Republican State At Risk Of Becoming Next San Francisco

Oklahoma County residents now fear that rising home prices and an extraordinary population boom are slowly turning into a Oklahoma The city then became San Francisco, a global symbol of urban decline.

Soaring prices across the county have caused a sudden spike in evictions as residents are forced from their homes.

In fact, the Oklahoma County Assessor reported that the average home price has more than tripled since 2001, from an average of $74,715 to $264,844 in 2023, a 354% increase.

The rise is particularly dramatic in downtown Oklahoma City, where median home sales have more than doubled to $690,000 over the past decade, while the rest of the state capital has seen values ​​increase by half to just $200,000, according to a recent report from real estate tracking site Property Shark.

As homeless encampments have begun to take over downtown streets, a wave of vandalism is now occurring.

This worrying trend is spreading across America, with a number of once-pristine red-state cities struggling to cope with an influx of foreigners seeking refuge in high-crime Democratic states.

But the crisis has become so acute in Oklahoma City that local officials warn the city could soon become one of those doomed metropolises that many have left behind.

Gary Jones, director of government affairs for the Oklahoma City Metro Association of Realtors, told DailyMail.com that its current trajectory is comparable to the beginning of the homelessness epidemics that devastated cities like San Francisco, New York and Washington DC.

“If you talk to Oklahomans who have been here for a while, they’ll tell you you can visibly see a difference,” he added.

The real estate agent said “people panhandling at major intersections and in front of major retailers” was now commonplace, while homeless encampments had “sprung up all over the city” almost overnight.

Jones said growing desperation has led to an increase in some property crimes, with a number of break-ins into vacant buildings as people try to find shelter.

The housing crisis has created a vicious cycle: rising costs seem to lead to more evictions, more homelessness and more crime.

Oklahoma County had 17,868 evictions filed in 2023. According to data from Shelterwell, a state housing group, 8,602 judgments resulted in eviction.

Today, around 1,400 people in the city are homeless every night, and around 500 of them sleep on the streets.

The city closed two homeless encampments last year and now plans to spend $12.5 million to combat the crisis.

“I know someone here is saying, ‘We don’t have that in Oklahoma City,'” he said at a public housing meeting in November, referring to scenes of squalor in San Francisco and elsewhere.

“Well, you know what, they didn’t experience it either until they had the growth that they had.”

Oklahoma City was one of 14 U.S. cities that gained more than 100,000 residents between 2010 and 2020.

Its population increased by an additional 1% between 2022 and 2023, an increase of 7,589 people.

Foreigners were attracted by the city’s low unemployment rate and affordability.

In March, Forbes ranked it as the third best American city to move to, saying residents “can enjoy a comfortable lifestyle.”

But this goal is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve.

Jones said the construction boom has focused on high-end properties, with new parkland out of reach for about 40 percent of Oklahomans.

This has created pressure on the lower end of the market – for homes worth between $100,000 and $150,000 – which are not profitable for developers.

This led to an increase in the number of renters, higher rental prices and, ultimately, evictions, Jones explained.

He added that the crisis was being exacerbated by real estate investors in New York, California and Texas who were buying up developments and renting them at higher than usual prices “to make a profit.”

Oklahoma City is not alone.

In May, DailyMail.com revealed that Nashville’s housing boom is forcing residents to sleep on the streets while wealthy newcomers snap up luxury apartments.

Meanwhile, in the picturesque mountain town of Bozeman, Montana, sleek, modern homes owned by Californians sit next to RVs and tent encampments that house the poor Latino population of the town that built them.

In some Republican states, the influx of money from progressive areas has angered residents.

Residents of Eagle, a small Idaho town, have complained that hundreds of West Coast residents are bringing “liberal baggage” to their community.

And in Gallatin, a Nashville suburb, residents began walking around with stickers proclaiming “Don’t California my Tennessee” in protest of the influx of foreigners.

Jones’ dire warning could send alarm bells ringing across America.