>>>The funny thing is that “high end homes”, are appreciating. I will be darned if I know what a high end home is. If you can get a home for under $1.2 million in my old neighborhood in San Francisco, I would be shocked.
>>
>>
>>Californians are destroying Idaho.
>>
>>A mostly working class state, that's a natural wonder, is now mostly owned by Californians who sold their house back home, and immensely over paid for property in Idaho, because it was considered a bargain compared to the Cali prices.
>>
>>The result is all the houses that weren't insanely over priced could become insanely over priced.
>>
>>Driving out the working class that lived here their whole life.
>>
>>I meet tons of people my age who, for their whole life, dreamed of getting some land out here.
>>
>>Then the Californians made it impossible to live what they were saw as the American dream their whole lives.
>>
>>Pretty sad story.
>
>It is sad... but ain't th "free market" a beautiful thing!!!!
>
>Here in Toronto we have something similar (but much more devious) happening.
>About 5 years ago the property tax system was changed province-wide to be "market value assessment", which meant that every 2 years the value of the property would be re-assessed and the property taxes would be based on the determined value that year. Previously the property was assessed when built and that became the value for property tax purposes.
>We had several areas of Toronto that had fallen into significant disrepair. People of average means would buy one of the dipalidated houses, fix it up reasonably, and live there (in an otherwise 'lousy' neighborhood). Others of similar means followed, and pretty soon the neighbourhood would improve significantly. Then the neighbourhood would "gentrify" - people of better means would move in the remainder of the old homes and fix them up quite classily. BUT the property taxes for the folks of average means stayed tied to the 'old' value of the house they owned. They were free to sell, and many did at a handsome profit.
>But now the owner of average means has been driven out by radically increased property taxes.
>To me that's sad too.


If I understand you correctly, that's exactly what's going on here.

The people that want to stay can't really afford it because of the taxes.