Tuesday, January 20, 2015

The Geography of Housing Affordability in Texas

Housing affordability and overstating geographic abstractions at Pacific Standard magazine.

Theme: Geography of ironic demographics

Subject Article: "Take A Look At Very Specific Cost Of Living Maps For Texas."

Other Links: 1. "The Midwest is outpacing the South in creating manufacturing jobs."
2. "Is Life Better in America's Red States?"
3. "Brooklyn And Park Slope Are Getting Less Alike, Not More."
4. "Map: Brooklyn residential price per square foot from 2004-2012."

Postscript: In a world where metro regions are the economic geography of choice, I wouldn't pay attention to conclusions drawn using a US state as the geographic unit of analysis. Bad enough treating a metro as a real estate market monolith. We are just beginning to grasp the real estate premiums associated with access to public transportation. More supply elsewhere in the region won't magically reduce prices for housing in areas with good access to transit. Yet the analysis of the effect of land use regulations is at the scale of metro. In such a light, one can't be so sure that Toronto is a good example of "a city where NIMBYism is kept in check." The debate about housing affordability remains ideological.

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