2020July
"New construction makes homes more affordable—even for those who can’t afford the new units"
In cities with tight housing markets, policymakers have struggled to help lower-income residents afford homes. New research shows that just building new housing—even expensive housing—can quickly drive down housing costs across metro areas, including in low-income neighborhoods.
...More"Will these modular apartment buildings help the Bay Area handle its housing crisis?"
Several affordable projects in the area are assembling apartments off-site and then simply locking them into place. If they’re successful, it could cut millions of dollars off construction costs and months off building timelines.
...More"Companies Start to Think Remote Work Isn’t So Great After All"
Projects take longer. Collaboration is harder. And training new workers is a struggle. ‘This is not going to be sustainable.’
...More"The Exodus that never happened"
The greatest urban myth of the Covid-19 pandemic is that fear of density has triggered an exodus from cities.
The latest data show an increase in interest in dense urban locations.
...More"Bay Area residents still want to stay in California despite ‘mass exodus’ myths"
There’s been a lot reported about San Francisco residents fleeing the city, causing rents to plummet and SF home sales finally embracing transparent pricing. But when looking at data from online real estate platforms, most of the real estate searching is still happening within the metro area and throughout California.
...More"An Urban Exodus? Not Yet, According to Apartment Search Data"
“Despite economic lockdowns and the health risks recently attributed to cities, Americans on the whole are maintaining an appetite for density. The share of all searches for higher-density cities has actually increased over the first two quarters of 2020.
…Some dense cities like New York and San Francisco do not appear to be at high risk of an urban exodus, while others like Chicago and Boston show more troubling signs…”
...More"How Remote Work Could Destroy Silicon Valley"
The tech industry is built on serendipity. If workers flee the Bay Area, what’s left?
"‘A mini-urban miracle,’ new Berkeley homeless housing could be model for the state"
It’s been a big week for subsidized housing in Berkeley. And it just got bigger.
On Thursday night, the city’s Zoning Adjustments Board unanimously approved a new project from Panoramic Interests for a 39-unit complex made from modular construction to house people who were formerly homeless.
...More"CityBeat: NPR’s suburban flight story"
Anecdotes aside, there’s no data that people are fleeing cities to avoid the Coronavirus
The data show young, well-educated adults moving to urban centers everywhere, and no decline in interest in urban markets during the pandemic
As we’ve chronicled at City Observatory, there’s a welter of press accounts claiming that people are fleeing cities to escape the Coronavirus.
...More"The Forces That Will Reshape American Cities"
The pandemic will likely accelerate the pull of the suburbs for families while pushing young people and businesses into more affordable urban areas.
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