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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   1307 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for April 5, 2026

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What's the deal with new housing going up like crazy in places that have few jobs and negative population growth?

I asked an AI about this, and it said something about how even though people are leaving the region, there's still a backlog of housing supply, especially for smaller units such as apartments and starter homes. I do in fact see a lot of apartments going up, and I suppose "starter homes," though the kind that costs more than the median home price for the area (which is not especially high). And then the expectation is that when Xers and Millenials get older, they'll buy the sprawling houses that are currently occupied by boomers? These houses seem very large, and I don't really understand them.

I sort of get what's happening in places like Arizona and Florida, where a larger than usual retiree cohort wants to live somewhere warm in a nice new easy to maintain house. I guess Phoenix is still adding subdivisions by sheer force of cheapness?

Some of these places have no local jobs, but serve as commuterville for places that do.

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