Is it just me or do most "blue" areas have expensive real estate while "red" areas have

[pstokely]

cheap real estate?

[brentspeak]

1. Not really

Some of the most Republican areas in NJ are towns like Franklin Lakes and Saddle River, where the homes average over $1 million.

[eyesroll]

2. I live in Milwaukee, where real estate runs the gamut but is generally cheap.

Milwaukee is very "blue."
Some of the "red" suburbs have much higher real estate prices.

:shrug:

[dsc]

3. Population density have a great deal to do with land values

and since blue areas are more densely populated they are going to have more expensive land. Though as the other responder pointed out some very red suburbs are awfully pricey.

[Leopolds Ghost]

13. That should not be true. As much as blue dems love to keep their urban real estate expensive

Density is a reaction to the market.

If we want people to live in denser urban areas, making them more
expensive (by making density illegal) PREVENTS them from doing so.

It also drives the poor out of cities which most Dems don't care about because they assume that the middle class will replace them. In fact, urban areas are becoming niche markets for wealthy, childless couples and retirees. Everyone else must live in the suburbs, where urbanisation is illegal. Like any banned substance, urban real estate, be it in the suburbs or CBD, is incredibly expensive.

That is the intent of the policy and the policy has been a success.

When are "youse urban Dems" gonna do something about this
that does not penalize the working folk?

[dsc]

21. I live in a town of 50k

hardly a metropolis.

[Leopolds Ghost]

24. My message was for complacent "urban dems" who benefit from the real estate boom in blue areas

And many people seem to think it's good for everybody to have that artificial distinction between expensive "blue" cities and affordable "red" working-class suburbs, as if working-class people hate the city or something.

[Retired AF Dem]

4. It goes both ways

What can really kill potential home ownership is property taxes. Blue areas normally hit harder when it comes to property taxes. My wife and I owns two houses. One in IL and one in AL. The house in IL is a typical three bedroom on a quarter acre of land, property tax $5000 a year. The house in AL is also a typical three bedroom on three acres of land, property tax $168 a year.

[SammyWinstonJack]

9. Bexar County San Antonio Texas typical 4 bdr on average size lot

taxes are $4800/yr and rising. I hear Austin is worse.

[greendog]

5. My county is more than 60% red.

Wanna but one of our "cheap" houses?



Only $7,775,000.

[MadJohnShaft]

6. Evanston, IL - very blue, very expensive

[Critters2]

16. Dupage county--some mix, but mostly expensive

and red as red can be.

[rox63]

7. Urban areas tend to be very blue

Housing in large cities tends to be expensive, because that's where a lot of the jobs are. Therefore, they are often desirable places to live for employment purposes. Suburbs with good school systems tend to be more expensive because they are desirable for families with kids they want to send to those good schools. They also tend to be redder than the cities.

[pstokely]

Any affordable blue areas with good public schools?

[Mz Pip]

SF is very Blue

and outrageously expensive.

There are a couple of Sacramento suburbs that are very expensive and very Red.

There are rich Democrats and rich Republicans.

Nebraska has some very cheap real estate and it's as Red as it gets, though.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[Gregorian]

8. Here's my take on it.

And I tend to agree with you.

I see two big contributors to higher real estate values. One is proximity to universities. The other is marine influence.

That tends to translate to more liberal ownership. It's just my limited experience while searching for real estate.

[Jamastiene]

10. Yep.

That's why I live in this piss poor little county in North Carolina instead of moving to a blue area and being free. It's like this:

If you make less and your cost of living locally is less, chances are you won't be able to afford to save up to move without really looking at it long term and really scrimping.

If you make more and your cost of living is more, chances are you can pick up and move to a small town a lot easier than the other way around simply because it would cost less to leave the city. And usually, cities are blue and rural areas are red.

In my case where I live, it appears sort of blue, but upon closer inspection, it's blood red.

I believe your theory has a solid basis. Average price to own a home where I live is about $50,000, whereas the same amount of square footage in California or some other great blue area would be in the hundreds of thousands if not in the millions. It's sad but true.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

11. Orange County, California tends to be pretty Republican and has expensive real estate

It's been trending more blue lately but Republicans still outnumber Dems, I think. You've got ultra expensive private enclaves like Coto de Caza, a small city of about 15,000 with armed guards, checkpoints, and walls around it where the median income is over $140,000 per household.

[donheld]

12. That's not totally true at all.

Colorado Douglas county has some of the most expensive real estate in the state. The county is Blood red. Denver county has FAR less expensive real estate is deep blue.

[jazzjunkysue]

14. yep. Very uneducated often means very red. And the coasts are

more educated.

[Leopolds Ghost]

15. Whatever happened to class consciousness in the Dem party?

[Clark2008]

17. It's because it costs less to live in rural areas - less amenities.

Every state is some shade of purple, with the cities (more expensive) being more blue and the rural areas (less expensive) being more red.

[TahitiNut]

18. Pig stys vs. Donkey pastures ... you decide.

:rofl:

[Orangepeel]

19. blue areas are where the people are

blue areas are, in general, much more heavily populated than red areas. Real estate is more expensive when there are more people to bid on it.

[PegDAC]

20. Not necessarily.

Coastal SC is deep red, but also has an abundance of multi-million dollar homes on the beach or other deepwater access. Isle of Palms and Daniel Island are priced upwards of $5M.

[ShaneGR]

22. Exhibit A to refute your argument... Florida

Nuff said.

[Raine]

23. Lots of red areas

have very few people in them...rural areas.