[kjkjadksj]

Fwiw in places like parts of the midwest housing is below cost of labor and materials. An existing house might be $70k and several bedrooms at that. You just can’t get anything built for that even if you build it all yourself.

[cjbgkagh]

I intended to make a weaker claim of ‘in general long run / maintainable’ circumstances and should have done so.

Many low cost areas have bad crime problems, there is another little phenomenon where the wealthy by doing a poor job in governance can increase the price of their assets by making alternative assets (lower cost housing) less desirable due to the increase in crime.

[kjkjadksj]

Not really the case for much of the midwest. These are low crime areas generally. Working class population is not nearly so rent burdened so less pressure towards making ends meet in other ways. Gang activity is effectively nill unlike placed where you find ms13 written on walls. Homeless people amount to probably a small few dozen visibly homeless if that, and you really need to look to find them.

[cjbgkagh]

I gather that such places do exist it would help if you gave an example. When I did travel to middle america there seemed to be a general drug problem and associated thefts. Perhaps there could be a copper theft map which could be used as a proxy for crime.

[kjkjadksj]

Three Cs. Wisconsin. Minnesota. Pittsburg. Not gary IN.

The thing is with these sorts of midwestern cities. The nicest neighborhood in the area, you know the one with the 5 bed ornate 100 year old mansions with the nicest school district, you can get one of those for barely half mill maybe even less.