The inhabitants don't lose.
Play your scenario out.
A bunch of poor people buy 100 acres of land for $1, and they turn it into a paradise.
It becomes cool, so rich hipsters wanna buy up chunks to Instagram it.
The first person sells a patch of land he bought for $0.01 for $1M. Suddenly, property tax on everyone's $0.01 parcels shoots up from $0 to $12,000 per year.
These people have no jobs, so they can't afford $12,000 in taxes per year, so they're all forced to sell their properties to other hipsters on Instagram for $1M, too.
Well guess what?
Now they're millionaires.
I mean, technically, not. They've got some taxes to pay. But you get the idea.
No owners "lose" from property values shooting through the roof. ESPECIALLY not leveraged owners (mortgage holders).
Play your scenario out.
A bunch of poor people buy 100 acres of land for $1, and they turn it into a paradise.
It becomes cool, so rich hipsters wanna buy up chunks to Instagram it.
The first person sells a patch of land he bought for $0.01 for $1M. Suddenly, property tax on everyone's $0.01 parcels shoots up from $0 to $12,000 per year.
These people have no jobs, so they can't afford $12,000 in taxes per year, so they're all forced to sell their properties to other hipsters on Instagram for $1M, too.
Well guess what?
Now they're millionaires.
I mean, technically, not. They've got some taxes to pay. But you get the idea.
No owners "lose" from property values shooting through the roof. ESPECIALLY not leveraged owners (mortgage holders).