4 ms·
There are more people in the world, I've been born when population was 5 billion and something, now we're at 8. City centers or good locations remain the same a
by jajko 2y ago
There are more people in the world, I've been born when population was 5 billion and something, now we're at 8. City centers or good locations remain the same and don't magically expand or spawn out of blue, what is growing is mostly less interesting stuff due to distance to good stuff. You would have to battle hard, really hard, to just counter this force in economy.
This ignores massive push for people moving due to work, so in better places there is exponentially more interested people than space available. Just look at SF or NY is we talk about US.
Plus add strong emotions, most world population simply wants to live in their own, renting is frowned upon, despite ie Switzerland having very low home ownership, population is one of happiest globally and nobody here bats an eye, there are more important matters in our short lives to focus on than gathering as many available resources in some rat races.
- tossandthrow 2y agoI am talking about national median housing prices. Ie. Outliers like SF or NY won't even be visible in these statistics. (also, I personally am speaking from an EU perspective, where my expressed opinion is the same). But tell me: are you arguing that we see a general willingness to spend a larger roprtion of disposable income on housing, and that this is a permanent trend (due to the dynamics you emphasize).
- xnx 2y agoSince housing has virtually no upper-limit on what you can spend, it can absorb any disposable income from other things getting cheaper (food, technology, etc.).
- tossandthrow 2y agoYes, so historically it has been a rule of thumb that this is a third of the disposable income. What a am considering is whether people are ready to move that to half? Two thirds? My own assumption is that people are willing to do this as long as they believe that the house will be a good investment. But houses can never be a long term good investment. It will always converge to inflation.
- thiago_fm 2y agoThat's BS, go to Europe, most cities there makes the US look like a shithole and the population isn't growing. Not to mention how many people now only want to work from home, making it pointless to live in a big city with HCOL. People have trouble to understand that shit can't go up forever...
- webdood90 2y ago> ... making it pointless to live in a big city with HCOL I don't think most people choose a place to live strictly based on the location of their employer. They enjoy being in a city for its food, entertainment, and accessibility. Good cities have limited space so I expect the demand will only increase over time, until the population tanks.
- ghaff 2y agoYes, but if employer isn't the deciding factor, people can live where they want and spend time in cities (of their choice) on vacation, working remotely, etc. That's the conclusion I came to.
- WheatMillington 2y agoCity dwellers really do look down on non-city-dwellers contemptuously, huh? As if we'd all be living in a big city if we just had the opportunity.
- heavenlyblue 2y agoLondon population reached the level of 1940s again only very recently for example so it's not that obvious
- csa 2y ago> City centers or good locations remain the same and don't magically expand or spawn out of blue Tokyo would like to say hello. IIRC, it’s the only place in Japan with a net population growth, largely due to people moving in for work. The situation is dire elsewhere because many people are taking completely absurd and/or selfish stances on development in their locale.
- mycologos 2y agoMy theory for Tokyo is that its relatively low housing costs come from lax enforcement of zoning and building regulations, and lax enforcement comes from a culture of trust that doesn't exist in other comparably big cities.