LF vs. Evanston "Wealthy Millennial Home Buyers Are Trading Sleepy Suburbs for Smaller Houses and Shorter Commutes"—WSJ (Chicago: transplants, real estate market)

[Avondalist]

I worked with someone who inherited a mansion in LF. He said living in Evanston "would be a dream". It sounded like he was staying in LF for fear of selling during a down market or because of social pressure.

[Avondalist]

As used cars improve in reliability, more and more working class families are buying cars and using public transit less.

I think public transit is increasingly used by people who could drive but don't want the hassle. If you have money to spend on square footage or a shorter commute, or better yet a commute where you can sleep or do work, I think most young professionals will choose to improve their commute.

[pvande55]

Originally Posted by Avondalist

As used cars improve in reliability, more and more working class families are buying cars and using public transit less.

I think public transit is increasingly used by people who could drive but don't want the hassle. If you have money to spend on square footage or a shorter commute, or better yet a commute where you can sleep or do work, I think most young professionals will choose to improve their commute.

No, only rail transit. *You could run buses everywhere, on time, with a heated waiting area, and even have them go where people want to go, you still only get a few riders. But trains are much more attractive. You're more likely to see "walk to train" in a home listing than "close to bus."

[Avondalist]

Originally Posted by pvande55

No, only rail transit. *You could run buses everywhere, on time, with a heated waiting area, and even have them go where people want to go, you still only get a few riders. But trains are much more attractive. You're more likely to see "walk to train" in a home listing than "close to bus."

Point taken, and as someone who uses rail transit for the lifestyle benefits busses don't even cross my mind.

[reppin_the_847]

Originally Posted by Hiruko

Nearly everything Kotkin wrote in that piece is baseless crap. The coronavirus is not going to rescue the housing market in Lake Forest, Greenwich Backcountry, and the like.

This is a more rational take on the question of density and health in light of the pandemic: NYT: Density Is Normally Good for Us. That Will Be True After Coronavirus, Too.

The pandemic does seem to be propping up appeal to well-to-do suburbs of NYC. I'm sure the Greenwich area in Connecticut that you referenced (only about 30 miles from Manhattan / NYC) will be a beneficiary. At least relative to the city. Overall I'm sure prices everywhere will be depressed.

[KerrTown]

Originally Posted by pvande55

No, only rail transit. *You could run buses everywhere, on time, with a heated waiting area, and even have them go where people want to go, you still only get a few riders. But trains are much more attractive. You're more likely to see "walk to train" in a home listing than "close to bus."

Except that Houston's Park-and-Ride system saw increases in ridership within the past 5 years, despite low gas prices and an oil recession that created layoffs. There is light rail in Houston that serves the inner city, but it's also heavily utilized by commuters.

The oddity is that the Park-and-Ride system concentrates on Downtown Houston commutes, yet there are two other CBDs that have as many white-collar workers but are not connected to the system. Most people are forced to drive from the suburbs on major thoroughfares to arrive in the other CBDs.

[pvande55]

Originally Posted by KerrTown

Except that Houston's Park-and-Ride system saw increases in ridership within the past 5 years, despite low gas prices and an oil recession that created layoffs. There is light rail in Houston that serves the inner city, but it's also heavily utilized by commuters.

The oddity is that the Park-and-Ride system concentrates on Downtown Houston commutes, yet there are two other CBDs that have as many white-collar workers but are not connected to the system. Most people are forced to drive from the suburbs on major thoroughfares to arrive in the other CBDs.

Sounds like the Harris County transit agency needs to wake up to this. Especially if commuters are now driving long distances to these places.

[reppin_the_847]

Originally Posted by NOLA101

I'm not getting why you think that wealthy people fleeing to their weekend homes in a pandemic means that sprawl will regain its appeal.

Their second homes aren't in sprawl, they're in the country. And it isn't like they're giving up their primary homes because there's a 2-month crisis.

It would be like saying that Barrington will be more appealing than Evanston in the future due to Covid-19, and the reasoning is that people in the Gold Coast are hanging out in their Michigan weekend homes. Huh?

I wanted to re-visit this comment lol. We have a virus, lockdowns, quarantine & race riots to contend with? You think some urbanites may now consider fleeing the city in Chicago like they already had started to some degree in New York? They're talking about this in the main Chicago thread a bit...

[Hiruko]

Originally Posted by reppin_the_847

I wanted to re-visit this comment lol. We have a virus, lockdowns, quarantine & race riots to contend with? You think some urbanites may now consider fleeing the city in Chicago like they already had started to some degree in New York? They're talking about this in the main Chicago thread a bit...

Coronavirus cases per-capita are higher on the North Shore than they are in most of the affluent north side zip codes.

I don't buy the 'New York exodus' either. Most of the people who have been interviewed on that subject have some interest in suburban real estate or are upper-middle-class people fleeing smaller apartments for significantly more space in the suburbs (the disparity between Manhattan and Brooklyn housing prices and those in the suburbs is incomparable to anything in Chicagoland).

[Logic87]

I have been looking at LF lately and Im stunned to see homes only bought a few years ago being listed less than their sales price. Same is true in Deerfield and Northbrook to a lesser extent.