One of the most common criticisms I've received when my content gets posted on other channels is in the context of real estate posting. Critics will ask, "how deep in Coon Town is this house?" They'll speculate, "that town must be in Niggerville."
If that were the case, if a house being cheap implies that it's in a highly black area, then we'd expect the correlation between how white an area is and the median home price in that area to be positive. Heck, if it's a general rule, we'd expect the correlation to be both strong and positive.
However, when we check the data, that's not what we find. I ran data from different census levels, assessing the correlation between the percentage of an area that is non-Hispanic White and the median cost of a house in said area.
At high levels--regional, division, and state--the correlation is fairly strong but negative; that is, it's significantly cheaper on average to live in states with a larger white population.
At lower levels--counties, places, zip code tabulation areas, county subdivisions, and census tracts--the trend is weak but universally negative. The pattern tends to be that the trend line starts low, the least white places are cheap, rises significantly as you approach the national average of 60% white, and then it declines, with the whitest areas pulling the trend line under the starting point.
It's definitely not wrong to say that areas with a large amount of blacks tend to be cheap. However, areas with a mixture of whites and other races are what tend to pull the line up, with 90% or higher white areas being even cheaper than the mostly non-white areas on average.
An area being cheap does not imply that it is Coontown. Many of the cheapest areas in terms of real estate are 90+% white.
If that were the case, if a house being cheap implies that it's in a highly black area, then we'd expect the correlation between how white an area is and the median home price in that area to be positive. Heck, if it's a general rule, we'd expect the correlation to be both strong and positive.
However, when we check the data, that's not what we find. I ran data from different census levels, assessing the correlation between the percentage of an area that is non-Hispanic White and the median cost of a house in said area.
At high levels--regional, division, and state--the correlation is fairly strong but negative; that is, it's significantly cheaper on average to live in states with a larger white population.
At lower levels--counties, places, zip code tabulation areas, county subdivisions, and census tracts--the trend is weak but universally negative. The pattern tends to be that the trend line starts low, the least white places are cheap, rises significantly as you approach the national average of 60% white, and then it declines, with the whitest areas pulling the trend line under the starting point.
It's definitely not wrong to say that areas with a large amount of blacks tend to be cheap. However, areas with a mixture of whites and other races are what tend to pull the line up, with 90% or higher white areas being even cheaper than the mostly non-white areas on average.
An area being cheap does not imply that it is Coontown. Many of the cheapest areas in terms of real estate are 90+% white.
Dull Academic Incessant Liturgical Yapping: Philosophical Orations on Order & Reaction
Photo
I've put together a handy series of maps to illustrate this data. There's plenty of mostly white areas that are affordable.
Up next, I'll post a full list of 90+% non-Hispanic white counties where the average house costs less than $100k; only posting by the most strict standards because this is already a 201 item list; loosening up the standards would make it far too big:
Up next, I'll post a full list of 90+% non-Hispanic white counties where the average house costs less than $100k; only posting by the most strict standards because this is already a 201 item list; loosening up the standards would make it far too big:
Dull Academic Incessant Liturgical Yapping: Philosophical Orations on Order & Reaction
Photo
Marion, AL, Clay, AR, Fulton, AR, Lawrence, AR, Randolph, AR, Sharp, AR, Brantley, GA, Adams, IA, Appanoose, IA, Audubon, IA, Calhoun, IA, Decatur, IA, Greene, IA, Hancock, IA, Hardin, IA, Ida, IA, Keokuk, IA, Lucas, IA, Monona, IA, Montgomery, IA, Page, IA, Pocahontas, IA, Van_Buren, IA, Wayne, IA, Christian, IL, Clay, IL, Crawford, IL, Edgar, IL, Edwards, IL, Fayette, IL, Franklin, IL, Fulton, IL, Gallatin, IL, Greene, IL, Hamilton, IL, Hancock, IL, Hardin, IL, Henderson, IL, Marion, IL, Mason, IL, Montgomery, IL, Pike, IL, Richland, IL, Saline, IL, Scott, IL, Stark, IL, Wabash, IL, Wayne, IL, White, IL, Blackford, IN, Crawford, IN, Fayette, IN, Jay, IN, Randolph, IN, Sullivan, IN, Vermillion, IN, Cloud, KS, Comanche, KS, Decatur, KS, Greenwood, KS, Hodgeman, KS, Jewell, KS, Kingman, KS, Lincoln, KS, Mitchell, KS, Morris, KS, Osborne, KS, Phillips, KS, Republic, KS, Rooks, KS, Smith, KS, Wallace, KS, Washington, KS, Wilson, KS, Woodson, KS, Ballard, KY, Bath, KY, Bell, KY, Bracken, KY, Breathitt, KY, Butler, KY, Caldwell, KY, Carlisle, KY, Clay, KY, Clinton, KY, Crittenden, KY, Edmonson, KY, Elliott, KY, Estill, KY, Fleming, KY, Floyd, KY, Green, KY, Harlan, KY, Hart, KY, Jackson, KY, Knott, KY, Knox, KY, Lawrence, KY, Lee, KY, Leslie, KY, Letcher, KY, Lewis, KY, Livingston, KY, Magoffin, KY, Menifee, KY, Metcalfe, KY, Morgan, KY, Muhlenberg, KY, Nicholas, KY, Ohio, KY, Perry, KY, Pike, KY, Robertson, KY, Rockcastle, KY, Wayne, KY, Wolfe, KY, Clare, MI, Gogebic, MI, Iron, MI, Ontonagon, MI, Atchison, MO, Barton, MO, Carroll, MO, Grundy, MO, Harrison, MO, Hickory, MO, Holt, MO, Iron, MO, Knox, MO, Lewis, MO, Linn, MO, Mercer, MO, Putnam, MO, Reynolds, MO, Ripley, MO, Schuyler, MO, Shelby, MO, Worth, MO, Liberty, MT, Emmons, ND, Grant, ND, Logan, ND, McIntosh, ND, Nelson, ND, Slope, ND, Steele, ND, Antelope, NE, Blaine, NE, Boyd, NE, Brown, NE, Franklin, NE, Furnas, NE, Garden, NE, Grant, NE, Greeley, NE, Hayes, NE, Hitchcock, NE, Keya_Paha, NE, Nance, NE, Nuckolls, NE, Pawnee, NE, Richardson, NE, Rock, NE, Thayer, NE, Webster, NE, Wheeler, NE, Allegany, NY, St, Lawrence, NY, Crawford, OH, Vinton, OH, Cambria, PA, Cameron, PA, McKean, PA, Venango, PA, Campbell, SD, Faulk, SD, McPherson, SD, Miner, SD, Benton, TN, Hancock, TN, Buchanan, VA, Dickenson, VA, Lee, VA, Norton, VA, Russell, VA, Wise, VA, Boone, WV, Braxton, WV, Brooke, WV, Clay, WV, Fayette, WV, Hancock, WV, Lincoln, WV, Logan, WV, Mingo, WV, Nicholas, WV, Ritchie, WV, Tyler, WV, Webster, WV, Wirt, WV, Wyoming, WV.
Forwarded from Sol
There's a chat? Can I join?
Forwarded from Wayland
When my wife and I first went to the Finger Lakes region in New York I was shocked by the housing prices there. So much under $200k in beautiful wine country.
Homes are like 3x right across the Canadian border.
Homes are like 3x right across the Canadian border.
Wayland
When my wife and I first went to the Finger Lakes region in New York I was shocked by the housing prices there. So much under $200k in beautiful wine country. Homes are like 3x right across the Canadian border.
There's even a couple seemingly decent enough homes in my price range
To celebrate 100 subscribers, I'm inviting you all for a weekend getaway at the newly purchased Daily Poor Conference Center:
https://daniellevirshek.exprealty.com/property/138-50119741-21800-wolf-lake-road-watersmeet-MI-49969
https://daniellevirshek.exprealty.com/property/138-50119741-21800-wolf-lake-road-watersmeet-MI-49969
A passage from Lon Emerick's Going Back to Central: On the Road in Search of the Past in Michigan's Upper Peninsula:
You can tell a lot about the character of local inhabitants and what they value by what they do with their most precious natural endowment, the lakeshore. I take a short stroll on the village shoreline and am impressed: there is an attractive public park with a marina, boat launch, benches, picnic tables, a walking path and a large new bandshell. A nearby poster lists the scheduled summer performances and I note that White Water, the Premo family band from Amasa, gave a concert here in early August. Dean Premo had encouraged me to talk with Steve and Roy Koski when I went through L'Anse on my pilgrimage and, glancing at my watch, I see that I must hurry over to Indian Country Sports to meet them.
A fact for the trivia contest: Indian Country Sports, located across from the marina and waterfront park, is the only sporting goods business in the United States that is also a working lighthouse. Let me go even further out on a yardarm and make this grandiose claim: it is the only sporting goods store in the entire world that is also a lighthouse. A working lighthouse. The United States Coast Guard certified the Indian Country Sports Light in 1998.
I must confess that I knew nothing about the uniqueness of Steve Koski’s store when I met with him, his father, Roy, and his mother, Eila. People in the Superior Peninsula are invariably friendly and welcoming and the Koskis are no exception. Almost instantly I feel I am among friends and they field my questions without hesitation or suspicion.
Roy tells me that the Koski forebears came to this region in the 1920s, as did so many people of Finnish heritage, to eke out a living by farming, working in the woods and commercial fishing. The settlers liked the simple outdoor life here and put down roots.
“It’s a great place to raise kids,” Steve says. Roy and Eila nod in agreement.
“There is a sense of community here,” Roy adds. In my travels in the U.P., I heard these comments again and again.
“How have things changed over the years?" I ask. Without a pause, both Steve and Roy respond that wealthy people from outside the area are buying up land, often at inflated prices that raise the local property taxes. The first thing some new comers do is put up “No trespassing” signs, blocking the access of longtime residents to hunting and fishing spots that they have used for generations. Then, once the newcomers discover that the wide variety of supplies and services they are accustomed to in more populated areas is not available locally, they clamor for changes. These complaints are heard more frequently throughout the Upper Peninsula. Times they are a-changing and many of us who chose to live here long ago find the values of a simpler life we sought in this isolated region are under siege.
While Steve attends to his customers, I wander around the store with Roy. With the exception of bookstores and bakeries, the only kind of business in which I like to browse is a sporting goods store. I look at hunting bows and backpacks, fishing flies and flotation devices. I love it. Roy then asks casually if I would like to go up into the lighthouse tower. I look at him in astonishment, wondering if he is putting me on.
“No. really." Roy says, "See that metal spiral ladder? Let's go up and I’ll show you around."
Mounting the ladder, I find myself stepping onto a narrow platform in the light chamber. A gull flies past and its raucous laugh seems a response to my incredulous stare.
“The tower is forty-four feet high," says Roy, “and it has the classic octagonal shape."
“This is fantastic!" I reply, gazing out at the sweeping view of Keweenaw Bay. When I express my amazement at the workmanship, Roy thanks me and then, softly, almost self-effacingly, he tells me that he built it.
You can tell a lot about the character of local inhabitants and what they value by what they do with their most precious natural endowment, the lakeshore. I take a short stroll on the village shoreline and am impressed: there is an attractive public park with a marina, boat launch, benches, picnic tables, a walking path and a large new bandshell. A nearby poster lists the scheduled summer performances and I note that White Water, the Premo family band from Amasa, gave a concert here in early August. Dean Premo had encouraged me to talk with Steve and Roy Koski when I went through L'Anse on my pilgrimage and, glancing at my watch, I see that I must hurry over to Indian Country Sports to meet them.
A fact for the trivia contest: Indian Country Sports, located across from the marina and waterfront park, is the only sporting goods business in the United States that is also a working lighthouse. Let me go even further out on a yardarm and make this grandiose claim: it is the only sporting goods store in the entire world that is also a lighthouse. A working lighthouse. The United States Coast Guard certified the Indian Country Sports Light in 1998.
I must confess that I knew nothing about the uniqueness of Steve Koski’s store when I met with him, his father, Roy, and his mother, Eila. People in the Superior Peninsula are invariably friendly and welcoming and the Koskis are no exception. Almost instantly I feel I am among friends and they field my questions without hesitation or suspicion.
Roy tells me that the Koski forebears came to this region in the 1920s, as did so many people of Finnish heritage, to eke out a living by farming, working in the woods and commercial fishing. The settlers liked the simple outdoor life here and put down roots.
“It’s a great place to raise kids,” Steve says. Roy and Eila nod in agreement.
“There is a sense of community here,” Roy adds. In my travels in the U.P., I heard these comments again and again.
“How have things changed over the years?" I ask. Without a pause, both Steve and Roy respond that wealthy people from outside the area are buying up land, often at inflated prices that raise the local property taxes. The first thing some new comers do is put up “No trespassing” signs, blocking the access of longtime residents to hunting and fishing spots that they have used for generations. Then, once the newcomers discover that the wide variety of supplies and services they are accustomed to in more populated areas is not available locally, they clamor for changes. These complaints are heard more frequently throughout the Upper Peninsula. Times they are a-changing and many of us who chose to live here long ago find the values of a simpler life we sought in this isolated region are under siege.
While Steve attends to his customers, I wander around the store with Roy. With the exception of bookstores and bakeries, the only kind of business in which I like to browse is a sporting goods store. I look at hunting bows and backpacks, fishing flies and flotation devices. I love it. Roy then asks casually if I would like to go up into the lighthouse tower. I look at him in astonishment, wondering if he is putting me on.
“No. really." Roy says, "See that metal spiral ladder? Let's go up and I’ll show you around."
Mounting the ladder, I find myself stepping onto a narrow platform in the light chamber. A gull flies past and its raucous laugh seems a response to my incredulous stare.
“The tower is forty-four feet high," says Roy, “and it has the classic octagonal shape."
“This is fantastic!" I reply, gazing out at the sweeping view of Keweenaw Bay. When I express my amazement at the workmanship, Roy thanks me and then, softly, almost self-effacingly, he tells me that he built it.
In my dictionary of the regional lexicon, after the Finnish word, SISU, it says, "See Roy Koski.” Patience. Courage. Endurance. It seems that Roy Koski built this amazing structure in part to prove the physicians at Mayo Clinic wrong in their dire predictions about his future. Following extensive surgery for a shoulder injury, Roy was told he would never again be able to use his arm for his beloved carpentry work. What did he do? Sit at home and lament his fate? No. Mr. Roy Koski got out his tools and undertook a major construction job: building a lighthouse tower on his son’s store.
“And you know what?" he says with a twinkle in his eyes, “The shoulder works good.” SISU!
“And you know what?" he says with a twinkle in his eyes, “The shoulder works good.” SISU!
Dull Academic Incessant Liturgical Yapping: Philosophical Orations on Order & Reaction
In my dictionary of the regional lexicon, after the Finnish word, SISU, it says, "See Roy Koski.” Patience. Courage. Endurance. It seems that Roy Koski built this amazing structure in part to prove the physicians at Mayo Clinic wrong in their dire predictions…
But please do remember that this is an awful place you should never visit. You wouldn't like it here.
Dull Academic Incessant Liturgical Yapping: Philosophical Orations on Order & Reaction
Photo
But if you do visit, please don't move here
Dull Academic Incessant Liturgical Yapping: Philosophical Orations on Order & Reaction
But if you do visit, please don't move here
But if you do, remember this from Lon's epilogue
Imagine loving money so much that you're willing to hand your children over to college professors