Earlier this week The Guardian published an article on the transformation of some of Durham’s naturally occurring affordable housing (NOAH) into million dollar McMansions. The article does a good job of pointing out that there is a huge inflow of demand – Durham has grown by 20% since 2010, driven by the boom of good […]
David Anderson
David Anderson is currently a middle age PhD student in Population Health Sciences. He lives with his family in Chapel Hill after moving here from Pittsburgh where he used his masters in public policy ineffectively for a decade.
Posted inHousing
Does the local real estate market respond to both supply and demand?
The big argument in Chapel Hill housing politics is a simple one: Does the local real estate market respond to both supply and demand? I think it does. There is a massive local and national demand for housing in the Triangle region. Chapel Hill is a great place to live. Other people think that Chapel […]
Posted inHousing
Car dependent housing on the edge of town
St. Paul AME proposes a large new housing and multi-purpose development on the edge of town near Rogers Road. The Triangle Business Times gives details: This is good. Rogers Road is a historically Black community in the Northern part of Chapel Hill, and has a decades-long history of bearing the brunt of environmental injustice. The […]
Posted inChapel Hill
LUMO and an empty lot: Why I’m excited about missing middle housing
I want to talk about 102 Taylor Street in Chapel Hill and the proposed LUMO modifications. It is an empty lot that I walk past several days a week to get my morning coffee. Several years ago, an old house was removed from the lot. Since then, there is no residential construction on the land […]
Posted inHousing
When we talk about housing policy, we need to talk about counterfactuals
Advocates for more missing middle housing routinely claim that decreasing the barriers to building new houses will lead to (slightly) lower rents. The underlying logic is that more supply, all else being equal, will lead to a new, and lower equilibrium price. Opponents of missing middle housing will point to cities and towns with increasing […]
Posted inChapel Hill
We need to remember what we are
Chapel Hill is a college town. More specifically, Chapel Hill is a research university town. Two of the top 13 institutions in the country that receive federal research funds are either in Chapel Hill or immediately adjacent to Chapel Hill. Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill received $2.4 billion in sponsored research and development funds for federal […]