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When we look at the places that have experienced degrowth in this country such as the midwestern cities, it is hard to argue today that the effects were truly a

by asdff 1y ago

When we look at the places that have experienced degrowth in this country such as the midwestern cities, it is hard to argue today that the effects were truly all that bad. They still have all the services, institutions, and plenty of the entertainment options you'd expect. Major hospitals and universities. They aren't full of derelict homes either, those have been all more or less razed by now. The biggest benefit is far more people can actually afford a life of property ownership in these cities. Look at what 250k buys you in these places vs the places that didn't experience a degrowth period. We are talking a complete 4 bedroom home outright vs a 10% down payment on a comparable home. This might seem perverse why it could be beneficial to experience degrowth. But the answer to that is simple: no where actually accommodates growth sufficiently to keep costs from going out of control. So a degrowth period really means prices are no longer being significantly influenced by an ever incoming class of high income earners, but are more in line with the actual median incomes found in the area.

JumpCrisscross 1y ago
> When we look at the places that have experienced degrowth in this country such as the midwestern cities Do they work without subsidies from the growing parts of the country?
- asdff 1y ago
  Look at the map in this linked article (1). Seems like southern states are the ones getting most subsidy. Midwest for the most part relatively lower on the spectrum. And what is even the subsidy? Interstate road works? Hardly matters to your daily life. The other subsidies are probably things like welfare benefits or medicaid, which might be a significant thing in your daily life if you qualify but if you don't are also irrelevant. Lower property prices on the other hand lift all boats. Renters benefit. Homeowners benefit. Corporations benefit. At every income level in the market. https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-federal-aid-reliance-2020/ https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-federal-aid-r... I really don't think subsidy is a factor in keeping things cheap in terms of cost of living. I think it is pretty solely due to the relationship between the size and rate of growth of the local high income demographic and housing inventory. For example it is even cheaper to live in Mexico due to this relationship, and there is probably a lot less subsidy going on there.
  - JumpCrisscross 1y ago
    > Interstate road works? Hardly matters to your daily life Sure does if you want trucked vegetables in the winter! > think it is pretty solely due to the relationship between the size and rate of growth of the local high income demographic and housing inventory The American housing market is broken. You are absolutely correct in that shrinking Rust Belt cities sidestep this problem by being in the rare position of housing surplus. What I’m challenging is the notion that life in those cities would be as nice as it is if the entire country copied their population and economic contraction.

by asdff 1y ago

JumpCrisscross 1y ago

> When we look at the places that have experienced degrowth in this country such as the midwestern cities Do they work without subsidies from the growing parts of the country?

asdff 1y ago
Look at the map in this linked article (1). Seems like southern states are the ones getting most subsidy. Midwest for the most part relatively lower on the spectrum. And what is even the subsidy? Interstate road works? Hardly matters to your daily life. The other subsidies are probably things like welfare benefits or medicaid, which might be a significant thing in your daily life if you qualify but if you don't are also irrelevant. Lower property prices on the other hand lift all boats. Renters benefit. Homeowners benefit. Corporations benefit. At every income level in the market. https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-federal-aid-reliance-2020/ https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-federal-aid-r... I really don't think subsidy is a factor in keeping things cheap in terms of cost of living. I think it is pretty solely due to the relationship between the size and rate of growth of the local high income demographic and housing inventory. For example it is even cheaper to live in Mexico due to this relationship, and there is probably a lot less subsidy going on there.
- JumpCrisscross 1y ago
  > Interstate road works? Hardly matters to your daily life Sure does if you want trucked vegetables in the winter! > think it is pretty solely due to the relationship between the size and rate of growth of the local high income demographic and housing inventory The American housing market is broken. You are absolutely correct in that shrinking Rust Belt cities sidestep this problem by being in the rare position of housing surplus. What I’m challenging is the notion that life in those cities would be as nice as it is if the entire country copied their population and economic contraction.