Big city lofts cost $1,000/sq. ft
Rural land costs $0.10/sq. ft
Is city life 10,000x better?
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10 sats \ 2 replies \ @cryotosensei 28 Mar
Yes, quality of life gets better with city life. Because more people, more chances for dynamic interactions and chances for cross-pollination of ideas.
Unless you are into a self-sufficient lifestyle and prefer to eke out your own existence
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24 sats \ 1 reply \ @kr OP 28 Mar
True, but how true?
Are you cross-pollinating more ideas with people in your town/city? Or are you sharing more ideas with strangers on the internet?
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei 28 Mar
Both.
Because I’m extroverted and meet new people on my job. And Singapore is a compact country - it’s not difficult to meet new people to exchange ideas (even for a time-pressed father like me).
My wife lives in the Japanese countryside (inaka), so my offline life crawls to a standstill every Dec I stay at my parents-in-law’s place. So I think my offline life in the city is more happening than that at her territory
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27 sats \ 2 replies \ @User21000000 28 Mar
No I don’t think so I rather coastal but it’s often priced similar to city.
Rural coastal is a sweet spot
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0 sats \ 1 reply \ @Undisciplined 28 Mar
Isn't there a ton of rural coastal land in Australia? I thought everyone pretty much lived in that one corner of the country.
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34 sats \ 0 replies \ @User21000000 28 Mar
Yeah it’s true the whole population mostly is on the coastlines
So finding rural small affordable coastal is hard
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20 sats \ 0 replies \ @OT 28 Mar
I like living somewhere in between. Smaller towns have a more friendly community and also most of the conveniences of a city. This is my opinion for my age and because we have kids. If I were back in my 20's I'd still probably prefer the city.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Butterfinger 28 Mar
If you find a woman willing to go with you to rural you won the lottery
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @BallLightning 28 Mar
Cities are more effective. If the roads were private and not subsidized by the government I would guess that the difference would be even bigger (I am guessing that you are from usa and talking only about this country by the measures you are using).
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @suraz 28 Mar
At the end of the day, it's not about which life is 'better' but about why people invest where they do.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Solomonsatoshi 28 Mar
City is less desirable when the next pandemic comes- possibly within a decade.
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0 sats \ 2 replies \ @grayruby 28 Mar
You know I am not voting for the city but that is not really a fair comparison. You still need to build once you buy the rural land whereas the loft is move in ready.
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40 sats \ 1 reply \ @kr OP 28 Mar
Adding lot cabin on 50-100 acres of land would still make it ~$0.10/sq. ft
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10 sats \ 0 replies \ @grayruby 28 Mar
Fair enough but most people don’t want to live in a log cabin. It is hard to compare but clearly you can get a lot more for your money in rural areas.
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0 sats \ 9 replies \ @Undisciplined 28 Mar
Revealed preference says "Yes".
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25 sats \ 8 replies \ @kr OP 28 Mar
Who revealed their preference?
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110 sats \ 7 replies \ @Undisciplined 28 Mar
All of the market actors who bought, sold, and developed the current set of real estate options.
It's really not the right comparison. I was just being cheeky. You have to take the costs of the entire lifestyle bundles in both places. It's not important what the relative costs of individual components are.
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23 sats \ 6 replies \ @kr OP 28 Mar
Ah got it. What else would you include in a lifestyle bundle?
Why not?
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7 sats \ 5 replies \ @Undisciplined 28 Mar
Imagine I compared how long it takes to get to a great restaurant. Let's say it's a two minute walk in the city vs a two hour drive in the country. Would it make sense to ask if the country is 60x better?
You have to include everything that impacts quality of life (way too many things to list). The easiest proxy would be total cost of living as a fraction of attainable salary (or something like that). I doubt you could get to 10x with that comparison, but maybe 5x is realistic.
Do people find city living to be 5x better than country? Apparently they do, since most people make that choice (revealed preference).
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37 sats \ 4 replies \ @kr OP 28 Mar
In your restaurant example, it would make sense to ask that question but I think you meant to say “are cities 60x better?”
it’s not true for all rural properties, but you can find many small towns where food/energy/travel times/hospital/schools/internet are similar
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0 sats \ 2 replies \ @unschooled 28 Mar
A loft compared to rural land may be if it doesn't have shelter.
But an enterprising person could vastly outperform the city folk from an ROI point of view
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0 sats \ 1 reply \ @kr OP 28 Mar
Add a small log cabin to a large plot of land (50-100 acres) and you’d still be around $0.10/sq. ft
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @unschooled 28 Mar
I'd bet the rural land will almost always be valued higher by someone with a low enough time preference and who is ok with putting in a bit of elbow grease. I guess nowadays there's less of that.
If I had the capital I'd do it. I much prefer country to city.
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0 sats \ 2 replies \ @economy 28 Mar
The price difference is staggering, but does it mean city life is 10,000 times better? Not necessarily. Urban living offers convenience, job opportunities, and entertainment, but it also comes with high costs, congestion, and a faster pace of life. Rural areas provide space, tranquility, and affordability, but may lack access to amenities and career options. It all comes down to personal preference—some thrive in the city, while others prefer the open space of the countryside. Price alone doesn’t define quality of life.
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0 sats \ 1 reply \ @clr 28 Mar
Thank you ChatGPT.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @economy 28 Mar
How ignorant you are.
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