You Say You Want to Build More Housing...
Beneath the Surface: An Infrastructure Podcast
Jun 2022
37 min 20 sec
The price of housing in major cities has, over the past few decades, far outpaced the cost of construction. The immediate effects of the housing crunch are generally well-understood: productivity suffers when people aren’t able to live near the jobs they want.But there are other, less-explored effects of the crunch: an increase in obesity (as folks become more sedentary due to longer commutes and a lack of walkable suburbs), a decrease in birth rates (as housing is often the biggest expense for families, making it difficult to realize their ideal family size), climate change, and inequity. Still, there are reasons to be optimistic. Advocates of building more housing are gaining important victories all around the world—but it remains to be seen whether or not these victories will prove to be lasting. For a transcript of this episode, visit press.stripe.com/housing-transcriptFor more on Beneath the Surface, visit press.stripe.com/beneath-the-surfaceFollow Stripe Press on Twitter @stripepress