In California, it would be the land itself that is valuable - either for housing development or its value as farm land - some of the most valuable land in the world b/c it can produce two or three crops/year b/c of year round good weather.
The California pricks have been covering every open space in east Idaho cities with huge apartment developments. Farm fields are disappearing for houses and apartments. When I first moved to Pocatello, there was a very strict limit on development that is tied to water resources. No water, no development. Somehow, the developers have found a way around that restraint. At the same time those apartments are going up, there are closures of businesses. Where are the apartment dwellers going to earn enough to pay the high rents? Where are they going to shop?