Urbanization Trends in Chicago Versus Houston

In the 1950s after World War 2, America’s population started moving toward the suburbs to enjoy larger homes with bigger yards and the tranquility that comes with it. Cities were no longer considered a place to raise kids but just working places. This led to the more spending in highway networks to connect the growing suburbs with the cities. Since the Great Recession in 2008 which leads to sharp drop of housing prices throughout the United States, this is no longer the case. One would think that the growth of broadband communication could lead people stay in suburbs. Instead high gas prices, the search for more “stable home prices” and the desire to profit from the amenities that the city core provides is leading both Baby Boomers and Millennials, the two largest generations in the history of the United States to move to the cities.  (Aaron Lanski, 2014 rejournals.com)

Chicago which boasts the country’s second largest public transportation system is poised to benefit from such a migration.  It has the advantage of having a cosmopolitan well-education population, two airports that connects to the rest of the world. However as the data presented above show, these advantages and the trend towards urbanization have not led to an increase to much growth of the city population specially in the parts of the city that have easy access to public transportation. Neighborhoods such Lincoln Park and North Center located at the north side of the city with easy access to public transportation have seen a higher demand for housing but at the same time a population drop which led to a dramatic increase of “median rent between 2000 and 2010’ as shown in the chart below.

[pic 1]

Source: U.S. Census / Chicago Rehab Network / Metropolitan Planning Council.

As rent prices due to higher demand rise , these neighborhoods attract wealthier families with generally smaller size. The graphs also show a smaller increase of housing units compare to the rise of rent and median household income. The overall effect is a drop of the population since those families that earn less move outside of the city.  According to Yonah Freemark, associate and Project Manager at the Metropolitan Planning Council, a “nonprofit, nonpartisant organization ”, dedicated to “ shaping a more sustainable, more prosperous greater Chicago area”, one of the primary reason for this discrepancy is the zoning restrictions in the area  which prevents the construction of new units. As a result much of city growth has been geared towards the surrounding suburbs which continues to exacerbates the congestion problems.  (Yonah Freemark,  2015 Metroplanning.org; Ian Spula 2015 Chicagomag.com)