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Practically every single capital is like that these days. People of all nations can copy paste same rant and it would be 100% valid. This is how it is, too much

Practically every single capital is like that these days. People of all nations can copy paste same rant and it would be 100% valid. This is how it is, too much buying power with new generation of higher level office workers compared to blue collar ones, on top of financial speculation with either prices skyrocketing, or airbnbs. Let's not forget there is more and more of people in general, and more and more coming for work, education etc. to bigger places and rarely going back. Or to put it in reverse - I am not aware of any metropolis/capital where this isn't true, regardless of regime.

MattGaiser 4y ago
I would argue the Canadian one of Ottawa. Ottawa isn't cheap, but it is not anywhere near Toronto or Vancouver.
- mcspiff 4y ago
  Right, it really should say anchor cities and not capital IMO. Those may coincide sometimes, but not always.
  - moistly 4y ago
    More than just anchor cities. I live in a town of 60k. Cheapest homes less than fifty years old are all C$600K and sharply upward. There are many multi-million dollar properties. It is insanity.
epolanski 4y ago
I don't think I've ever heard the absurd levels of this blog post and I've lived in few expensive cities from italy, poland and switzerland, where it is impossible for middle class locals to live there.
- imsaw 4y ago
  Compared with the 2, how is Poland expensive?
  - wikfwikf 4y ago
    Locals have a much lower income than Italy or Switzerland. Thus they are still getting priced out of cities where they have lived a long time. In Warsaw the locals are often priced out by the returning diaspora. See Lebanon, parts of Italy, Ireland in the past, etc.
  - tdudzik 4y ago
    Currently I think it's quite expensive (for locals). E.g. bedroom + living room costs > 3k PLN in Cracow, and probably more in Warsaw. At the same time junior dev can earn about 5-9k PLN net. My non-dev friends often are not even able to live in Cracow.
nbenitezl 4y ago
Reason how this happens worldwide may be that 70% of world population is projected to be living in big cities by next decades. I mean, tendency is that most people want to live in the big city, sometimes as necessity (can only find a job there) sometimes as a preference (better services, etc.) the result is traffic jams and expensive real state.
- refurb 4y ago
  I'd argue that trend is reversing, just like it did in the 1960's. Quality of life issues eventually drive people to live in the outer suburbs, further exacerbating issues within city cores (e.g. San Francisco right now).
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - tjr225 4y ago
    You can argue it all you want but the numbers don’t support it. If the demand is going down then why is it becoming more expensive? Also, white flight in the 60s was a move to the suburbs- many would consider that given the density of 2020, the suburbs are feeling the same crunch. Bellevue and other suburbs are more expensive than Seattle. I’m guessing there are suburbs of SF that are more expensive than SF.
    - refurb 4y ago
      Prices are dropping in San Francisco, especially condos which are below pre-Covid prices now. And you yourself said "Bellevue and other suburbs are more expensive than Seattle." Which would infer that yes, people are leaving the city and moving to suburbs.
      - mahkeiro 4y ago
        Of course they are as interest rates are rising quickly. Nobody is talking about it, but free (or almost) money was also a good reason why prices increased that much.
jackcosgrove 4y ago
> I am not aware of any metropolis/capital where this isn't true, regardless of regime. Tokyo. It is hoovering up all the Japanese youth, but manages to stay affordable for other factors. - Permissive zoning - Immigration restrictions - Closed culture - Declining population
- sebastiangraef 4y ago
  Also Bangkok, total renters market. New buildings going up every day. Lots of rents are lower than before covid.
  - biztos 4y ago
    Indeed, as far as I can tell (I’m in Bangkok but I’m not a local) there is a lot of choice and a super wide range of prices. Public transit is constantly being expanded and there is so much stock of modern buildings, I can’t see it changing any time soon. Last week I went to the fish market by Sky Train, first time I’d been out that way, and I was surprised to see a ton of modern condo towers clustered around Erawan. And why not? It’s 30-45 minutes on the train to the center of town.
  - herbst 4y ago
    It's been a few years but when I have been in Bangkok for a few months I just took my scooter around an area I liked and walked into good looking buildings asking for an apartment and had a monthly contract the same day. Compared to months of planning and looking if you plan to move in an European city.
- aikinai 4y ago
  Came to say the exact same thing. Most in the English-speaking world have no idea cities like Tokyo exist. It’s still a global capital, still growing (for now), but it’s still very affordable for people of all economic classes. And it’s not for lack of foreign speculation; locals mostly aren’t buying up the $10M+ flats in the new Mori building, but there’s plenty of development to meet demand across the spectrum.

MattGaiser 4y ago

I would argue the Canadian one of Ottawa. Ottawa isn't cheap, but it is not anywhere near Toronto or Vancouver.

mcspiff 4y ago
Right, it really should say anchor cities and not capital IMO. Those may coincide sometimes, but not always.
- moistly 4y ago
  More than just anchor cities. I live in a town of 60k. Cheapest homes less than fifty years old are all C$600K and sharply upward. There are many multi-million dollar properties. It is insanity.

epolanski 4y ago

I don't think I've ever heard the absurd levels of this blog post and I've lived in few expensive cities from italy, poland and switzerland, where it is impossible for middle class locals to live there.

imsaw 4y ago
Compared with the 2, how is Poland expensive?
- wikfwikf 4y ago
  Locals have a much lower income than Italy or Switzerland. Thus they are still getting priced out of cities where they have lived a long time. In Warsaw the locals are often priced out by the returning diaspora. See Lebanon, parts of Italy, Ireland in the past, etc.
- tdudzik 4y ago
  Currently I think it's quite expensive (for locals). E.g. bedroom + living room costs > 3k PLN in Cracow, and probably more in Warsaw. At the same time junior dev can earn about 5-9k PLN net. My non-dev friends often are not even able to live in Cracow.

nbenitezl 4y ago

Reason how this happens worldwide may be that 70% of world population is projected to be living in big cities by next decades. I mean, tendency is that most people want to live in the big city, sometimes as necessity (can only find a job there) sometimes as a preference (better services, etc.) the result is traffic jams and expensive real state.

refurb 4y ago
I'd argue that trend is reversing, just like it did in the 1960's. Quality of life issues eventually drive people to live in the outer suburbs, further exacerbating issues within city cores (e.g. San Francisco right now).
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- tjr225 4y ago
  You can argue it all you want but the numbers don’t support it. If the demand is going down then why is it becoming more expensive? Also, white flight in the 60s was a move to the suburbs- many would consider that given the density of 2020, the suburbs are feeling the same crunch. Bellevue and other suburbs are more expensive than Seattle. I’m guessing there are suburbs of SF that are more expensive than SF.
  - refurb 4y ago
    Prices are dropping in San Francisco, especially condos which are below pre-Covid prices now. And you yourself said "Bellevue and other suburbs are more expensive than Seattle." Which would infer that yes, people are leaving the city and moving to suburbs.
    - mahkeiro 4y ago
      Of course they are as interest rates are rising quickly. Nobody is talking about it, but free (or almost) money was also a good reason why prices increased that much.

jackcosgrove 4y ago

> I am not aware of any metropolis/capital where this isn't true, regardless of regime. Tokyo. It is hoovering up all the Japanese youth, but manages to stay affordable for other factors. - Permissive zoning - Immigration restrictions - Closed culture - Declining population

sebastiangraef 4y ago
Also Bangkok, total renters market. New buildings going up every day. Lots of rents are lower than before covid.
- biztos 4y ago
  Indeed, as far as I can tell (I’m in Bangkok but I’m not a local) there is a lot of choice and a super wide range of prices. Public transit is constantly being expanded and there is so much stock of modern buildings, I can’t see it changing any time soon. Last week I went to the fish market by Sky Train, first time I’d been out that way, and I was surprised to see a ton of modern condo towers clustered around Erawan. And why not? It’s 30-45 minutes on the train to the center of town.
- herbst 4y ago
  It's been a few years but when I have been in Bangkok for a few months I just took my scooter around an area I liked and walked into good looking buildings asking for an apartment and had a monthly contract the same day. Compared to months of planning and looking if you plan to move in an European city.
aikinai 4y ago
Came to say the exact same thing. Most in the English-speaking world have no idea cities like Tokyo exist. It’s still a global capital, still growing (for now), but it’s still very affordable for people of all economic classes. And it’s not for lack of foreign speculation; locals mostly aren’t buying up the $10M+ flats in the new Mori building, but there’s plenty of development to meet demand across the spectrum.