i always flip through to see if there are any recent debates about housing development (often yes)

Oh god, I had no idea!! I’m crushed I missed my chance.

I agree with the Fed team on this and am pretty skeptical of a couple recent econ working papers that attempted to interpret these results as primarily driven by supply

www.startribune.com/twin-cities-...

More interesting stuff from @tonydamiano.bsky.social (ACS data I think? I feel like I've seen similar graphs of his using CoStar too), but again it would be valuable to pull these different sources together to clarify the convo

so much great info here, it would be nice to open up the convo on these different sources. you should write an article about it!

Reminds me of this @danielkayhertz.bsky.social read southsideweekly.com/beyond-the-l...

what does that mean?

But I do think that downtown Chicago pushes against a hypothesis — I've it seen floated by Stone, Tyler Cowen, and
@urbancourtyard.bsky.social — that dense development can be actively unfriendly toward families, discouraging childbirth or pushing away families.

Overall growth is important, too.

I like and support Stone and Fijan's agenda of investigating how housing can better accommodate families! It's a worthwhile effort and I agree that there are probably many ways we could improve urban living for families.

That's all before we consider the second-order benefits of building more housing, which broadly benefits housing affordability and increases access throughout the "housing ladder" — which also helps families, as @ebwhamilton.bsky.social recently wrote.
www.governing.com/urban/to-sup...

Here's the key thing: even if a small share of housing (both previously existing and new-built) is 2, 3, or more bedrooms, being a small portion of a large increase still means significant growth!

A rising tide to lift all boats, regardless of family status

Most of this new housing has been in huge buildings with studios and 1 beds. In other words, the housing booms of the Loop, River North, and South and West Loop haven't been particularly family friendly.

But it's still supported major first-order growth in the # of families!

Look at the incredible number of housing permits in Chicago's 4 core community areas, while most neighborhoods stagnated.

The population in these areas has grown commensurately, but it's not just childless yuppies — in 2020, they had thousands more children than in 2010.

New research from Lyman Stone and @bobbyfijan.bsky.social shows how families value extra bedrooms (frequently lacking in new apartments).

But in Chicago's core, building *a ton* of housing has been enough to swamp its relatively un-familial characteristics.
ifstudies.org/report-brief...

Thanks!