If you would have asked me a few months ago whether gated communities would be more in demand X years from now, I would have said yes. If you ask me today about their future, I would double down and say emphatically, yes. Security has been and continues to be more and more at a premium within our society.
A clear example of the security premium are gun and ammo sales. For how many years have we experienced wave after way of gun/ammo buying rushes? People do not feel safe and having the power to protect your life is a piece of comfort people are willing to pay for.
Gated communities are no different. The cutting of funds or de-funding of police forces is a convenient example. Race war or no race war, you could bet police and other essential services were going to get cut given that we are in a very bad recession! You can hear the gates being built and private security being hired.
The economics alone paint a bad picture…follow me on this. COVID comes, a societal shutdown occurs, tax collections nose dive because the vast majority of business are closed, people get laid off, more tax revenue is lost, unemployment checks go out, more government expenses are incurred, the stock market drops, more tax revenue is lost, jails release prisoners because they worry about COVID outbreaks…it goes on. Does any of this speak to stability and added security? None.
People want to feel safe; especially when they are in their home. Locks, gates, alarms and cameras. How far we have come! No not prison, we are talking about your ideal neighborhood in today’s world.
Human nature is a tough nut to crack. Pumping garbage ideas at a population from birth to death is no different than me taking a piss in my garden each day and expecting a basket busting crop of vegetables to be produced.
To keep the garbage out, we put gates up. It’s a natural reaction of a fragmented society. Gates only reinforce the fragmentation, yet foster security from those within the gated areas. Welcome to the future.