4 ms·

Odd answer, but go to the megacities that show resilience and are building housing. In the US, so far that may only be NYC. I know that's not amazing to hear if

Odd answer, but go to the megacities that show resilience and are building housing. In the US, so far that may only be NYC. I know that's not amazing to hear if you have other reservations about NYC, but I think it's the reality until mid-sized cities catch on and get their shit together. The other answer IMO is to pick a city no one in tech is even thinking about, and the growth rate is expected to be slow. Not to jynx them but places like Cleveland, Richmond VA, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Detroit, Columbus, San Antonio, Milwaulkee, etc. Personally, I far prefer the megacity, but that second list is a potential option. From an urban development perspective, to me it seems that the best course of action would be a massive federal investment in existing mid-sized cities. Build large public transit networks in some of these becoming desirable cities and distribute the strain tech is putting on our urban centers. Massively increase housing density, but with this foresight, avoid doing the short term luxury development that won't hold up longterm and build some old fashioned 3-5 story brownstones. The risk is that the people never come, but the alternative is the consistent hollowing out of all major US cities. Something has to give.

peytn 6y ago
DFW is another such megacity. The construction happening there reminds me of parts of China.
- techsupporter 6y ago
  The problem is, from my perspective (and having lived there), the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex is neither resilient nor a megacity. Outside of the 635 and 820 loops, it is just suburban sprawl that gets scorching hot in the summer and everyone who lives there has to be reliant on a car. DFW is going to be in a world of hurt when the water runs out and that day is coming somewhat soon. There are already places in central Texas where the aquifers are dry and the lakes don't refill during the formerly-rainy season. North Texas is reliant on a set of manmade lakes that are already slower and slower to refill, with more and more taps being added every year.
- brundolf 6y ago
  I came from DFW (technically one of its suburbs). You're either in the suburbs, or you're living in a sea of hot concrete. Unless you retreat to one of the less-wealthy (read: genuinely middle-class) suburbs, everything from the restaurants to the billboards is steeped in corporate pretension and wealth-signaling. And then you're still, well, in the suburbs. In my first round of interviews out of college I interviewed with a company in Dallas. It was going well, but towards the end of the day I was frank with my interviewer and told them I simply didn't want to live in DFW. I didn't have another offer yet, but I found one in Austin and moved there.
  - peytn 6y ago
    No kidding, I grew up there as well! The not-wanting-to-ever-return feeling is very relatable. I wouldn’t have re-explored DFW were it not for the current state of life in the Bay Area. As it stands, things have changed a lot in the past 10 years, or perhaps I’ve grown up. There’s a lot going on in DFW, and as an adult having explored all over I’m comfortable giving DFW another look.
    - adjkant 6y ago
      I guess my question is why DFW given its flaws, for better or worse? Why not NYC or Boston or Chicago or LA or DC, to name a few?
kevin_thibedeau 6y ago
NYC is building pied-a-terres for money launderers. The whole Hudson Yards was engineered as a phony rehabilitation of Harlem so they could sell visas to millionaires who could then turn around and buy a luxury apartment in the "blighted" neighborhood they revitalized.
- adjkant 6y ago
  No argument here, but what does this have to do with the countless other neighborhoods in NYC and the consistent expansion of housing that has happened in them over the past few decades while other cities experienced far worse gentrification pressures by not building housing? Hudson Yards is not what I'm referring to in any way in my posts on this article. I'm mainly talking large towers in Williamsburg, along Atlantic Ave in Brooklyn, in the East Village edge near Alphabet City, some in Gowanus, Long Island City, and many others I'm probably forgetting.
- volkl48 6y ago
  > The whole Hudson Yards was engineered as a phony rehabilitation of Harlem Hudson Yards is not anywhere remotely near Harlem, and was built on a deck over what's been a rail yard for a century. I'm don't love what was built there, but it certainly wasn't rehabilitating Harlem and not a single person was directly displaced by building there.
  - kevin_thibedeau 6y ago
    It isn't anywhere near Harlem but they created a special zone that connected HY through central park to Harlem so that it could qualify for special redevelopment incentives.
brundolf 6y ago
Yeah, I have casually looked towards San Antonio and even Waco. The problem with the "look where nobody's looking yet" angle is that you're potentially just kicking the can down the road. In 10 years when "the market catches up" it'll be back to square one. Perhaps you'll have equity by that point, but that'll be the only difference.
- adjkant 6y ago
  There's an implicit assumption there that this problem will continue until it consumes most every small city, which I don't think is true. At a certain point, it will either stop at a larger/more popular city level or will spread itself so thin that the original set of cities becomes affordable again full circle. I suspect the first case as the cumulative growth rate of tech slows, but of course that guess is just as good as yours likely.

peytn 6y ago

DFW is another such megacity. The construction happening there reminds me of parts of China.

techsupporter 6y ago
The problem is, from my perspective (and having lived there), the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex is neither resilient nor a megacity. Outside of the 635 and 820 loops, it is just suburban sprawl that gets scorching hot in the summer and everyone who lives there has to be reliant on a car. DFW is going to be in a world of hurt when the water runs out and that day is coming somewhat soon. There are already places in central Texas where the aquifers are dry and the lakes don't refill during the formerly-rainy season. North Texas is reliant on a set of manmade lakes that are already slower and slower to refill, with more and more taps being added every year.
brundolf 6y ago
I came from DFW (technically one of its suburbs). You're either in the suburbs, or you're living in a sea of hot concrete. Unless you retreat to one of the less-wealthy (read: genuinely middle-class) suburbs, everything from the restaurants to the billboards is steeped in corporate pretension and wealth-signaling. And then you're still, well, in the suburbs. In my first round of interviews out of college I interviewed with a company in Dallas. It was going well, but towards the end of the day I was frank with my interviewer and told them I simply didn't want to live in DFW. I didn't have another offer yet, but I found one in Austin and moved there.
- peytn 6y ago
  No kidding, I grew up there as well! The not-wanting-to-ever-return feeling is very relatable. I wouldn’t have re-explored DFW were it not for the current state of life in the Bay Area. As it stands, things have changed a lot in the past 10 years, or perhaps I’ve grown up. There’s a lot going on in DFW, and as an adult having explored all over I’m comfortable giving DFW another look.
  - adjkant 6y ago
    I guess my question is why DFW given its flaws, for better or worse? Why not NYC or Boston or Chicago or LA or DC, to name a few?

kevin_thibedeau 6y ago

NYC is building pied-a-terres for money launderers. The whole Hudson Yards was engineered as a phony rehabilitation of Harlem so they could sell visas to millionaires who could then turn around and buy a luxury apartment in the "blighted" neighborhood they revitalized.

adjkant 6y ago
No argument here, but what does this have to do with the countless other neighborhoods in NYC and the consistent expansion of housing that has happened in them over the past few decades while other cities experienced far worse gentrification pressures by not building housing? Hudson Yards is not what I'm referring to in any way in my posts on this article. I'm mainly talking large towers in Williamsburg, along Atlantic Ave in Brooklyn, in the East Village edge near Alphabet City, some in Gowanus, Long Island City, and many others I'm probably forgetting.
volkl48 6y ago
> The whole Hudson Yards was engineered as a phony rehabilitation of Harlem Hudson Yards is not anywhere remotely near Harlem, and was built on a deck over what's been a rail yard for a century. I'm don't love what was built there, but it certainly wasn't rehabilitating Harlem and not a single person was directly displaced by building there.
- kevin_thibedeau 6y ago
  It isn't anywhere near Harlem but they created a special zone that connected HY through central park to Harlem so that it could qualify for special redevelopment incentives.

brundolf 6y ago

Yeah, I have casually looked towards San Antonio and even Waco. The problem with the "look where nobody's looking yet" angle is that you're potentially just kicking the can down the road. In 10 years when "the market catches up" it'll be back to square one. Perhaps you'll have equity by that point, but that'll be the only difference.

adjkant 6y ago
There's an implicit assumption there that this problem will continue until it consumes most every small city, which I don't think is true. At a certain point, it will either stop at a larger/more popular city level or will spread itself so thin that the original set of cities becomes affordable again full circle. I suspect the first case as the cumulative growth rate of tech slows, but of course that guess is just as good as yours likely.