Posted on 07/23/2020 6:41:03 AM PDT by cuban leaf
I moved from Seattle to a "hobby farm" in rural Kentucky nine years ago. Two years ago, my daughter and her husband followed me here and bought a spectacular home east of Louisville for around $600k that would have cost millions in King county, WA. They were able to come here because his job allowed him to Work From Home (WFH) full time - and still earn Seattle wages.
I've said for years that once technology allowed the concept of WFH to reach critical mass, we'd be seeing our cities drain into the burbs and rural areas of the nation. Little did I know the catalyst would be not technology, but a ginned up over-response to another flu pandemic scare.
But here we are.
And now my other daughter and her husband, who were solidly planted in Seattle because he owned his own business, just visited her sister. They were blown away by the people, the environment, and the prices. Even though they were here during the most miserable hot and muggy weather that we can have, they said it was completely acceptable. Now they are looking for a home here.
But why can they do it? Because all of his employees are working from home now and he's seeing no drop in productivity. And now he doesn't have to be the "first to arrive and last to leave" at the office, which actually frees up a lot of his time.
But wait, there's more!
He was here in Kentucky looking to hire some more WFH people. He said he has hired his last Seattle employee because they are simply too expensive. He will not let any of them go, but when one goes, he will replace them with an equally qualified candidate from a "lower tier" market, like Louisville, Nashville, etc.
But wait! There is even more!
I've been trying to get electicity to my new building here in Kentucky, but there is a huge construction boom going on right now and electricians are swamped. Even the local Lowe's has actually run out of some construction materials like 2x4 studs. And to drive the point home, when I called the local electrical inspector, he confirmed that there has been a boom going on since late last year but it really ramped up after the lockdown started.
But here's the interesting part and what inspired this vanity:
I told the inspector my theory about the pandemic causing WFH to boom and that I expected it to impact the rural areas of Kentucky. His response was that it is already happening in our rural county. He went into detail about all the inspections he's been on and the reasons for them - people from cities moving here permanently. He spoke of old buildings being revamped and new electric requiring inspection, new construction in the sticks, etc. He then went on to discuss his predictions that mirrored mine: We're going to see real estate price hikes in these rural areas as more and more city dwellers realize what we have out here and couple that with their newfound (and in many cases, permanent) ability to WFH. It's changing our culture.
And if they are moving here, they are leaving somewhere else. I believe we are seeing a fundamental shift in the living arrangements and lifestyles of the American public similar to what we saw when our boys returned from fighting in WWII. It's going to leave a mark.
But this time it's not suburbs. I believe it will be many, many new cities around the nation with populations under 100,000 within their outlying areas. The needs and culture of the inhabitants will be fed and supported by "quaint" downtown cores for personal contact with other residents, and the internet and companies like Amazon to meet their general shopping and other needs. And they will work for companies all over the world, but never leave their small town except when they want to.
Funny you should mention books. I did an inventory last year for my insurance agent & myself.
I have over 600 paperbacks & over 300 hard cover books.
I don’t think there is a library in our small valley, unless you count the Senior Center, which is closed due to virus.
We have a Dollar General-—a Family Dollar—a Subway—& 2 gas stations which are total PIRATES.
Quiet-—property taxes are UNDER $760 annually. Power bills under $100 monthly.
A push for ‘piped water’ for the entire valley was pushed about 6 ears ago.
I got beat down heavily.
We LIKE our wells—and we don’t need chlorinated water for our animals.
A push for ‘piped water’ for the entire valley was pushed about 6 ears ago.
It got beat down heavily.
We LIKE our wells—and we don’t need chlorinated water for our animals.
We live in appalachia on a small farm in a 400 person town with zero diversity and we love it.
I’ve been living exactly that for 30 odd years. It ain’t fun.
Triple that is what I pay a month.
cities are “history” ...no reason at all whatsoever to concentrate people, material, capital and buildings on rivers, roads and rail arteries today.
Their costs go up exponentially with height and complexity.
No need ever anywhere to again build “underground railways/subways” anywhere for masses of people to spend 1-2 hours a day commuting
a new world is HERE
“A big downside to all this, is after corps have outsourced to us country folk working remotely, it’s only a small step to outsource offshore remotely...”
You can work from home in Costa Rica. That’s not necessarily a downside.
But there is no question that this phenomenon will have unforseen worldwide transformational consequences. With 5G coming it will only accelerate.
I’m trying to figure out how to make some money by getting ahead of that curve. Any ideas?
Triple that is what I pay a month.
My dad has an annuity that pays him about $11,000 a year. It’s sole function is to pay his property taxes, which are just under that. Well, he died a few weeks ago so we’re discussing with my mother...
I don’t think much about 5G. We’re still lucky to get 3G out here in the sticks. Most of my cell conversations are over wireless LAN.
I have been watching Starlink with great interest. I work at a rural hospital and a lot of our support staff are working from home. Some over satellite, which really is awful even when compared to our rickety DSL locally. Plus our DSL is through Frontier which is in bankruptcy...
I’m hoping there’ll be a mobile version of Starlink eventually - that could make mobile healthcare an interesting option that’s not practical now because you can’t connect back to an EHR.
Of course, I’m in WV. It’s not only rural but the terrain is far from flat. Makes any sort of terrestrial wireless impractical to distribute and doesn’t make any wired solution that much easier either.
At my company we are in the middle of doing a cost analysis right now. We have all moved to WFH and have actually seen an UPTICK in productivity (not as much in office BS sessions LOL). We are pretty much down to deciding whether we want to just completely close our office, or downsize to one with an office for our SVP and a Conference room for BD and meetings that really need to be face-to-face.
HAH ! The places my CCP is not reciprocal are places I wouldn’t want to go in the first place. Piss on ‘em!
As for property taxes, I love the $590 a year I pay here in Central Alabama.
When you come to Seattle, please don’t come to Whidbey Island and feed the deer. :(
I used to ride my motorcycle through whidbey island. Did you see Firesign Theater when they performed there?
My daughter was in a band that was a play on the phrase “deception pass”.
I started my business from the local Panera Bread. Free refills on coffee, so it was great. A customer who was in Panera was an author. I could base my headquarters in La Plata, Missouri or Limerick, Maine... both small towns.
“Shoes for industry!’’
“Shoes for the dead!”
Shitlib California trash come here to North Idaho in the staggeringly beautiful 2 and a half seasons out the year and decide to buy in. Then comes winter, January thaw, more winter and then mud season. The For Sale signs pop up like mushrooms after a Spring rain. It’s especially true for those who buy in around Priest Lake. 4 to 6 feet of persistent snow isn’t unusual.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.