What if the people who keep a city running -- including urban planners -- can't afford to live there? An updated database highlights the gap between incomes and housing costs in hundreds of U.S. cities.
That “if” is already a “when” in many metropolitan areas, according to data in the Center for Housing Policy’s Paycheck to Paycheck database. In San Francisco, for instance, the cost of a two-bedroom apartment (about $1,795 a month) already exceeds what urban planners and other professionals can pay. If you’re a housekeeper, a bank teller, or a groundskeeper, forget about even a one-bedroom apartment in the metro area.
“This ultimately means that people needed to work in downtown restaurants and hospitals, or well-to-do neighborhoods, often must live at the far reaches of a metro area,” Emily Badger writes. “Or it means they’re spending way more on their housing than a family budget can really afford.”
Read the full story: The Many, Many Jobs That Won't Earn You Enough to Live in Your City
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Harvard University Graduate School of Design
KFH Group Inc.
Greater Baltimore Committee
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello