CHILE UPDATES #22
"Go East, Young Man"
"Go East, Young Man"
Date: March 29th, 2014
During the mid-1800s the saying “Go West, young man” was made popular in the United States by Horace Greeley, a journalist who believed it was the country’s destiny to expand to the west coast of the continent.
"Go West, young man, go West. There is health in the country, and room away from our crowds of idlers and imbeciles." "This is medicine easier given than taken (but) Washington is not a place to live... it is a wide country."
"Go West, young man, go West. There is health in the country, and room away from our crowds of idlers and imbeciles." "This is medicine easier given than taken (but) Washington is not a place to live... it is a wide country."
This was associated with the idea of “manifest destiny”, something I’m not a huge fan, but do have to admit that following Greeley’s advice and heading west 150 years ago did open up a ton of possiblities.
Unfortunately, picking up your bags and moving to California these days isn’t quite as promising as it used to be.
Instead of a wild frontier with a rapidly growing economy where motivated individuals could amass a fortune over a few years’ time, it’s become a heavily indebted state where you’re often times punished for being successful.
All across the US and Europe the story’s almost exactly the same and with so many believing that we need to “borrow and spend in order to save the economy”, things are only going to worse over the years to come.
Luckily, there are a few parts of the world that still present the same kind of potential that California used to back in its heydays.
Certain regions of Chile, for instance, are booming these days and there’s a lot of money to be made in a number of different sectors. From logistics to construction to organic agriculture to advertising, those with real know-how or a capacity to learn quickly can do very well.
When young, ambitious foreigners arriving here in Talca ask me about where the opportunities lie today, I can’t help but think “Go East, young man”.
One of the things that really stuck out to me back in 2010 when I first got to Chile was the way Chile’s cities tended to expand towards the east. This was already very apparent in Santiago with almost all of the city’s wealthy neighborhoods stretching up into the foothills of the Andes (not west towards the coastal mountains) and over the last few years I’ve watched a number of other Chilean cities followed the same trend.
In early 2012, I recommended that investors purchase tracts of raw land on the east side of Rancagua (about 1 hour south of Santiago) which I intentionally timed right along with the construction of an enormous new level at the El Teniente copper mine.
The economy is this specific area to the east of the city boomed and those who invested at that time have done very nicely. Rental prices in the area jumped by close to 50% over the next 12 months and demand for parcels of raw land on the eastern edge of town skyrocketed.
I’ve seen this “eastern expansion” in Curico around Los Niches and these days it’s very obvious (to those who are paying attention) that this trend is taking place here in Talca. The amount of development happening on this side of town is astounding and like the American railroads opened the west over a century ago, a new highway to the east of Talca has brought access to some of the most interesting places on the planet.
The world’s changed quite a bit since Greeley first proclaimed “Go West, young man” but it’s nice to know that if one’s willing to change directions, there’s still plenty of opportunity out there.
Unfortunately, picking up your bags and moving to California these days isn’t quite as promising as it used to be.
Instead of a wild frontier with a rapidly growing economy where motivated individuals could amass a fortune over a few years’ time, it’s become a heavily indebted state where you’re often times punished for being successful.
All across the US and Europe the story’s almost exactly the same and with so many believing that we need to “borrow and spend in order to save the economy”, things are only going to worse over the years to come.
Luckily, there are a few parts of the world that still present the same kind of potential that California used to back in its heydays.
Certain regions of Chile, for instance, are booming these days and there’s a lot of money to be made in a number of different sectors. From logistics to construction to organic agriculture to advertising, those with real know-how or a capacity to learn quickly can do very well.
When young, ambitious foreigners arriving here in Talca ask me about where the opportunities lie today, I can’t help but think “Go East, young man”.
One of the things that really stuck out to me back in 2010 when I first got to Chile was the way Chile’s cities tended to expand towards the east. This was already very apparent in Santiago with almost all of the city’s wealthy neighborhoods stretching up into the foothills of the Andes (not west towards the coastal mountains) and over the last few years I’ve watched a number of other Chilean cities followed the same trend.
In early 2012, I recommended that investors purchase tracts of raw land on the east side of Rancagua (about 1 hour south of Santiago) which I intentionally timed right along with the construction of an enormous new level at the El Teniente copper mine.
The economy is this specific area to the east of the city boomed and those who invested at that time have done very nicely. Rental prices in the area jumped by close to 50% over the next 12 months and demand for parcels of raw land on the eastern edge of town skyrocketed.
I’ve seen this “eastern expansion” in Curico around Los Niches and these days it’s very obvious (to those who are paying attention) that this trend is taking place here in Talca. The amount of development happening on this side of town is astounding and like the American railroads opened the west over a century ago, a new highway to the east of Talca has brought access to some of the most interesting places on the planet.
The world’s changed quite a bit since Greeley first proclaimed “Go West, young man” but it’s nice to know that if one’s willing to change directions, there’s still plenty of opportunity out there.
