Red vs. Blue and the American Dream

Recently, Richard Florida, Canadian, frequent contributor to the NY Times, urbanist, and frequent commentator about his self-coined "Creative Class," wrote a piece in the Times entitled:

 "Is Life Better in America's Red States" 

Via Reddit

In the piece, Florida chronicles the often stark divide between red and blue states, how their economies differ in what they need to thrive and what they provide to local citizens, how blue states have become more unequal, and the crux the nation faces going forward between these two strategies.

Please read the article; for those who read Florida frequently, his comments and conclusions likely won't surprise you.  And for those of you who know me (let's be real - this blog has been live for like 4 days - everyone reading this knows me) - you probably already know my thoughts on many of the topics discussed in the article.

To be clear, I agree with Florida in that a society cannot frack and sprawl it's way to prosperity without some consequences (health, environmental, etc).  Yet, it is important to emphasize Florida's points about inequality and the high cost of housing in blue cities like San Francisco, Boston, New York, and Washington D.C.  I think most would agree that the public and innate benefits offered by these cities (transit, food, arts, education the opportunities that stem from museums, great universities, and being surrounded by a dense collection of intellectuals) are superior to those offered in redder cities - sorry Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, etc. 

People have long indicated their preference for this with their zip code and wallet - some people sacrifice more square footage for a more walkable neighborhood and many people continue to choose the more bucolic American dream in exchange for being weekday commute warriors on the road.  What I have often posed to my friends in redder states (especially those I have known for awhile back in Texas), is if they would continue to choose to live there were the environmental and health damages induced by sprawl monetized and applied to their housing costs?  I won't try to sway any votes tonight, but considering the environmental externalities is at least worth a brief consideration.

The most daunting challenge I took from Florida's article is the inequality induced by these popular blue cities.  Because so many people want to live there and the tax rate needed to maintain a dense lifestyle is relatively high, housing costs in these places have sky-rocketed.  Build too high and the cost of going vertical makes housing expensive; building without density results in higher land costs - both of these factors have resulted in smaller and smaller units and longer and longer commutes.  Creating methods to provide low-medium cost housing going forward will be critical for these blue cities.  I certainly have no breakthroughs.  My only direct thought would be to perhaps explore asking developers not to build units with stainless steel appliances and granite countertops in every unit.  The higher profits the developers can glean from these units also end up pricing the median worker out of most new construction.  I realize this request would not employ capitalism to the fullest, but that probably bothers me less than it might bother you.  

Other potential solutions likely involve examining tax policy in general - but that would digress from the intended discussion points of this article quickly.

I am always amazed at how divisive our country can be.   Children who grow up in the same neighborhood in similar family structures can end up with vastly different political and social values.  The divisiveness seems as strong as ever and these differences will likely remain strong for better or worse - some people will still prefer 400 ft studios in Manhattan and others will still prefer acre lots in McKinney or Acworth, and I have come to accept there is nothing wrong with that, as long as all parties are paying for the resulting external costs.

As emphasized in the article, red and blue states will continue to depend on each other.  Blue states will need to find long-term solutions to at least quell the recent rapid rise of housing costs and provide reasonable options for their lower-income residents.  Red states will need to recognize many of their recent low tax high frack policies are both environmentally and economically unsustainable in the long run.  There will be no shortage of opinions offered in the meantime.

Thanks for reading - have a great day!

--------------------------------------------------------------UPDATE ---------------------------------------------

See update to this post in other blog entries