Flashbulb_RI t1_jcimdh7 wrote
Not long ago RI was relatively affordable. One could rent a nice 2 bedroom apartment on the East Side of PVD for $1,100 - $1,500 a month. 6 years ago there where plenty of nice houses in the Elmhurst area of PVD in the 250K range. Those houses are now 400K and up. What changed in the market? Why is there a housing shortage now in RI but not 6-10 years ago when housing was so much cheaper? For all the griping about RI, during the pandemic I saw lots of people moving in to my neighborhood from other states, so I think that explains some of the demand.
Mountain_Bill5743 t1_jcj2lkd wrote
Remote work. Remote work. Remote work. I have friends who commuted 60 miles roundtrip for work to Boston all during the big dig years even, but it required endurance. We're now in this economically unprecedented time where even the country's most remote towns (WY, MT, ID) are digital hubs.
But your example is exactly why the idea of "just move" doesn't work anymore. I "just moved" based on salary and cost of living for my career during the rents you referenced. It takes a few years to get on your feet and then, it's time to "just move" again to the next community, recover from cost of relocation, and get ready to move again when you get priced out again. Rinse and repeat. I consider myself unlucky to be renting still, but lucky to be at a high enough income to still buy here, but that is extremely privileged. Not everyone seeks nomad life, many people crave stability for their mental health and if people have kids, they need predictability, security, community, and consistency.
ProJo just posted about a House Hunters episode where a SF tech couple bought a 6 bedroom 900k+ house on the east side (to be closer to family, tbf). This is the kind of story that rarely existed in Providence outside of surgeons or business owners and the downstream effects mean all the regular folk are bidding up those Elmhurst bungalows from 250 to 500.
I admit I sound a bit jaded, but it's hard to see so much limited housing taken up by people who often never even considered investing in the local economy apart from real estate (since the salaries will never compete with firms in NYC). As a fellow transplant, I think that it is a baseline expectation to work here or simply volunteer your time to enrich the community in some capacity. Locals had no reservations about transplants when I moved here (they seemed to find it endearing and novel), but I think people become guarded when too many people move with the intention of being consumers only.
RoastyToasty3 t1_jcktu9w wrote
Starlink is going to destroy affordable land and housing when the middle of nowhere USA has fast reliable internet.
PvDSteamRoll t1_jcl8cbr wrote
Interest rates being kept artificially low for so long didn’t help. Now everyone is going to sit on those 3% mortgages forever.
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