It's self-evident why the middle class can't outbid rich families for single family homes near employment centers: the rich have more money and they want to live there too. But for dilapidated homes that are ready to be torn down, the strategy for outbidding the rich is clear: rich families who want to build a big home with a big yard can be outbid by several middle class families who are willing to live in smaller homes with smaller yards.
The problem is that we've made it illegal for the middle class to outbid the rich. Single family zoning laws have always been intended to segregate people by income, but the economics of urban growth have made the middle class the victims of the segregation laws they've always supported.
The effects are most egregious in high employment areas with predominantly single family zoning, like Silicon Valley, Seattle, and Austin, where I live. In Austin, the vast majority of the city is blanketed with laws that make it harder for the middle class to outbid the rich than any city in Texas. Where Houston allows four families to build homes to outbid the rich, Austin only allows one. It's no surprise that we're the most economically segregated city in the country[1], and the only growing city that has a shrinking black population[2].
We must fight to desegregate our cities. The middle class is suffering not because they can't afford to outbid the rich, but because it's illegal to outbid the rich.
[1] https://www.texastribune.org/2015/02/23/austin-most-economic...
[2] http://kut.org/post/austins-population-booming-why-its-afric...
The problem is that we've made it illegal for the middle class to outbid the rich. Single family zoning laws have always been intended to segregate people by income, but the economics of urban growth have made the middle class the victims of the segregation laws they've always supported.
The effects are most egregious in high employment areas with predominantly single family zoning, like Silicon Valley, Seattle, and Austin, where I live. In Austin, the vast majority of the city is blanketed with laws that make it harder for the middle class to outbid the rich than any city in Texas. Where Houston allows four families to build homes to outbid the rich, Austin only allows one. It's no surprise that we're the most economically segregated city in the country[1], and the only growing city that has a shrinking black population[2].
We must fight to desegregate our cities. The middle class is suffering not because they can't afford to outbid the rich, but because it's illegal to outbid the rich.
[1] https://www.texastribune.org/2015/02/23/austin-most-economic...
[2] http://kut.org/post/austins-population-booming-why-its-afric...