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That's not really relevant here. What I'm talking about is how moving residents from a Massachusetts suburb to a Rhode Island suburb will not by itself create a

That's not really relevant here. What I'm talking about is how moving residents from a Massachusetts suburb to a Rhode Island suburb will not by itself create any net-gain for the region's economy. Perhaps there are knock-on effects if living in Rhode Island makes people more productive in some way, though. Anyway, the competition angle makes more sense when you're looking at different regions (e.g., Boston vs. New York).

mseebach 10y ago
When someone moves from A to B, it's usually because they can get a better deal on the tradeoff between better/cheaper housing and quality of life. In the larger picture, expanding the available mass of viable residential space for a given urban area means (on the margin) lower costs, allowing more people in a wider range of jobs to consider moving to that urban area. That's a net positive, not "cannibalising" or even competing anything. Anecdote time: I live in London, about 40 minutes from work, in a pleasant but fairly boring area (not many big city things to do around here, a few pubs and decent but medium-low end restaurants - pretty much anything else beings and ends with a 30-40 minute journey). My wife got a new job, so we have a bit more cash between us, and have decided to move closer to the city (I'll be about 10 minutes from work, she will be 15-20), and we'd be in a very nice urban area with tons of amenities just around the corner. We will be paying a fair bit more in rent, but expect a substantial bump in quality of life. When looking at a flat, we met the outgoing couple -- they are moving to an extra-urban place (in another country, even) to get more space, be closer to family and nature (and, presumably, pay less rent). Someone else yet will move into our current flat, which has served us very well for five years, and is excellent value for money in London. In another five years, we'll probably be ready to leave the city behind, and the shuffle will repeat. Because of the difference in preferences (which changes over time), everyone are better off than before. This is obviously not facilitated by commuter rail, but the dynamics are the same (or, commuter rail would allow the dynamic to act across a larger spectrum of people and houses).

mseebach 10y ago

When someone moves from A to B, it's usually because they can get a better deal on the tradeoff between better/cheaper housing and quality of life. In the larger picture, expanding the available mass of viable residential space for a given urban area means (on the margin) lower costs, allowing more people in a wider range of jobs to consider moving to that urban area. That's a net positive, not "cannibalising" or even competing anything. Anecdote time: I live in London, about 40 minutes from work, in a pleasant but fairly boring area (not many big city things to do around here, a few pubs and decent but medium-low end restaurants - pretty much anything else beings and ends with a 30-40 minute journey). My wife got a new job, so we have a bit more cash between us, and have decided to move closer to the city (I'll be about 10 minutes from work, she will be 15-20), and we'd be in a very nice urban area with tons of amenities just around the corner. We will be paying a fair bit more in rent, but expect a substantial bump in quality of life. When looking at a flat, we met the outgoing couple -- they are moving to an extra-urban place (in another country, even) to get more space, be closer to family and nature (and, presumably, pay less rent). Someone else yet will move into our current flat, which has served us very well for five years, and is excellent value for money in London. In another five years, we'll probably be ready to leave the city behind, and the shuffle will repeat. Because of the difference in preferences (which changes over time), everyone are better off than before. This is obviously not facilitated by commuter rail, but the dynamics are the same (or, commuter rail would allow the dynamic to act across a larger spectrum of people and houses).