Why are US blue cities expensive?
Well, one major factor (that also applies to expensive cities outside the US) is the people actively flocking to live there. The law of supply and demands asserts that high demand and low supply increase prices while low demand and high supply decrease them.
Granted, they could be less expensive if they get rid of NIMBYism and rigid zoning which exacerbate housing shortages. Still, they wouldn’t be as cheap as the other places that people flock from.
Now, why do people want to live there in the first place? Well, because that’s where the job opportunities and high wages are.
Those cities tend to be big or, at least, bigger than the other ones in their respective states. Bigger area and population sizes means not only there are greater job availabilities and wage competitiveness, the economies are also more diversified; that means they have jobs which are scarce or entirely unavailable in the rural areas and even smaller cities.
Unless your dream jobs involve the great outdoors or can be done entirely from your homes, you need to move there in order to achieve them.
Oh and because of that reason, they are also a great source of America’s soft power.
When foreigners think of America, they either think of the natural spaces that are almost devoid of humans OR those (relatively) expensive blue cities.
When they think of California, they think of LA, San Francisco and San Diego. When they think of New York state and New Jersey, they think of the New York City metro area. When think of Massachusetts, they think of Boston. When they think of Illinois, they think of Chicago. When they think Texas, they think of Dallas, Houston and Austin. When they think of Washington state, they think of Seattle. When they think of Nevada, they think of Las Vegas. When they think of Georgia, they think of Atlanta. When they think of Tennessee, they think of Memphis and Nashville. When they think of Oregon, they think of Portland. When think of Louisiana, they think of New Orleans. When they think of Michigan, they think of Detroit (even after its turbulent economic past, it still carries half of the state’s GDP).
Not only they are highly-represented in the media (with dubious accuracy, obviously), they are also places which skilled and educated foreign professionals prefer to relocate to; the more expensive, the more desirable they are, job prospect-wise. They are places where dreams and wealth are made.
No matter how flawed they are, they are still among the reasons why foreigners have some positive views about the US.
I don’t know why US conservatives confidently claim that blue places are being subsidised by the red ones when, in reality, it is the opposite.
I am someone who despises the “might is right” argument and that definitely includes economic and financial might; it is often used to justify subjugation.
But, if you are going to embrace such argument, you have to ensure your side is the mightier one.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MINGSP
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/NGMP19820
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