Immigration. This is a real kicker. Folks living in large coastal cities can't see it because for better or worse they are used to the faces they see every day being multi-ethnic. If you live in a smallish American city, you can see it in real time. Without getting into any racial politics, if you live in a city that was lily white 15 years ago and today it is filled with Spanish speaking immigrants, you know that something has changed.

If you look at the housing situation in these small cities, the "poorer" parts of town that used to be a family's first option for a starter home are filled with illegals renting from boomers and yuppies. South Park's "they took our jerbs!" is a lot less funny on the housing side of economics if you're a tax paying working class American trying to find a home for your family.