Some Americans Flee Collapsing Cities for Rural Areas
January 30th, 2020Via: Reuters:
Cheap housing, deep unease and intense resilience – all forces that are driving a clutch of Americans to swap city life for a fresh start off grid and far from civilisation.
Some are survivalists, among them high fliers who fear a looming, urban catastrophe and the mayhem that might follow.
Others want a greener, gentler life untainted by the malign forces of capitalism and uncertainty of mainstream politics.
Whichever camp, realtors say the new dropouts are not “crackpots” and often include affluent professionals whose run for the hills has boosted rural land values and started to change their property market.
“I’ve had hedge-fund managers and billionaires that have made purchases, and they all have concerns about the direction of the economy and social stability,” said John E. Haynes, president of Retreat Realty in North Carolina.
“We’re on that upward trend,” he said. “Inventory of that land on the market is tighter.”
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Idaho in particular recorded a big influx.
The state had one of the top U.S. growth rates in 2015-16, driven in part by escapees from California and neighbouring Washington state, according to Boise State assistant professor Jeffrey Lyons.
Disaffected Californians make up a substantial number of clients for Black Rifle Real Estate, which says online that it helps people “Flee the City to the freedom and safety of Rural America and the famed American Redoubt.”
Broker Todd Savage said his business is at an all-time high, driven by frustration with how many U.S. cities are governed.
“Most of our clients are now looking to sell their postage-stamp size properties … and make what we call a ‘Strategic Relocation’ to a free state,” Savage said in an email.
