Gyroscopic Investing

It’s all too clear why parents will spend their last dollar (and their last borrowed dollar) on their kids’ education: In a society with dramatic income inequality and dramatic educational inequality, the cost of missing out on the best society has to offer (or, really, at the individual scale, the best any person can afford) is unfathomable. So parents spend at the brink of what they can afford. By contrast, non-parents are far more likely to actually build up savings. (In cases where parents do manage to find affordable housing in a district with good-quality schools, it can make all the difference.)

True, dat!

But investing in your kids as your retirement plan doesn't explain two things... 1) why do people continue to live in uber expensive coastal cities with utterly shitty schools; and 2) why does increased building density raise prices separate from better schools? Economies of scale are supposed to lower costs, not increase them.

When you combine these together, it's truly a head scratcher (for me).

Incidentally, as I've been looking at real estate investment possibilities, Ohio in the Rust Belt seems to be one of the best places for low-cost housing (specifically Columbus). Houses can cost $20K-$50K there. No joke. Now, maybe they're in a lower income, majority black area, but the point is prices like that are possible without being in the rural boonies miles from nowhere.

MachineGhost wrote:But investing in your kids as your retirement plan doesn't explain two things... 1) why do people continue to live in uber expensive coastal cities with utterly shitty schools;

That's where the great jobs are. It's the lure of a high six-figure income.

MachineGhost wrote:2) why does increased building density raise prices separate from better schools? Economies of scale are supposed to lower costs, not increase them.

Because we mostly do density wrong in America, so most of the neighborhoods in these dense areas are blighted nightmares, with a few oases of European-style awesomeness (e.g. NYC's West Village), and everyone bids up the price of living there.

Most of the coastal cities are actually terrible places to live. It's just a few districts or neighborhoods that are nice. Good places to work or play, but lousy to actually live there.

MachineGhost wrote:Incidentally, as I've been looking at real estate investment possibilities, Ohio in the Rust Belt seems to be one of the best places for low-cost housing (specifically Columbus). Houses can cost $20K-$50K there. No joke. Now, maybe they're in a lower income, majority black area, but the point is prices like that are possible without being in the rural boonies miles from nowhere.

That's why. White people don't want to live or own property near black people. Could be a major overlooked opportunity if you believe that the residents are perfectly normal and avoided for irrational reasons like white racism.

That's not really like Columbus; it has a pretty diversified economy. If you're looking in the SE, I'd say refocus though. North Linden is an area I'm looking at.

If you really do want to buy a property in the SE, the city of Columbus sells abandoned properties for a few thousand dollars.

Looks like Strong Towns has a book coming out.
ISBN-13:

Btw, PS’s bad Chicago photo was a back alley, not a street.

I think he was dropping random googlestreeturchins, so that isn't surprising.