• AA5B@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    A lot of it is a question of where.

    The town I grew up in is a great example: it is n a generally rural area and lost its major employer years ago. The economy never really recovered and the population has dwindled, but that’s also true of the surrounding area. There are many empty homes, even in formerly upscale developments, and I can literally buy one on my credit card.

    In my current town, a starter home is like 15x the price, they sell within hours, and there’s no open land left to develop.

    The expensive area is where people want to live, but there are all those empty homes selling for very little just a few hours drive away

    I believe there’s been a general trend of moving toward cities, that leaves lots of inexpensive empty homes behind

    • Today@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      There are some cities that are offering money for people to move there and work remotely. They have the housing but not the jobs? I know Tulsa is one, Somewhere in Kansas, I don’t remember where else.

      • AA5B@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Coming from a solid blue city in a solid blue state, that really doesn’t seem tempting. I’m sure it is much cheaper to live there but is it worth it?

        Realistically, my company doesn’t want to let people move without adjusting pay and jobs. I’m sure many are like that. I’m privileged to get pay relative to a high cost of living area so I’m sure they’d be happy to cut me back to low pay. Lower pay and regressive/conservative …. No wonder there is extra housing supply

        • errer@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          Plus many states just don’t have the money for such programs. Particularly the shitty ones with lots of empty housing.

      • Semi-Hemi-Lemmygod@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        Vermont has a program for remote workers to move there. I might take them up on it because there’s no amenities in a city that can beat the night sky in a place with little to no light pollution.