The Great Plains Real Estate Boom

Cities on the Great Plains were giving away land in recent decades in the hopes of attracting new residents. Now they have a different challenge: responding to a sudden, but still modest, spike in demand.

2 minute read

February 3, 2022, 5:00 AM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


A close up of a map showing the location of Lincoln, Kansas, at the intersection of highways 14 and 18.

SevenMaps / Shutterstock

Mark Dent reports for the Hustle on the latest turn of the screw in the "boom and bust of the Great Plains."

Dent starts his history from the forced removal of Native Americans and the 1862 Homestead Act to a long period of population decline and, finally, a nascent episode of rebirth: "After a year of soaring real estate prices in every city and suburb, long-depressed and depopulated Kansas is going through a lower-key real estate boom of its own."

Since the 1990s, many Kansas towns have pursued a contemporary version of the Homestead Act, offering land for free to "anyone willing to move in and build a house," according to Dent. In 2003, for instance, the city of Marquette offered about 60 free lots to entice new residents, and sparked media interest from the Hutchinson News, the Associated Press, and the CBS Evening News. Almost 30 Kansas towns have launched free land programs—but only a few have managed to stop population decline, reports Dent.

The story's foray into the pandemic years centers mostly around the city of Lincoln, where "houses that used to sit on the market for a year were selling within weeks in 2021," writes Dent.

Now cities that once pulled out every trick in the book to attract demand are preparing to meet a new challenge: more demand than anticipated.

The deeply reported source article, linked below, includes a lot more human interest and local economic data and examines the question of whether the demographic shifts of the pandemic are narrowing the gap between the rural and the urban.

Saturday, January 29, 2022 in The Hustle

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Aerial view of town of Wailuku in Maui, Hawaii with mountains in background against cloudy sunset sky.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly

Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

July 1, 2025 - Honolulu Civil Beat

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 2, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

White and purple sign for Slow Street in San Francisco, California with people crossing crosswalk.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths

Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

July 1, 2025 - KQED

Google street view image of strip mall in suburban Duncanville, Texas.

Adaptive Reuse Will Create Housing in a Suburban Texas Strip Mall

A developer is reimagining a strip mall property as a mixed-use complex with housing and retail.

6 hours ago - Parking Reform Network

Blue tarps covering tents set up by unhoused people along chain link fence on concrete sidewalk.

Study: Anti-Homelessness Laws Don’t Work

Research shows that punitive measures that criminalized unhoused people don’t help reduce homelessness.

July 6 - Next City

Aerial tram moving along cable in hilly area in Medellin, Colombia.

In U.S., Urban Gondolas Face Uphill Battle

Cities in Latin America and Europe have embraced aerial transitways — AKA gondolas — as sustainable, convenient urban transport, especially in tricky geographies. American cities have yet to catch up.

July 6 - InTransition Magazine