But then that's just saying you'll find more affordable housing in cities that people don't want to live in, which would then go along with your point.
> Not to say that it's necessarily a model to follow: there's a lot of sprawl involved. Just saying that "abundant housing has some real benefits".
I've heard it isn't a nice place, but I've never been before so can't judge.
Everywhere is struggling with housing right now, because nowhere has built enough since the great recession - and some places like California have probably been underbuilding for decades.
It does not strike me as a particularly attractive place to live - but I'm not a big city person, and prefer more mountains/nature. Its population has sure been growing, though, indicating that someone wants to live there.
> Everywhere is struggling with housing right now, because nowhere has built enough since the great recession
That was my original point in another thread (under building during the great recession + an exodus of building talent).
> It does not strike me as a particularly attractive place to live - but I'm not a big city person, and prefer more mountains/nature. Its population has sure been growing, though, indicating that someone wants to live there.
Houston is growing at half the rate of Seattle, at least in the last 10 years (10% vs. 20% growth). Those cities growing the fastest seem to have the most pressure put on their housing markets, which makes sense.
Demand certainly contributes to rising prices if supply lags. Houston does a much better job than other places of adding supply, and part of that is their 'zoning-lite' approach.
I don't know. If Houston is the poster child for the zoning-lite approach, a lot of people won't be interested in going in that direction. Or to say, if zoning creates a problem with affordability and the lack of zoning creates a problem quality of life, it doesn't sound like getting rid of zoning is a no brainer.
I'm not really sure where that article gets its data, but the actual price of homes in Houston is low despite a lot of people moving there and the economy thriving. Seems relevant.
