Hey, if there's something I am confused about the US is that areas that are supposedly more "tolerant" generally have higher property values than places that are full of "normal" people.

As I'm trying to look for my own place to live, I'd like to live in an enclave with "weirdos" and other people that don't fit in. Blue states are at least slightly more friendly to non-conformists, and get a lot of hate from the US at large for being okay with non-model-citizens, yet housing in blue states is by far more expensive than my home state that is about as red as Mr. Krabs.

I'll be answering my own question a bit by saying that I noticed that there is a lot of NIMBY activity here, but then suburbs in red states have HOAs.

What's going on? Explain to this humble babby brain.

  • came_apart_at_Kmart [he/him, comrade/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    if you're looking for affordable housing in a weirdo enclave, your target is narrow and is going to be something like a college town in a rural/red state. it would probably have some public transportation, some bike lanes, public art/civic engagement but be warned... though the housing would be more affordable than the national average, these places are now highly targeted by institutional investors because of that same reasoning, so prices that have long been lagging behind are moving up fast.

    the need for student housing historically pushed down pricing decades ago, but as student populations are increasingly narrowing to wealthier families, this is less of a force at play and become more of a cash cow for landlords and universities providing housing for revenues.