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Thought experiment. What is worth more? The average house in the country with a couple of acres of land or a 700square foot condo in Manhattan. Generally the

Thought experiment. What is worth more? The average house in the country with a couple of acres of land or a 700square foot condo in Manhattan. Generally the presence of other people tend to push up property values as it brings in a lot more amenities.

nitrogen 5y ago
I and many others would take the house with the land, unless I'm being forced to live in the city for work. When remote work became a necessity, we saw tons of people (and speculative investors) buying up housing in cheaper states.
- handrous 5y ago
  The real trouble with doing that, for families, is that rural & small-town schools are almost all bad, compared with suburban schools. Makes it an unrealistic (or, at least, pretty undesirable) option unless you're homeschooling, so rich you can afford boarding school (unlikely any decent private schools will be in commuting range), or simply don't have and don't plan to have kids. I'm not saying it's a majority, but I think a lot of suburb-dwellers would rather live in one or either of the country or the city, but are stuck in the 'burbs for the public schools.
progman32 5y ago
Economic value and desirability are related but different concepts, though. You'd have to pay me big bucks for me to even consider living in that 700 square foot condo. Just because other people are also willing to make a similar compromise (driving up the price) doesn't mean any of us necessarily prefer that condo over other forms of living.
- Negitivefrags 5y ago
  I find this kind of reasoning bizzare. Yes, the economic value and desirability are exactly the same. You just seem to discount the location of the condo as not being part of the value the condo is providing. But it is in fact the most important part of the value.
syshum 5y ago
Well depends on the person. to me personally I would pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for a couple acres of land in the country side, and would pay exactly $0 for any property in Manhattan

nitrogen 5y ago

I and many others would take the house with the land, unless I'm being forced to live in the city for work. When remote work became a necessity, we saw tons of people (and speculative investors) buying up housing in cheaper states.

handrous 5y ago
The real trouble with doing that, for families, is that rural & small-town schools are almost all bad, compared with suburban schools. Makes it an unrealistic (or, at least, pretty undesirable) option unless you're homeschooling, so rich you can afford boarding school (unlikely any decent private schools will be in commuting range), or simply don't have and don't plan to have kids. I'm not saying it's a majority, but I think a lot of suburb-dwellers would rather live in one or either of the country or the city, but are stuck in the 'burbs for the public schools.

progman32 5y ago

Economic value and desirability are related but different concepts, though. You'd have to pay me big bucks for me to even consider living in that 700 square foot condo. Just because other people are also willing to make a similar compromise (driving up the price) doesn't mean any of us necessarily prefer that condo over other forms of living.

Negitivefrags 5y ago
I find this kind of reasoning bizzare. Yes, the economic value and desirability are exactly the same. You just seem to discount the location of the condo as not being part of the value the condo is providing. But it is in fact the most important part of the value.

syshum 5y ago

Well depends on the person. to me personally I would pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for a couple acres of land in the country side, and would pay exactly $0 for any property in Manhattan