Whats everyone thing land prices are gonna do...

[lostcause]

years ago people moved so they were ckloser to the cities because that's where the employment was. as the country here prospered and people had inexpensive transportation they moved away from the cities. many towns / cities increased the size requirements for buildable lots, so land was gobbled up as houses had to be built on larger plots. now there are worries of urban sprawl, and some locations are trying to encourage more compact house lots and subdivisions to preserve the wilderness. factor in the increased fuel costs, and you may start finding more people want to commute less, making undeveloped land less desireable to the masses.

there are always exceptions of course. desireable vacation property is always coveted. farm acreage, earth products, and woodlots will always be wanted. the one thing i do see declining in my area are generic houselots. there are a lot of people who invested in land to subdivide, and are now sitting on a bunch of houselots that aren't selling, even though they still have to pay some hefty lot taxes on them. it's all about location though, as i'm sure there are places where construction is booming.

 

[sdkubota]

Every person on the planet could fit within Texas state boundaries.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

Every person on the planet could fit within Texas state boundaries.

Every person on the planet could fit within the Rhode Island boundaries:
Everybody Jump

 

[dhagood]

Too dam many people in Colorado!

a lot of places have seen growth over the last 30 years or so, but colorado has seen far more than its share. when my parents and i moved to colorado springs in 1969, the city was around 105,000. now it is over 425,000, for a factor of 4 growth in 30 years. the growth has been so rapid that local, county, and state government along the front range (the eastern slope of the rocky mountains) have really struggled dealing with it all.

 

[mjncad]

I've been going to Colorado vacationing almost every year for the past 30. I get off I-70 at Limon and take 24 all the way to Buena Vista, then South to Alamosa. We used to always make the trip at night. You could see the glow of Colorado Springs just after leaving Limon but you didn't see houses until the last ridge before the mountains. Now what was open prairie ridges are littered with houses. We hurry thru that area and don't relax until we hit Buena Vista. There it's still realitively calm. Never could understand why all those people moved to Colorado from out of state, but stopped at the front range. That migration turned what used to be a nice drive between Denver and Pueblo into a hectic, frantic trip trying all the while to stay alive!!!

It's pretty down in the Buena Vista and Salida areas. Alamosa does nothing for me; but I do like the Great Sand Dunes National Park in the San Luis Valley. The Valley is one of the poorest areas in Colorado, and having winter temps hit -30 and more doesn't help matters. I know what you mean about wanting to get through the Springs as quickly as you can. I've lived here all my life (56 years) and I can remember I-25 between Denver and the Springs being a pleasant drive. The same for I-25 from Denver to Ft. Collins to the north. Not anymore, I avoid I-25 as much as possible. I like the Gunnison area; but the winters are just too brutal for me.

Every person on the planet could fit within Texas state boundaries.

Every person on the planet could fit within the Rhode Island boundaries:
Everybody Jump

It doesn't matter if Earth's 7-billion plus people can fit into Texas or Rhode Island; the planet is over populated. Humans require more space and resources than any other critter on the planet. Sure, some animals have large ranges that they roam; but they do not consume the amount of resources to live as people do. Plus large areas of the Earth's land masses (e.g. Sahara, Antarctica, Siberia, Northern Canada, Aussie Outback, etc) are unsuitable for sustaining large populations. I'm not trying to sound like a tree-hugger; I'm just stating that the 5-pound sack called Earth has 10-pounds of crap in it.

a lot of places have seen growth over the last 30 years or so, but colorado has seen far more than its share. when my parents and i moved to colorado springs in 1969, the city was around 105,000. now it is over 425,000, for a factor of 4 growth in 30 years. the growth has been so rapid that local, county, and state government along the front range (the eastern slope of the rocky mountains) have really struggled dealing with it all.

I live approximately 20-miles northeast of Denver, and this area was the boondocks when I was a kid; now it's a bedroom community of Denver. My parents taught me to drive out here as the traffic was minimal, and the biggest thing I had to dodge was an occasional sugar beet that fell off of a farm truck. Back then CO-7 between I-25 and Brighton had a 70MPH speed limit, then it dropped to 55MPH during Jiminy Peanut's presidency. Now it's back to 60MPH; but that stretch of CO-7 has six traffic lights when there were none when I was a kid.

 

[newbury]

<snip>
It doesn't matter if Earth's 7-billion plus people can fit into Texas or Rhode Island; the planet is over populated.<snip>

Yup. To many people, not enough land. Discussions on population control should go to friendly politics.

 

[dhagood]

It's pretty down in the Buena Vista and Salida areas. Alamosa does nothing for me; but I do like the Great Sand Dunes National Park in the San Luis Valley.

agreed

I can remember I-25 between Denver and the Springs being a pleasant drive. The same for I-25 from Denver to Ft. Collins to the north.

in 1969 my mother thought i-25 was an utter waste of money. you could drive between colorado springs and denver and see another car every 10 minutes or so. between denver and cheyenne was pretty much the same thing. ah well, back then we walked to school uphill in both directions!

 

[ultrarunner]

Several of the Docs I work with in California have bought small family farms in Oregon recently.

80 to 250 acres is the range with water, out buildings and a mixture of orchard, pasture and tillable...

I would imagine taxes, environmental laws and zoning could all affect long term value...

 

[J F]

Would you characterize the several as a trend of much greater significance? Or just a coincidence?

 

[ultrarunner]

It could be just a reflection of Californians with means hedging their bets.

The topic never came up around here 20 years ago and now it is regular topic of discussion...