The stupidity is fewer and farther between. In the Memphis area it was about 1/2 price to live in the rural areas. Anyone with the means to do so, did. To the point that they put a moratorium on building outside the city because the city started to collapse... People just moved a little bit farther. No grass grows under many people's feet here in Missoula to get out to the rural areas. Though the reason people are staying here is because taxes have increased about 350% driving real estate values down even more than they would be any way because of the market and people are upside down in them and can't afford to swallow the loss. Meanwhile people in the valley are concerned about what to do because their property values keep going up and their taxes are getting unreasonable based on the assessed value of the homes they have owned for decades. Everyone I know is trying to figure out a way out. The city spent the majority of the tax money on bailing out their buddies bad business investments, art projects and lawsuits to hide their dealings from the feds. I'll be gone in 2 weeks, I'm not shedding any tears and am giddy at the thought of getting out of this place. We can't sell our house even though we have plenty of equity in it, we're refinancing at a lower rate and longer term, to drop the payment down to something around what it will rent for for the time being. I hate cities, will never live in another one.
P.S. When I moved here I lived in one of the least populated counties in the nation, in rough cut lumber cabin with propane lights and a hot water heater that required starting a fire. Had a generator but it only ran the well, had to pull start it if you wanted water. I like electricity and running water, I can survive without but other than that, it was nice.
or 1/4 acre and a Howitzer....
