[tonymet]

Extrinsic monetary incentives are among the worst ways to stimulate growth. Anyone who would uproot their life for $10k is likely not the right personality to restore prosperity.

Other strategies have worked to gentrify depressed neighborhoods, like attracting bohemians or entrepreneurs with lower rents and tax relief, based on a strict qualification process.

[QuantumGood]

It's not just the 10K, it's an advertisement for low-cost homes, e.g. https://www.zillow.com/cumberland-md/?searchQueryState=%7B%2...

[plaidfuji]

Maryland is full of places like this. Beautiful exterior, super solid construction.

But on the inside, brittle plaster walls (hard to hang anything), lead paint covered by about 1/4 inch of repeated repainting, finicky radiant heating, sparse electrical outlets usually ungrounded, 100 year old plumbing, literally zero central air or proper ventilation anywhere (= upper levels are a sauna… look for a single HVAC grate anywhere), legacy window and door hardware that can’t be replaced… the list goes on. Every improvement project risks disrupting decades of toxic building materials and carefully grandfathered code violations.

[martinald]

It's really not a big deal to strip that all back and redo it all. It's much easier that way round than taking a badly constructed "newer" house actually making it solid.

In the UK houses of that type are the standard and renovated all the time.

[QuantumGood]

I think disrupting "decades of ... carefully grandfathered code violations" is what makes it a big deal, not that there isn't a reasonable path forwards simply from a construction basis.

[martinald]

But you'd rectify all the code violations when you rewire and replumb the house?

[QuantumGood]

It's not that simple with inspectors before you pull a permit. They will let you do some things some ways some times. It's not predictable what will be allowed. The more change that is planned, the more total things will be rejected. It's usually an adversarial relationship, which makes what is possible even less predictable.

[fasa99]

cumberland is already quite bohemian. 20k for free, and some houses can be had for that amount, is quite appealing to the home-owning bohemian. the only trick of it - said bohemian probably would need a remote job. not much locally. so the obvious play is to make it a remote paradise and focus the remainder of the economy on supporting both the essentials and the entertainment / night life of said remote worker

[soared]

Yeah many of the other similar incentives provide free land, housing/internet/etc benefits too

[silisili]

This is what I thought of. 10k is nothing. I'd break even or actually come out behind just on their income taxes alone.

But say, 10 acres of land, with utility access/hookups? I may really consider it. By offering free land, with requirement that you build a stick house and live in it, you can ensure whoever is moving there has funds to build a house.