I think that this argument indicates that even if the coasts massively up zone, they still are going to be more expensive than interior cities, just because those cities have so much more land? Tearing down existing buildings and then building larger buildings is much more expensive than greenfield building. If states and metros like Charlotte make land use reforms right now such that they can quickly and cheaply build multi family and townhomes on greenfield sites, I would think that they would continue to be affordable for a far longer time than anything on the West Coast.
I think that this argument indicates that even if the coasts massively up zone, they still are going to be more expensive than interior cities, just because those cities have so much more land? Tearing down existing buildings and then building larger buildings is much more expensive than greenfield building. If states and metros like Charlotte make land use reforms right now such that they can quickly and cheaply build multi family and townhomes on greenfield sites, I would think that they would continue to be affordable for a far longer time than anything on the West Coast.
Agree, and Charlotte, at least, has begun to do exactly that in recent years with considerable results.