Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Child Flight
This week in my Local Government class, we talked about sprawl. We held up Portland, Oregon as a model of good management in that regard. They have clearly defined urban growth boundaries and have increased the popularity of denser housing and seem to have been successful in creating a vibrant, fabulous city where everyone wants to live. As I believe was pointed out by columnist Eric D. Snider, the only bad thing about Portland is everyone walking around talking about how great Portland is.
The result of Portland's fabulosity is a trend of steadily increasing house prices. People are willing to accept the denser housing because the city is so great, and they're willing to pay the higher prices in order to get in. As legal scholar Gregg Easterbrook said, people want to get into Portland by hook or crook.
So here's a NY Times article that examines one dire consequence of all of this. More expensive homes mean young families can't afford to live there. Children are being driven out of the city. And that's making Portland (and San Francisco, and the other cities mentioned in the story) less of a fabulous place to live. Sobering thoughts.
The result of Portland's fabulosity is a trend of steadily increasing house prices. People are willing to accept the denser housing because the city is so great, and they're willing to pay the higher prices in order to get in. As legal scholar Gregg Easterbrook said, people want to get into Portland by hook or crook.
So here's a NY Times article that examines one dire consequence of all of this. More expensive homes mean young families can't afford to live there. Children are being driven out of the city. And that's making Portland (and San Francisco, and the other cities mentioned in the story) less of a fabulous place to live. Sobering thoughts.
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