Americans flee crowded cities amid COVID-19, consider permanent moves

[The Heretic]

Get me out of here! Americans flee crowded cities amid COVID-19, consider permanent moves

Nearly a third of Americans are considering moving to a less densely populated area in the wake of the pandemic.

www.usatoday.com

I think the value of my property just shot up.

Read More

 

[Alexx1401]

I have been hearing this on a few news spots. There is going to be a lot of unintended consequences from this sudden urge to use police state power these people granted themselves. That is one of them. Places like SanFran, and much of that state, may soon find real trouble. Places where commercial property was at the value of precious metal may suddenly no longer be of much need. That is a HUGE tax base for these places. As business finds they do not need to have these super expensive places? Watch these people scream for a bail out when they have no tax money coming in all of a sudden.
There has been a few people who are aiming anger at AOC over her proudly running Amazon off from NY. Now that they have depression era Unemployment a lot of people are saying maybe those jobs would have been nice to have. November may be interesting this time around.

 

[AMT]

OMG, say it isn't so. Sheeple that live in the big cities are finding that the "less densely populated areas" are actually pretty nice to live in???

Did the light bulb just come on?

NOW do you think their voting mentality will change now that they see a "bigger picture" of what Americana is? Beautiful landscapes, terrain and country?

'bout dang time they pulled their heads out of the sand and woke up to a bigger America than the concrete jungle they've lived in - probably all their lives.

Hopefully their eyes are open now and see the freedoms the rest of us have been fighting for!

 

[Maximillian]

OMG, say it isn't so. Sheeple that live in the big cities are finding that the "less densely populated areas" are actually pretty nice to live in???

Did the light bulb just come on?

NOW do you think their voting mentality will change now that they see a "bigger picture" of what Americana is? Beautiful landscapes, terrain and country?

'bout dang time they pulled their heads out of the sand and woke up to a bigger America than the concrete jungle they've lived in - probably all their lives.

Hopefully their eyes are open now and see the freedoms the rest of us have been fighting for!

I've even read of leftists being outraged with the government over-reach. Makes me wonder how voting will go in the near future. I believe this is one reason why so many democrats are pushing for vote-by-mail, it's much easier to commit fraud.

 

[Alexx1401]

OMG, say it isn't so. Sheeple that live in the big cities are finding that the "less densely populated areas" are actually pretty nice to live in???

Did the light bulb just come on?

NOW do you think their voting mentality will change now that they see a "bigger picture" of what Americana is? Beautiful landscapes, terrain and country?

'bout dang time they pulled their heads out of the sand and woke up to a bigger America than the concrete jungle they've lived in - probably all their lives.

Hopefully their eyes are open now and see the freedoms the rest of us have been fighting for!

We can certainly hope. I know from many who I have worked around that many "city dwellers" loved being out of there. Problem was often one of work. If they made really big money there and could not living in a nicer place? Well they would stick it out with the idea of moving after they no longer had to work. Now? Many have found it is possible to do the work and not have to live in some super expensive sewer to do so. A LOT of people I have known did live in the outlaying area's but to do so had to face commute's that were horrendous. A lot of them are starting to see this may not be needed any more. They can live in the out of the way and still do the same work without untold hours on the road in traffic daily. Win, win. Except for the tax the local places are suddenly going to have to learn to do without. This may be real fun to watch.

 

[Alexx1401]

I've even read of leftists being outraged with the government over-reach. Makes me wonder how voting will go in the near future. I believe this is one reason why so many democrats are pushing for vote-by-mail, it's much easier to commit fraud.

That is another great example of emotion. Many of one side have all my life screamed about "big brother". Now these same people line up to support top down control and cheer. The reason? It's "their people" doing it to them so it's fine now. This is always how this kind of top down Government gets started. People who think it sounds great. When its too late then they wish they had not done it. The old line about those who refuse to learn history, they just keep repeating it.

 

[revjen45]

"Hopefully their eyes are open now and see the freedoms the rest of us have been fighting for!"

More likely that they continue to pollute the gene pool and the voter registrations with their pernicious Weltanschauung.

 

[The Heretic]

I've not really understood these corps who think they need to have an office in downtown Portland, especially the tech corps. Yet when I am browsing the help wanted ads, there they are - something like 90% of the offices are downtown Portland. That has got to be higher cost than Beaverton or Hillsboro right?

I don't get it - there isn't anything in downtown that a software co. needs.

Glad I am out of there, for the time being, but if I do find another job, it will probably mean working there again. I am glad I won't have to do that for long - maybe never again - we'll see how things turn out.

 

[Alexx1401]

"Hopefully their eyes are open now and see the freedoms the rest of us have been fighting for!"

More likely that they continue to pollute the gene pool and the voter registrations with their pernicious Weltanschauung.

I keep saying I hope so. This next election will be one I will watch closer than any in my life time. If this was not enough? We really have had it. If they can get away with this they will just do it again and again. It was too easy. Now if a lot of them get kicked to the curb? Many will still have the same idea's but they will slow their roll a hell of a lot before trying again.

 

[Alexx1401]

I've not really understood these corps who think they need to have an office in downtown Portland, especially the tech corps. Yet when I am browsing the help wanted ads, there they are - something like 90% of the offices are downtown Portland. That has got to be higher cost than Beaverton or Hillsboro right?

I don't get it - there isn't anything in downtown that a software co. needs.

Glad I am out of there, for the time being, but if I do find another job, it will probably mean working there again. I am glad I won't have to do that for long - maybe never again - we'll see how things turn out.

It would be great if all of a sudden those spaces and buildings had no one who wanted them. The screaming would be deafening when the tax money dried up. They love homeless scum so much? Great they can move them into the empty spots.

 

[The Heretic]

We can certainly hope. I know from many who I have worked around that many "city dwellers" loved being out of there. Problem was often one of work. If they made really big money there and could not living in a nicer place? Well they would stick it out with the idea of moving after they no longer had to work. Now? Many have found it is possible to do the work and not have to live in some super expensive sewer to do so. A LOT of people I have known did live in the outlaying area's but to do so had to face commute's that were horrendous. A lot of them are starting to see this may not be needed any more. They can live in the out of the way and still do the same work without untold hours on the road in traffic daily. Win, win. Except for the tax the local places are suddenly going to have to learn to do without. This may be real fun to watch.

My commute was 45-60 minutes each way. The only way I could do 45 minutes was to go in early and leave late. If I went at the height of the rush hour, then it was often more than 60 minutes. Fortunately, half the commute was countryside, driving thru the farming community I grew up in (I drive right by my family's farm - that we used to farm/own).

So yeah, the commute was a bit of a grind, but compared to my Seattle commute is was much better - driving from Everett into Seattle - same length of time or more, less distance, stop and go traffic the whole way, often taking the "express bus" which took longer and had me crowded into a bus with sick people. That was bad.

My 20 acre property with a 1700SF house and 2KSF shop and a forest with 100+ year old trees, private road, great neighbors, wildlife - that all cost me less than a house of the same size on a tenth acre lot in the city.

I read another article last year about how some younger/middle aged people were leaving the cities because of the crowding, and because they realized they could have a better life in the suburbs, with better services, schools, less crime, etc.

I doubt there will be a mass exodus from Portland, as that is where the jobs are unfortunately, and most people won't want to deal with the commute - but some will, maybe enough to raise prices outside Portland. Fewer yet will get out to the area I am at.

For one thing, it is very hard to build new houses out here; the zoning laws discourage any kind of subdivision - if you have a plot of land, the only way it can get smaller is if you sell land to your neighbor, and even then there are all kinds of rules about how much land has to remain the way it is (in my case, how much has trees on it vs. not).

For farms, you can only put a new house on a plot if the land earns something like $80K per year in farm income, and that has to be shown with documentation over a period of years. There are a few new houses being built on land that can't be farmed, but it is expensive to get those exceptions and the houses are large, expensive and few and far in between. Also, if the house is historic, like the house I grew up in, you can't tear it down and build a new house there - you can't remodel the house extensively either.

You can put a second house on a plot if the house is for someone who will be working the farm - such as hired help or family. But that is it.

The only way someone can put another house on my property is if they build the new house and then tear down the existing house.

The idea is to preserve the farm and forest land as it is and not allow little subdivisions to spring up outside the urban growth boundaries.

If you look at the new subdivisions on the edge of cities, they are often townhouses with shared walls, or moderate to large houses on smaller plots. One subdivision was built on farm acreage that reportedly was bought from a family for about $90M - it looks to be about 80-100 acres in my guesstimate, so close to $1M per acre? Reportedly each family member got close to $9M each (must have been an estate).

 

[The Heretic]

It would be great if all of a sudden those spaces and buildings had no one who wanted them. The screaming would be deafening when the tax money dried up. They love homeless scum so much? Great they can move them into the empty spots.

That won't happen, not downtown. The orgs that are in there won't be affected by the coming downturn, and there will be a waiting line to fill any vacancies. The people who run these orgs have a mindset and it involves being in the inner city.

Small businesses that rent commercial property outside the inner city - now that might see some vacancies. But probably not downtown - those spaces are costly and in demand.

 

[The Heretic]

Unfortunately a lot of managers/etc. still think you need to spend time in the office or you are goofing off. DTNA was that way; they really didn't like their IT staff working from home. I would only do it occasionally if I really needed to (to take a delivery, I was sick, or I had a doc appt, or something like that). Others did it more than I did, but I didn't want to make a habit of it - I had worked several places in tech startups where the bosses had bad thoughts about working from home, but allowed it.

The thing is, if you aren't in the office and others are, then it is kind of like you aren't there and that engenders bad thoughts about your contribution to the org. I've seen it first hand.

OTOH - it seems it is ok if you are halfway around the world in India or Russia or China and doing the same work, because they can pay those people less.

Corporations are not run very well IMO. I won't miss it if I never go back - I miss some of the people I worked with, but not the org itself and the way it was run. The org apparently doesn't miss me either, even though I was the most qualified to do the work they are currently doing.

 

[Mark W.]

Silverton is FULL STAY THE HEPP OUT I could careless what it might do for the value of my property its paid for and I have no intention of selling ever.

 

[bolus]

When I moved to Hawaii I had to stay in 7 different vacation rentals before I bought a house (there are no month to month rentals here since airBNB).

One of the places I stayed in was a gated community with literal guards at the gate that I now refer to as the "cow palace." its for rich people who want the "rural ranch lifestyle" without the big city. it is on part of a working cattle ranch so they let a handful of cows wander around the gated community.

so the rich folks get to "live in the country on a ranch" but still are in a gated community and cows are pooping on their driveways. Oh, they also pay a yearly and monthly HOA fees for this.

a bunch of other people move to rural Hawaii expecting resort lifestyle and leave a year or so later when they realize it is rural America and 3000 miles away from hipster coffee shops

 

[Rickenbacher39]

Oh great, they're all going to move out here where I am and then it will be just
like living in the city with the crowding and idiotic politics.
Then I'll move back to the city that everyone left where it's quiet and then they
will all follow me once again and make it crowded and stupid once more.
Then I'll move out to the rural area once again and I'.........AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!

 

[The Heretic]

Yeah, the people I bought my property from had a shack on one of the islands - I saw a photo of it, surrounded by vegetation, probably a small lot too. So I imagine they paid a pretty penny for just that. Not much - not what I would call a house - but it kept the rain off their heads. They were going to improve it. Good luck to them.

 

[MannyGlocks]

If there's a city exodus there won't be many leaving.

Why not?

Gotta have hipster this and that or how can one be ever so cool?

Think urban/hipsters want to live next door to church going, Conservative/Gun people who value cleaniness in all categories?

I doubt it.

They love living in city squalor. Drug addled zombies are there to provide color for their 'to cool for school-ness'. Bourgeois lifestyle isn't for them...and they are easily frightened by most things in nature. Ooooohhh, a bug, a snake, a coon, (probably rabid) oh man, I just saw a bat....(no doubt rabid) give them concrete, constant vehicle sirens blaring are music to their ears and other commies galore to rub elbows with...

 

[Dungannon]

I remember in my early 40's that the WWII generation was retiring and many announced their move to rural properties they had purchased. By the time I retired, many of those I knew had moved back to the suburbs because [1] they had health issues that required close access to hospitals and/or [2] they had worn themselves out trying to take care of their property. The worn out ones would have lasted much longer if they had simply lived a rural lifestyle, instead of trying to turn their acreage into a manicured park.

 

[ma96782]

Just to test/gauge the reactions.....try putting up one of these in the front yard.....



Aloha, Mark