Downtown Might Be (Sort Of) Dead, But It's Still Crazy Expensive

The cost of urban living is out of control [View in browser]( [The Juice Logo] BROUGHT TO YOU BY: [Logo]( Proprietary Data Insights Top Fast Food Stock Searches This Month Rank Ticker Name Searches #1 [MCD]( McDonald’s 63,839 #2 [CMG]( Chipotle Mexican Grill 38,564 #3 [WING]( Wingstop 11,691 #4 [DPZ]( Domino's Pizza 10,542 #5 [QSR]( Restaurant Brands International 7,685 #ad [If You Read One Book This Year Make it This One]( Brought to you by [Investors Alley]( [May 29 Deadline: The #1 Monthly Dividend ETF]( [ Investors Alley - May 29 Deadline: The #1 Monthly Dividend ETF]( It's paying 161% bigger dividends than aristocrats, and tt's up 5.62% since making its newest announcement. If you add it to your portfolio before May 29, you'll secure a payout of $2.05 PER SHARE! [Click here now to learn more before it's too late.]( Downtown Might Be (Sort Of) Dead, But It's Still Crazy Expensive Today and tomorrow, The Juice focuses on cost of living. Today on housing and tomorrow, food, specifically the soaring cost of fast food. Check the most-searched fast food stocks on today’s Trackstar list (actually, don’t, because we’ll check them for you on Thursday). Some of these names have been performing quite well of late. And this has to have something to do with how they’ve increased menu prices in a big way. Amid all the talk of doom loops and myriad financial and social problems (apparently) plaguing cities, particularly in downtown cores, urban life appears to be more than alive and well. The Juice loves cities and city living. And we think it’s quite a shame when a handful of politicians distort reality, overblow urban problems and openly shame and root for cities to fail simply because of who’s in charge. The reality is that cities have always had their issues, many of which stem from federal policies and the growth of suburbia. Cities didn’t create homelessness and attendant inequality all on their own. But they take a lion’s share of the blame for these problems as if they did create them. Despite the hype, the numbers prove that cities still lead the nation. And American cities still lead the world. For example, the recently released Oxford Economics' Global Cities Index ranks the world’s cities on several criteria, including overall GDP, employment growth, GDP growth, economic stability, GDP per capita and economic diversity. The top six cities on Oxford’s list: New York, Los Angeles, San Jose, Seattle, San Francisco and Dallas. The only non-US cities to show up in the top ten were London, Paris and Tokyo. Chicago came in eighth place after number seven London. City-hating politicians better be careful what they wish for. If our big cities stop doing what they’re doing, the nation as a whole will likely be in for a world of hurt. Need more proof about the vitality of cities? Look at the cost to live in them. PropertyShark just released some pretty shocking [data](. While downtowns continue to see property values increase, many have taken a backseat to the surrounding urban neighborhoods. - In 2014, PropertyShark says “downtown home prices in 11 of the nation’s 40 most populous cities were more than double that of the rest of the city with some truly jaw-dropping extremes. For example, downtown Philadelphia’s median sale price was nearly five times (490%) higher than the rest of the city.” - At that time, just “nine downtowns had lower home prices than the city at large …” - Fast forward to 2024 and “... residents of 17 of the country’s most populated cities can get a better deal on a downtown home than if they were to buy in the rest of the city.” Emphasis added. But not too much emphasis. Because downtown prices have skyrocketed over the years. The Juice reviewed PropertyShark’s entire dataset and the changes in downtown and, more so, overall city prices over time are just staggering. For example, in Los Angeles, the median sale price Downtown in 2014 was $570,000. In 2023, it was $627,000, for an increase of just 10%. However, citywide in LA, median sale prices increased 84% over the same period, from $532,000 to a whopping $980,000. And now, as of April 2024, some sources have that citywide number at $1 million. How about Albuquerque, New Mexico? The type of place [we talk about often]( in The Juice. One-time bastions of housing affordability that remain relatively affordable, but have gotten a shit ton more expensive in recent years. In 2014, the median sale price in Downtown Albuquerque was $180,000. In 2023, it went up 71% to $308,000. In 2014, the citywide median in Albuquerque was $167,000. In 2023, it increased 91% to $319,000. Back to California. And San Francisco. The median sale price downtown in 2023 was $1.5 million compared to $1.235 million citywide. In 2014, the respective numbers were $800,000 and $874,000. It cost $345,000 to buy a place in Downtown Portland in 2023. In 2014, it cost $285,000. Citywide the median was $270,000 in 2014. Today, it’s up 80% to $485,000. We don’t have to keep going. You catch our drift. While downtowns have become less expensive than the surrounding city neighborhoods over the last ten years in most big cities, they’re still not cheap. If you want to live in the urban cores of our major metropolitan areas, it’s going to cost you. And that’s, in part, because cities do remain economic engines, full of culture and things to do, populated by a diverse set of people doing a whole host of cool things. [Dive into Expert Picks - We Spill the Best Daily!]( Tired of stock search exhaustion? We've got you covered! We keep an eye on FinPros, distill their top picks, and serve you one daily. Make your inbox the go-to for expert insights. [Sign up today.]( The Bottom Line: Pretty much anything is going to cost you these days. The Juice noticed that, here in Los Angeles, you can’t leave the house without spending — minimum — $100 if you have food and drink on your mind. That’s for two people. We don’t think things are all that different elsewhere in the country. Even if you want to go less expensive, it’s not cheap. We’ll show just how costly fast food has become amid [this persistent inflation we’re all living through]( and trying to make sense of. 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