade infrastructure because that requires government to collect and spend tax dollars. >my hope is all taxes from all those housing would be used by the government to upgrade the infrastructure and do something smart with it "all taxes from all those houses" is likely not going to be enough to properly upgrade, let alone maintain, the infrastructure. I'm interested to see what those parts of Idaho look like in 5 to 15 years from now.

smsm42 5y ago
Given how many houses there are and how expensive they are, I'd think there's quite a chunk of change coming in - property taxes, sales taxes, permits, etc. - so I think financially it should be enough, but I haven't seen this really being addressed. And building new roads when the existing ones are already choking up would be really tough, they need to do it now before all those new houses are fully occupied. Doesn't look like they realize it, at least from my vantage point (I of course have no inside info, maybe they're working on it day and night...)