Let's brainstorm for one city at a time.
I'm legitimately curious what happened in DC and Manhattan during the 1990s.
I know Manhattan started recovering starting around 1994. I noticed that a lot of my friends and classmates were moving to Manhattan in 1994. My cousin moved to NY in 1994 and bought a place in 1997 which was prescient.
Crime also fell unexpectedly in 1993 (Steven Levitt, Freakonomics). Manhattan became safer after 1993 and was very safe by 2003.
So low crime, higher population = higher rents, cost of living, etc.
Maybe DC experience something similar? I think it did because the demographics of the city also changed. More transplants, fewer Redskin fans living in DC?
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DC has always been kind of expensive to live in. Since its the nations capital. And there have been long term reestate speculations there.
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