The "knowledge economy" part is ridiculous indeed. That'd be either a university town, or a tech hub (usually in close proximity to enough universities to supply them with employees). SOmehow I doubt that Berlin, NH is going to become the next Cambridge, Huntsville, or Silicon Valley anytime soon.
As for tourism, that's quite possible; it probably exists as it is, given Berlin's surroundings. However, it's one of many such places around there, and, correct me if I'm wrong, people don't come there to see the City of Berlin. They probably come there to enjoy Berlin's surroundings.
All that being said, the main driver for the real estate values (especially for residential real estate, as opposed to hotels, for example) is the income of the people in the area. As the example of the City of Santa Monica, CA has shown, tourism doesn't generate high salaries. The City of Santa Monica initially created good conditions (lower taxes, etc.) for hightech and IT businesses. This brought in a lot of educated people with high incomes. However, after changing its mayor, the City of Santa MOnica decided that it's been friendly to such businesses for long enough, and raised taxes on them, etc. Hightech and IT businesses, being what they are, easily moved elsewhere (mostly Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, where conditions are friendlier), and the City of Santa MOnica was stuck with, well, tourism. Which replaced high IT and Tech incomes with just above minimal wage tourism industry incomes. Well, it was still a nice place to live in, so people were still moving in. However, most of the people who live in Santa Monica don't work there, and most of the people who work there can't afford to live in it. The City of Santa MOnica got so strapped for money that all the free public services they provided during the "high-tech and IT" time became paid (even though they were paid for with taxpayer money). I guess, tourism doesn't seem to generate as much revenue as the, umm, businesses that produce something and not just charge you for the privilege of looking at something nature or someone else produced. Oh, and by the way, where the people who work in tourism industry in Santa MOnica live... the real estate prices are still low.
The difference is that manufacturing or power generation cannot move as easily as hightech and IT businesses can.
I'm sure you see the pattern :)
The usuals, whatever I post is my opinion, yaddayaddayadda. I'm still learning this, so if you listen to me, well, good luck to you :)
The usuals, whatever I post is my opinion, yaddayaddayadda. I'm still learning this, so if you listen to me, well, good luck to you :)
