Rail Access in High Demand Among the Young, White, and Well Educated

Emily Badger reports on a telling fact of the new demographic realities of Washington, D.C.:

"A new Census working paper by Brian McKenzie confirms that the demographics around rail stops in both the District and the wider Washington region reflect a population of workers that's disproportionately young, white and highly educated — and rapidly becoming more so."

The paper finds that while the demographics of Washington, D.C. are trending whiter, younger, and more educated, the change is happening faster around Metro stops than the District average. The trends "hold in the five-county area outside the District, in places like Alexandria, Arlington and Silver Spring served by Metrorail as well."

The implications of the demographic shift, according to Badger, means that developers and landlords are catering housing around transit toward more affluent populations so that housing is becoming more expensive. As prices go up, many of the people that rely on transit can no longer afford to live in places with easy transit access.

The article includes a lot more detail of the data from the working paper.