alt Hacker NewsI intended to make a weaker claim of ‘in general long run / maintainable’ circumstances and should have done so.
Many low cost areas have bad crime problems, there is another little phenomenon where the wealthy by doing a poor job in governance can increase the price of their assets by making alternative assets (lower cost housing) less desirable due to the increase in crime.
Not really the case for much of the midwest. These are low crime areas generally. Working class population is not nearly so rent burdened so less pressure towards making ends meet in other ways. Gang activity is effectively nill unlike placed where you find ms13 written on walls. Homeless people amount to probably a small few dozen visibly homeless if that, and you really need to look to find them.