20 Sicilian village houses sold for 1 Euro to fight population decline in the area!

[alhoon]

http://news.yahoo.com/sicilian-hillt...045626171.html

Yes, the title is right. A village 120Km from Palermo in Sicily sells 20 houses for 1 euro each (that need an extra 5K-20K euro to repair) and 300 more for up to 15K euro each. The area has seen rapid population decline and the extreme measure is supposed to draw people back in the area. I'm pretty sure it will work since even with 20K renovation + 15K to buy a house, 35K for a house in Sicily is a very very good offer.

What makes this matter interesting in my opinion is this:
The rapid decline of the rural area that pushes a small town to sell so many houses at such a low price. 300 houses turned to the community means the town must actually be a ghost town...

[Caelifer_1991]

So it'll basically be Italian Detroit but in miniature then?

[alhoon]

Is Detroit facing rapid population decline? The Decline of the population in Sicily, especially rural areas goes on for nearly a century.
Of course, it doesn't help that Sicily is overpopulated.
It's more like Russia really, with many young people living but for longer.

[Caelifer_1991]

Is Detroit facing rapid population decline? The Decline of the population in Sicily, especially rural areas goes on for nearly a century.
Of course, it doesn't help that Sicily is overpopulated.
It's more like Russia really, with many young people living but for longer.

Well it did yeah, I'm not sure about today (I'm not an American but I know its history regardless). My point is mainly to suggest that if there was a significant reason for people to move there, if there were jobs and opportunities or economic potential to be fulfilled, the market would lead people to move there without need for any top down intervention. Much like Detroit, the area will remain rundown, just with too many people, poor people who like the idea of buying the few houses they can afford, for the local economy to sustain.

[Phier]

I've been told, and I have not verified, that in Detroit you can buy property for almost nothing but then they tax you at old values which are no longer remotely valid.

[Dr Zoidberg]

I've been told, and I have not verified, that in Detroit you can buy property for almost nothing but then they tax you at old values which are no longer remotely valid.

Let me guess. They're still having trouble selling said properties...

[alhoon]

Well it did yeah, I'm not sure about today (I'm not an American but I know its history regardless). My point is mainly to suggest that if there was a significant reason for people to move there, if there were jobs and opportunities or economic potential to be fulfilled, the market would lead people to move there without need for any top down intervention. Much like Detroit, the area will remain rundown, just with too many people, poor people who like the idea of buying the few houses they can afford, for the local economy to sustain.

They try to avoid that, by making sure the families moving in or buying the houses for summer vacations in the Mediterranean have enough money for repairs. And the local community contractors do the repairs, so money flows in the hands of the "little people" that may then spend their money on other local stuff.

[Caelifer_1991]

They try to avoid that, by making sure the families moving in or buying the houses for summer vacations in the Mediterranean have enough money for repairs. And the local community contractors do the repairs, so money flows in the hands of the "little people" that may then spend their money on other local stuff.

In the short term that'll work, fresh money and business will be brought in. In the long term however, unless there's potential for an increase in production and income generation, then that'll only delay the inevitable. I don't know enough of the local economy there or of its potential to really say whether or not a long term improvement in productivity is achievable there. The tourism route seems like it has minimal potential, although it may perhaps be worth cashing in on the whole Sicilian Mafia siege thing, local exports may or may not be improved due to improvements in infrastructure fueled by the influx of property tax income to the local government, local trade may or may not receive a boost to their consumer base. It all depends on the potential of the local economy to achieve growth.

If the local government is creating momentum for the exploitation of potential that already exists there and which would otherwise be fulfilled anyway, but which will instead be fueled faster, then the initiative may be a success. If the local area is some isolated village with nothing going for it in the long term though, then this initiative will do nothing but to flood the area first with optimistic investors, and then shortly after by impoverished failures who can't buy property anywhere else and who haven't thought twice about how they will actually garner employment once they've moved in.

It could go both ways, to know for sure it'd take a local Sicilian that knows more about the area to fill in some data points about the area.

[Caelifer_1991]

I have heard the same. Of course, I could be wrong about Gingi, it could all work out wonderfully and turn into a tourist attraction or something, and maybe that'll infuse the area with money. Looking at it though, although the area is beautiful, there doesn't seem to be anything there to make it stand out from basically anywhere else in rural Sicily. It's inland, far from the sea, there appears to be no historical architecture in the area (besides small, run down houses); there's an investment for everyone I guess, but I imagine most people buying property there thinking its a bargain will soon find themselves selling the houses off again for little more, if more at all, than the cost to renovate such property.

[hellheaven1987]

Well, Italy can always "import" more immigrants from Africa anyway.

[Basil II the B.S]

The real news is that noone wants them. Ironic considering everyone always wanted a piece of Sicily.

[Salah ad Din Yusuf]

Thousands of gold in 3th century BC now worth several euros in 21th century AC.

[Condottiere 40K]

Riace

Duration: 29 minutesFirst broadcast: Saturday 02 November 2013
On the instep of the boot of Italy is the town of Riace, set five miles inland to avoid pirates. It is now the home to a different type of traveller - refugees.

The death of hundreds of North African migrants off the coast of the island of Lampedusa raised an issue Europe wishes it could ignore - the number of migrants willing to pack their families onto dangerous boats to get away from the sometimes brutal regimes that don’t accept their faith.

For Heart and Soul, John Laurenson travels to Riace to meet the migrants who have settled in the ancient town, reviving traditional crafts, repopulating the local school and keeping alive a town that was dying due to its own migration.

He hears the stories of how faith led them to leave their homes, or be tortured and beaten by authoritarian religious groups. And, how that same faith sustained them during their long arduous boat journey and strengthened them as they made this old town their new home

John also meets the parish priest who echoes the words of Pope Francis when he visited Lampedusa earlier this year - that we see, when we look at these people washed up on Europe’s shores, the face of humanity itself, of Christ Himself.

Picture shows local sign 'Riace: Town of Welcome'.

Sat 2 Nov 201303:32 GMTBBC World Service

[alhoon]

It could go both ways

That is better than certainly going bad.

[Treize]

Sad really. We have a similar problem in parts of our country.

The main problem is to continue to provide education in depopulating rural villages. At times there are schools with like 20 kids...

[alhoon]

Sad really. We have a similar problem in parts of our country.

The main problem is to continue to provide education in depopulating rural villages. At times there are schools with like 20 kids...

We have schools with 2 kids.

[Treize]

We have schools with 2 kids.

Yeah that's why you are bankrupt.

[Sir Pignans]

How similar is it to this?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-28641045

[Phier]

People need a reason to live some where. For what I spent on my house outside of Chicago I could have a sprawling mansion in other places in the country, and a compound style living in other countries.

Why did I stay here? Well despite the state being run by idiots, Chicago still has a strong economic reason to exist, this means people, this means people who can pay for my services.

Saving "dying" towns by offering cheap housing just won't work unless there is a reason for that town to exist. In the US we have "ghost towns" because the economic factors changed and the town had no base or reason to be there. A place like Detroit is just an example of it happening to a big city for once, when economic reason for existence is down and coupled with horrible management.

Trying to save these areas offering cheap housing will only backfire. People who could make a difference don't need cheap housing. People who need cheap housing need a way to make a living. If there was a way to make a living there their wouldn't be cheap housing to start with.

Perhaps in some rural areas this can work being the way to make a living is farming, but really how many people are cut out for farming these days? Its a skill like any other.

[Condottiere 40K]

Telecommuting. Though you still occasionally have to show up in person, so that tends to eat up an unhealthy proportion of the salary and time that was supposedly save.