Anti-capitalist populists like to tell Americans what they want to hear rather than the truth. And so many of them were quite upset at commentator Ben Shapiro‘s recent contention that New Yorkers who struggle with affordability should move.
“If you’re a young person and you can’t afford to live here, then maybe you should not live here,” Shapiro reasonably told the hosts of the Triggernometry podcast. “I mean, that is a real thing. I know we live in a society that says you deserve to live where you grew up, but the reality is that the history of America is almost literally the opposite of that.”
The post-liberal “heritage American” NatCon faction on social media immediately piled on. “If we want Democrats to have a super majority, then this is the message for the GOP to adopt,” Mike Cernovich wrote. “Tell people they need to move. Don’t form family bonds. Worship the banks and big corporations. My goodness!”
If there’s a better way to “worship” a bank than borrowing $800,000 on a 30-year mortgage at 6.5% for a 900-square-foot home in Park Slope, I have yet to hear of it. Though no one, as far as I can tell, is arguing that the GOP should adopt “moving” as a central message. Nonetheless, Shapiro’s advice is not only sound. It is a longtime American practice.
It should be noted, though, that it’s a myth that all, or perhaps even most, people grousing about housing costs in expensive metro corridors are native to those cities. Most of these people would not surrender familial and communal bonds if they relocated to less expensive cities.
For obvious reasons, around 70% of the population in Washington isn’t native to the district. Regrettably, I lived in that area for years, and I’m not sure I ever worked with anyone born in the city. The median sale price in the area is now $675,000. The national average is $435,000. So, go home. Nothing compels you to be a congressional aide in one of the world’s most expensive cities. The average house in Cincinnati costs $288,000, and it’s $228,000 in Pittsburgh. Those are nice cities. They have churches and community centers and plenty of good people.
In New York City, a significant percentage of the population is also non-native, either from other cities, states, or countries. Zohran Mamdani likely lost the native New York vote, yet still won the mayorship. Most newcomers have no generational ties to New York, and they could go back home and live with their families, find better housing options, and build community.
New York is home to the biggest immigrant population in the country. I was born in a neighborhood in Queens that’s seen waves of newcomers come and go over the past 50 years. That’s good. We don’t want immigrants clustering in one place.
The average home price in New York is $735,000, and it’s not much better in outlying suburbs or even exurbs. None of that is even considering the sky-high cost of living in the area. Years ago, a couple starting out could comfortably live in many towns on Long Island. Not today. You’re paying three-quarters of a million dollars for a new house, not to mention outlandish property taxes, in any neighborhood with a decent school district. For that kind of money, a young couple could get a veritable mansion with a pool, parks, low taxes, more opportunity, and a thriving school district in a Dallas or Indianapolis suburb. There’s nothing wrong with pointing that out.
There is no public policy solution that is ever going to decrease prices in NYC to a reasonable level for a middle-class family. This is mostly because the place is full. It’s economics. It’s physics. It’s math. And the people who worked and bought homes in desirable areas don’t want to see their investments depreciated by endless construction. You probably wouldn’t, either.
Besides, migration is an American institution. Most of our ancestors fled from elsewhere, and when they got here, they continued to move West. California’s population exploded after World War II, when millions flooded the state. Over the past few decades, Americans have been moving south. Florida and Texas have been overrun with newcomers over the past 50 years. Every generation transforms the country. Shapiro, not incidentally, moved from California to Florida.
In 1950, Detroit was a booming industrial city with 1.8 million residents, while Phoenix had 106,000 residents. Today, 640,000 people live in Detroit and 1.6 million in Phoenix. In 1950, Houston was the 14th-largest city in the country, neck and neck with Buffalo. Today, Houston is the fourth-largest metro in the United States, while Buffalo ranks 81st. You think moving is a new thing?
Despite popular perceptions, we’re moving less than our parents. In 1970, around 20% of Americans moved from their homes each year, with 3.4% moving out of state. Now, 7.7% of people move, with 1.7% moving out of state.
Families aren’t worse off than they were in the costly, poorly run, or dying areas. It’s not an accident that areas with the most new constructions are in North Carolina, Texas, Arizona, Tennessee, and Florida. There’s not a single Northeastern metro area in the top 20 in new construction. And outside Columbus, Ohio, there isn’t one in the Rust Belt. Convincing people to stay in stagnant areas with limited economic opportunities or crushing costs only inhibits couples from forming larger families. Dependency, often the other choice, is a way to destroy families, not build them.
There are, of course, a host of policies that drive housing prices up across the nation. Rezone, deregulate, get rid of tariffs on lumber and steel, and build more homes. Pass school choice laws so public schools don’t artificially inflate the price of homes in good districts. Get a hold of inflation and bring down interest rates. There are plenty of metro areas that could benefit from more housing.
But in some places, it is unlikely anything will make a significant dent in costs, and people have to come to terms with reality. We all make trade-offs. The problem with economic statists is that they think the state can, and should, provide a solution to all your problems.
WHAT CAN TRUMP DO TO HELP COST OF LIVING BEFORE MIDTERM ELECTIONS?
Young socialists demand that the government come up with a magical formula that makes Brooklyn apartments affordable. It’s never going to happen. Populists want a magic formula that will reinvigorate the Rust Belt towns and bring back their former glory. In most cases, that’s not going to happen, either.
Whether pointing this out is a good political message or not is largely irrelevant. It’s simply the truth.