“It occurs to me this observation bears considerable reflecting on and thinking about.”
Heck, I’ve thought about it just regarding Los Angeles. Like most cities it was built from the center-out. Now the places left to live (which aren’t many) are either 40 to 60 miles from the center (towards the northwest and southeast), or in very, very, expensive enclaves which have both the money and political power to stay reasonably safe (areas of the West Side, Beverley Hills, etc.).
That’s it - the rest is simply GONE.
“Yo, gimme yo money!”
— right in front of Joe Friday’s L.A. office.