"Just go somewhere else" is causing even the 'boring' places to have problems:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/20/business/economy/spokane-...

We need some more fundamental reforms.

Such as what?

The merging of Seattle and Tacoma was inevitable. The same thing has happened to a lot of cities that are separate by <1hr commutes via highways.

Hopefully this year, Washington will follow in Oregon's footsteps and re-legalize things like 4-plexes, or maybe go even further in big cities like Seattle.

Basically, "(re)legalize housing", along with things like corner stores and neighborhood commercial like corner stores and barber shops.

Check out upstate NY. I found a <20 year old 4000sqft home, >40 acres, gigabit fiber internet, in ground pool, outbuildings, and a backup generator for well under $500k. Even with the higher taxes here vs the west coast, I'm ahead.

Only caveats are you need to enjoy seclusion (check) and be good at remote employment (this year will be my 10 year anniversary of being 100% remote). Energy costs are a bit high, so I installed 20 kW of solar and will be switching to an air-sourced heat pump for heating & cooling. Even adding these costs to the purchase price results in paying less.

That's nice if you can make it work, it's a quick solution to the housing problem. But for a lot of people being close to the economic powerhouse areas of the country is a win, and we should figure out how to make that work for them. And, long term, migrating further and further out is just going to delay the problem, because it'll arrive eventually unless they're in complete economic free fall.

Another aspect is that being near family while raising your children is immensely helpful. Housing prices have gone 30-40x since my parents bought, for example. Salaries have definitely not increased at a similar pace!

I’m not surprised Spokane real estate market popped. Expect that in every small town surrounded by beautiful mountains …