Reports today show that parts of the country are escaping the housing recession better than others. Even within the areas, some places are more successful than the rest.
One quote caught my eye.
"That fitful recovery is reflected in the Zillow analysis. Homes in sought-after neighborhoods, including those near transportation corridors and with top-notch public schools, are finding buyers. But others in neighborhoods just a few miles away, including so-called exurbs or areas that never fully gentrified, are languishing."
Notice that it says "transportation" and not "transit". Some of the parts later in the article mention Metro near D.C., but the radio report that sent me to this article really de-emphasized much difference between transit and good highway intersections.
And that is interesting because we, as planners, take it as gospel that transit is better than cars. But this agnosticism between cars and transit in home purchases really strikes.
Of course, some of this may be skewed. There could be a stronger rental market near transit, one that doesn't get reflected in these numbers of home purchases. There could also be a statistically significant separation that is simply not revealed in this reporting (or looked at in the analysis.
But we should not take it for granted that everyone agrees with us that transit is the end-all of home locating. New job opportunities pop up all the time, and do not have to locate themselves near transit. People go where there are jobs, or split the difference with with their spouse's work. Folks who make these decisions are not doing it wrong, they're just doing it different. We have to give them options too.
Just like the array of ways you have to get on the internet, the best places are those that have an array of methods to get around. Don't count highways out yet. Just don't spend all your transportation money on them either.
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