Comments on: Time, Money, Location

By: Wil

Wil — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 01:43:51 +0000

If we are talking about commuting we are likely talking about people who on average work for wages. There is no doubt that a person would do much better with a startup in the Bay Area than Plano, provided they could afford the overhead costs.

By: Michael Wells

Michael Wells — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 22:55:57 +0000

Numerous posts on this blog as well as Richard’s writing talk about the downsides of the creative cities, high cost of living being one of them. The issue isn’t size, but the number of affluent people who want to live someplace and drive up prices. There are several incredibly expensive small cities — Carmel, Aspen, Jackson.

Money Mag is talking about the average person who works for wages and saves to create wealth. SF, NYC, LA, etc are creating much more wealth on the high end from people starting companies, inventing new products, building creative industries. Someone who wants to launch a new high-tech venture is going to succeed and create wealth faster in the SF Bay Area than they would by moving to Omaha.

Some of the differences may also be shorter term. A working person who bought a house in SF or Berkeley, or a condo in NYC in 1970 has accumulated much more wealth than if they’d stayed in Omaha and put their money in savings accounts.

By: Wil

Wil — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:35:10 +0000

Good observation Michael, Honolulu is small, and Minneapolis isn’t. But urban favourites such as NYC, and S.F. did’t fare so well in the analysis. It could simply be what is being studied, wealth creation or cultural experiences – in this case it was personal wealth creation, which seems to suffer in urban favourites.

By: Michael Wells

Michael Wells — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:03:51 +0000

There may be a point to the Money article, but I don’t think it’s small cities. High ranking Minneapolis (Metro area 3 million +) isn’t very small, and low ranking Honolulu (Metro area 900,000) isn’t terribly big.

By: Wil

Wil — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 07:53:01 +0000

Try the cost of living tool in the sidebar of the article.

By: Wil

Wil — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 07:35:14 +0000

What about the other small cities mentioned in the article such as Minneapolis, and Omaha? The article points out how the cost of living in NYC, SF, and other big cities can ruin an individual’s net worth. I have never lived in suburbia (unless you consider Berkeley a suburb), but I have lived in smaller cities and appreciate how low cost of living more easily allows the creation of personal wealth, while providing a high quality of life. We architects all love urbanism, but the American Suburb, and small city get a lot right too.

By: Whitney Gunderson

Whitney Gunderson — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 05:32:49 +0000

Wil, in posting a CNN.com article, just cast Plano, Texas in a favorable light. Plano is a suburb of Dallas. That’s fair game for suburb haters to bust on.

By: Wil

Wil — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 03:24:48 +0000

Small inexpensive cities may be best for wealth creation, according to this article: http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/30/real_estate/personal_wealth/index.htm?postversion=2008063019

By: Michael Wells

Michael Wells — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 01:50:17 +0000

I doubt that the suburbs will be abandoned, but many are too spread out for traditional large vehicle mass transit. I suspect we’ll see creative approaches for feeding mass transit systems like mini-van jitneys, electric gypsy cabs, buses and trains with bicycle racks (have them in Portland), scooter and bicycle parking lots at transit stops, online carpool matching, probably things we haven’t even thought of yet.

Also as has been mentioned in different posts, some of those MacMansions being converted into multi-family housing to increase density. Certainly more telecommuting, but I think Richard’s right people are going to want to/have to be meeting fact-to-face.

By: Robby Saady

Robby Saady — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:04:08 +0000

I’m excited by the increasing interest in urban living. I just hope that my urban neighborhood in Richmond, VA does not become unaffordable as so many other exciting urban ‘hoods in Richmond and around the country have become. Maybe it is a good thing if suburbanization continues, at least until it’s time for me to buy a house