- Rice University Report Finds That Half of Houston Area Isn’t Affordable [Prime Property]
- UH Documentary Presents Origins of Downtown’s OKRA Charity Saloon [Culturemap]
- Feral Pig Population Increases Across Texas [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
- Please Stop Hosting Art Parties at the Galleria and Other Temples of Commerce [Houstonia Magazine]
- All the Houston References On Drake’s New Album, from the Galleria to Warehouse Live [Rocks Off]
- The Art Guys Sum Up Their Repeated Crossing of Westheimer and Hillcroft/Voss as ‘Brutish’ [Houston Chronicle ($); previously on Swamplot]
- How Much It’ll Cost You To Heat and Cool That $15M Timberwilde Lane Mansion [Mission Air Conditioning]
- Cracking Down on ‘Astroturfing,’ the Business of Fake Online Reviews [Christian Science Monitor]
Photo of Jim Sanborn’s sculpture outside the University of Houston’s M.D. Anderson Library: Molly Block via Swamplot Flickr Pool
The NY Attorney General should be applauded for cracking down on all the fake reviews, it’s refreshing to see a state Attorney General actually doing his job.
Oh and is it just me or does Drake seriously resemble a Sloth.
So wait: The Rice report on affordability says that for housing to be affordable, it shouldn’t cost more than 30% of income, and that housing costs in half of the city exceed the 30% of the median income. So, basically, the median housing cost is equal to 30% of the median income. Or, the median housing cost is exactly at the level of affordability.
Kind of like saying that it’s unfortunate that half of all people have below average incomes.
Art parties at temples of commerce. How awful! Most artists hate the bourgeoise, but always love their money.
Excellent point, Angostura!
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I’d also be interested to see what the numbers are like in other major US cities. I find it hard to believe that New York City or Boston could be more affordable than Houston. Sure, people make more up there, but I doubt the modest increase in pay makes up for the mind blowing increase in housing costs. Even if you count in transit costs, (having to own a car in Houston versus getting around with no car in New York or Boston), I have trouble imagining that the prices are comparable.
Just to follow up, from what I’ve seen perusing Zillow in Boston and New York, prices are triple in New York what they are in Houston – and that’s across the board. For a $375 a month slum apartment in Houston, you can spect to pay $1,125 a month in New York. An estate or penthouse worth $10 million in Houton would go for $30 million in New York. I know it’s not a scientific survey – I’d be interested in seeing one. But it makes my point, that there’s no way New York could be affordable in Houston isn’t.
Having Turrell cool his heels at a Louis Vuitton store is the height of tacky/tastelessness, and another troubling turn for the MFAH.
I’d be SHOCKED to find that in other major cities you can get 1-2 bed apts for $500-$700 only miles from downtown and major hotspots. Houston *HAS* to be unique in that regard.
Cody, while I don’t have data at hand, you might find that kind of pricing in more working-class parts of “major” cities that don’t have the same cachet as NYC, LA etc. – Philadelphia, Baltimore, Phoenix maybe.
@Cody – I think that depends on how you define “major” city. If you are only looking at NYC, LA and Chicago, then your comment holds true. But if you were to include cities like Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, Phoenix, and Indianapolis (all cities with higher populations than high rent locations of SF and Boston), your argument breaks down pretty quickly.
True, Walt. But Houston has a lot going for it in terms of jobs and culture, that those cities don’t have.
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A closer comparison might be Chicago, which is much more affordable than cities on the East and West Coasts. But even the Windy City is more expensive than Houston – and HISD, for all it’s faults, is light-years ahead of Chicago’s public schools.