If you look at the net of local affordability, access, and availability, the problem is widespread.
Housing has become a principle (and one of the largest) asset classes. The things that make it suitable for investing are precisely the same attributes that make it inaccessible, especially to the young, poor, old, and otherwise disadvantaged.
Flyover-state housing may be affordable by SF / New York / LA / Chicago standards. It's often not affordable to locals themselves.
And services (data, power, food, support, healthcare, education) are often far below standards typical on the coasts / near major metros.
All of this - and maintenance. The house that may be "inexpensive" re: sale price may cost just as much to fix. The cost of fixing X sq ft of thing or replacing appliance Y may certainly increase with the size of the home, but even small homes can have major expenses (and if you are in a "cheaper" area this means more home for less, so more to fix).
Lack of regulation in places without rigid building code enforcement can also make it hard to find people who aren't hacks (if you can find people at all) in construction.
> And services (data, power, food, support, healthcare, education) are often far below standards typical on the coasts / near major metros.
I think you're combining the worst of opposite ends of the spectrum here. When services are lacking, the prices are cheap too. You can live in a disconnected shack in a depressed rural area for practically nothing today too, just like (many more people did) in the past.
Internet quality ... varies heavily. Newer development tends to be better.
The issue with power has more to do without outages. In urban areas, these may last a few hours, excepting major incidents (hurricanes, earthquakes). In rural regions, outages may span days, even weeks. Outside the US (or outside mainland US, as in Puerto Rico), even longer.
"Services" includes retail and technical capacities -- whether it's local computer repair or someone who knows how to do basic cabling. Again: cities offer a much more diverse economy, with far more specialties than rural regions do. This may not be debilitating, but it is a factor to consider.
Housing has become a principle (and one of the largest) asset classes. The things that make it suitable for investing are precisely the same attributes that make it inaccessible, especially to the young, poor, old, and otherwise disadvantaged.
Flyover-state housing may be affordable by SF / New York / LA / Chicago standards. It's often not affordable to locals themselves.
And services (data, power, food, support, healthcare, education) are often far below standards typical on the coasts / near major metros.