> I've never found what he is saying to be true at all, even in the real estate market. I live in a 40-year-old house that I bought 5 years ago, and its value has only increased. Before that I lived in another 40-year-old house in a thriving and busy market. Some of the most expensive places to live in my area date to the 1930's-1960's - I know, because my realtor showed them to me last time we moved.
There's no contradiction between an area being blighted and expensive. I've seen incredibly crappy neighborhoods in Boston, Chicago, Dallas and New York that were extremely expensive and clearly was in need of work.
> There's no contradiction between an area being blighted and expensive.
I'm not sure what kind of "blight" you are talking about, but the author was focused on real estate values for older locations being very low:
>Half the original structures were so devalued that they were torn down and replaced with surface parking lots
>The building had been on the market for a very long time with no bids. It eventually sold a few months ago for $65,000. For comparison, here’s a review of a $65,000 luxury 2021 Ram pickup truck.
Yeah, if you define "blight" as "I don't like how the place looks," then there are probably a lot of "extremely expensive" places that are "blighted." But I don't think that's what the author was talking about.
There's no contradiction between an area being blighted and expensive. I've seen incredibly crappy neighborhoods in Boston, Chicago, Dallas and New York that were extremely expensive and clearly was in need of work.