Houston affordability ranking, 17th per new study

[lockmat]

Broadly measured, housing in the Houston area is cheap compared to other big cities. But when combined with transportation costs, this market becomes less affordable, a new study shows.

http://www.chron.com/business/sarnoff/article/Sarnoff-Another-project-rouses-from-its-slumber-3965709.php#photo-3617208

[TheNiche]

Broadly measured, housing in the Houston area is cheap compared to other big cities. But when combined with transportation costs, this market becomes less affordable, a new study shows.

http://www.chron.com...p#photo-3617208

They're calling Washington D.C. the most expensive in absolute terms and the most affordable in relative terms because households there that are in the 25% to 50% range of median income earn vastly more income on average. This reflects that their demography and economy are skewed, not that there is a lesson that can be translated toward better public policy elsewhere.

So even though that slice of households within D.C. have housing costs that are 65% higher and transportation costs that are 5% higher than Houston's, they earn 57% more money, they're obviously from the same socioeconomic class and this is a valid apples-to-apples comparison with strong predictive validity...right?

No. That's just stupid.

It would be useful to examine the lifestyles of people that are of comparable backgrounds. For instance, it would be useful and interesting to compare the earnings and expense profiles of undocumented immigrants from Latin America that are living in various cities and that do not speak English and that have minimal skills. And then, within that group, what happens if they live in family households versus non-family households. However, we would also want to evaluate the qualitative aspects of their lifestyle. Do they live in a house or an apartment. How large? What is the crime rate within their neighborhood? Do they keep roommates? How do they commute? How long does the commute take? If they have kids, do their schools rank well with respect to students from similar households? I'd imagine that Texas would perform quite well if you bother to segment out the population like that.

[editor]

It makes perfect sense.

I move every couple of years. Every time I move I make a list of cities I'd want to live in and compare the cost of living in each. Houston is always on my wish list, but I'm never able to move there because the cost of transportation makes it far more expensive than other cities that, on the surface, seem more expensive.

When I left Houston in 2003, transportation costs for my household were around $700/month. (My car payment + wife's car payment + fuel + insurance. Not including maintenance because I had new cars still in their free maintenance promotional periods.)

According to Quickbooks, my monthly average transportation costs when I moved to Seattle was $216 for two people (ORCA passes + ZIpCar usage). In Chicago (far less ZipCar usage, no expensive ferries) it's $68/month for two people.

There's a lot more to calculating the cost of living than just housing.

It would be useful to examine the lifestyles of people that are of comparable backgrounds.

No, it wouldn't. It would be interesting, but not useful. Examining hundreds of different edge cases only serves to distract from the point of the study. Unlike my anecdote above, the study, like most studies, isn't about one person or one family, it's about large numbers of people.

I'd imagine that Texas would perform quite well if you bother to segment out the population like that.

Yes, just like schools do well on standardized tests if you remove all of the troublesome students from class on test day. It doesn't make the testing more accurate, but it helps achieve a pre-determined goal.

Texas is more expensive for transportation. That's just the nature of Texas -- it's wide-open and spread out compared to many other places in the country. Just like America is more expensive than Europe for transportation because everyone is comparatively spread out.

It's not a bad reflection on Texas, it's just the nature of the beast. Accept it. Embrace it.

[lockmat]

Do they factor taxes in these studies?

[luciaphile]

I move every couple of years. Every time I move I make a list of cities I'd want to live in and compare the cost of living in each. Houston is always on my wish list, but I'm never able to move there because the cost of transportation makes it far more expensive than other cities that, on the surface, seem more expensive.

There's a lot more to calculating the cost of living than just housing.

I love it when you show a bit of spirit, editor, and I'm humbled by your careful record-keeping. Is Houston truly on your "wish list" though? The study only addressed housing + transportation; but surely the money you would save on food and utilities by living in Texas would nearly offset your transportation costs. And the Houston humidity is so good for your skin!

Anyway, if I'm looking at the right study, Houston and Chicago each received a grade of C.

I'm no apologist for Houston, though, so I'm happy to be corrected; in any case it would be understandable if you preferred to spend more on the housing side of the ledger than transportation.

[kylejack]

I reject the premise that you need a car in Houston, and I demand more transit.

[editor]

I love it when you show a bit of spirit, editor, and I'm humbled by your careful record-keeping.

I bill all of my transportation through my company, so careful records are required. Getting the information out is just a few clicks.

Is Houston truly on your "wish list" though?

Yes. I find myself missing Houston every now and again. More importantly, my wife would love to move back there. We've lived in more than a dozen places, and we have found the people of Houston to be among the most generous, gracious, friendly, and hospitable.

Here's an example: When we lived in Houston, we always had several invitations from families we knew to come to their house for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, because they knew that my wife and I are childless and sometimes two people alone on a holiday can be sad and lonely. We've never received any similar offers from anyone in any other city. We still keep in touch with people in Houston, which is not something we can say of any other city we've lived in.

The study only addressed housing + transportation; but surely the money you would save on food and utilities by living in Texas would nearly offset your transportation costs. And the Houston humidity is so good for your skin!

I don't find that food is any cheaper in Houston than elsewhere. I think it's because of transportation -- most of the country's food is produced in the Midwest, processed on the East Coast, and then trucked across the country for distribution. This was particularly acute when we lived in Seattle -- food prices were much higher. And all the best of the local stuff like apples, potatoes, salmon, etc... gets shipped to people on the East Coast who will pay more for higher quality. Meanwhile, the people in Seattle are eating grade-B local stuff, but are so used to telling themselves that it's the best that they actually believe it.

As for energy -- Houston is the place where I paid the highest electric bills. I had electricity bills up to $150/month in Houston. I've never had a bill over $45 anywhere else. Ever. I've had Summer electric bills of $19 in New Jersey (more in Seattle because northwest hydro and wind is more expensive than the Midwest's coal/nuclear, or the East Coast's oil/gas/nuclear). It's hot in Houston, and I'm fat so the air conditioner has to run. In buildings I've lived in in the north, heat is either included in the rent, required by city ordinance to be kept at a certain level by the landlord, or you get a big fat check from the state every Spring to make up for the money you spent on heating over the winter.

Anyway, if I'm looking at the right study, Houston and Chicago each received a grade of C.

I'm no apologist for Houston, though, so I'm happy to be corrected; in any case it would be understandable if you preferred to spend more on the housing side of the ledger than transportation.

I'm a housing kind of person. I'm not well-off by any means, but I have great pride in where I live. So while someone in Houston might not mind splashing out extra cash on their car, I don't mind paying a little extra in rent so I can live in a 100-story building, or a landmark skyscraper, or both.

[editor]

I reject the premise that you need a car in Houston, and I demand more transit.

I could get along without a car in Houston, but my wife couldn't. Both because of her profession, and her lifestyle. Houston has made great strides in walkability, but it still has a long way to go.

[luciaphile]

When we lived in Houston, we always had several invitations from families we knew to come to their house for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, because they knew that my wife and I are childless and sometimes two people alone on a holiday can be sad and lonely. We've never received any similar offers from anyone in any other city. We still keep in touch with people in Houston, which is not something we can say of any other city we've lived in.

Isolation is famously more pronounced in a big city. I'm glad you found Houston to be the exception.

I don't find that food is any cheaper in Houston than elsewhere. I think it's because of transportation -- most of the country's food is produced in the Midwest, processed on the East Coast, and then trucked across the country for distribution. This was particularly acute when we lived in Seattle -- food prices were much higher. And all the best of the local stuff like apples, potatoes, salmon, etc... gets shipped to people on the East Coast who will pay more for higher quality. Meanwhile, the people in Seattle are eating grade-B local stuff, but are so used to telling themselves that it's the best that they actually believe it.

As for energy -- Houston is the place where I paid the highest electric bills. I had electricity bills up to $150/month in Houston. I've never had a bill over $45 anywhere else. Ever. I've had Summer electric bills of $19 in New Jersey (more in Seattle because northwest hydro and wind is more expensive than the Midwest's coal/nuclear, or the East Coast's oil/gas/nuclear). It's hot in Houston, and I'm fat so the air conditioner has to run. In buildings I've lived in in the north, heat is either included in the rent, required by city ordinance to be kept at a certain level by the landlord, or you get a big fat check from the state every Spring to make up for the money you spent on heating over the winter.

I didn't know all that. I guess I don't really buy processed food and apart from grains, our produce mainly comes from Mexico, Texas, Colorado, NM, and California. When the blueberries come from Canada, you know that summer is almost over.

I move every couple of years. Every time I move I make a list of cities I'd want to live in and compare the cost of living in each...I'm a housing kind of person. I'm not well-off by any means, but I have great pride in where I live. So while someone in Houston might not mind splashing out extra cash on their car, I don't mind paying a little extra in rent so I can live in a 100-story building, or a landmark skyscraper, or both.

Your mobility is so foreign to me. I don't even fly, so I'm terribly provincial (thanks for the pictures of Frankfurt, by the way!). I've spent my entire life in just two towns, boomtowns both. When I've wanted something different, my husband has indicated that I am naive and don't know what it's like to live in a place that's not booming -- I might not like it as well as I think. Lately, though, as we contemplate selling the home we've lived in all these years primarily because it was in walking distance to 3 schools, he's become receptive to the idea of installing me .... somewhere, while he would rent a place to stay during the workweek. I don't imagine we could afford the coast, much as I love the wind-bent live oaks around Aransas/Goose Island; but I like the area roughly bounded by West Columbia, Gonzales, and Goliad. Place is very important to me, but I'm not house-proud, so transportation will suddenly become our chief expense if I get my way.

[TheNiche]

It makes perfect sense.

I move every couple of years. Every time I move I make a list of cities I'd want to live in and compare the cost of living in each. Houston is always on my wish list, but I'm never able to move there because the cost of transportation makes it far more expensive than other cities that, on the surface, seem more expensive.

When I left Houston in 2003, transportation costs for my household were around $700/month. (My car payment + wife's car payment + fuel + insurance. Not including maintenance because I had new cars still in their free maintenance promotional periods.)

According to Quickbooks, my monthly average transportation costs when I moved to Seattle was $216 for two people (ORCA passes + ZIpCar usage). In Chicago (far less ZipCar usage, no expensive ferries) it's $68/month for two people.

There's a lot more to calculating the cost of living than just housing.

No, it wouldn't. It would be interesting, but not useful. Examining hundreds of different edge cases only serves to distract from the point of the study. Unlike my anecdote above, the study, like most studies, isn't about one person or one family, it's about large numbers of people.

Yes, just like schools do well on standardized tests if you remove all of the troublesome students from class on test day. It doesn't make the testing more accurate, but it helps achieve a pre-determined goal.

Texas is more expensive for transportation. That's just the nature of Texas -- it's wide-open and spread out compared to many other places in the country. Just like America is more expensive than Europe for transportation because everyone is comparatively spread out.

It's not a bad reflection on Texas, it's just the nature of the beast. Accept it. Embrace it.

I'm not trying to get to a predetermined goal. I just want predictive validity from my data. You aren't going to get that by making such arbitrary and meaningless comparisons.

Also. Transit is not inexpensive, merely paid for in a roundabout manner. Since everyone is paying for it whether they use it or not, the average costs are impacted but the difference in cost for a user versus a non-user may be vast. But it isn't going to get picked up in a study such as this.

[TheNiche]

As for energy -- Houston is the place where I paid the highest electric bills. I had electricity bills up to $150/month in Houston. I've never had a bill over $45 anywhere else. Ever. I've had Summer electric bills of $19 in New Jersey (more in Seattle because northwest hydro and wind is more expensive than the Midwest's coal/nuclear, or the East Coast's oil/gas/nuclear). It's hot in Houston, and I'm fat so the air conditioner has to run. In buildings I've lived in in the north, heat is either included in the rent, required by city ordinance to be kept at a certain level by the landlord, or you get a big fat check from the state every Spring to make up for the money you spent on heating over the winter.

Texas has a large amount of electricity generation capacity from gas-fired power plants. Since natural gas prices have shifted to a structurally much lower level, I have been pleasantly surprised by my electricity contracts. I rarely pay a bill larger than $50 in any given month.

[kylejack]

I rarely pay a bill larger than $50 in any given month.

I have a low rate too, but how do you manage so few kwh, especially for air conditioning?

[TheNiche]

I have a low rate too, but how do you manage so few kwh, especially for air conditioning?

My rate is eight cents per kwh. That helps.

I have two window units in my one-bedroom apartment. One is in the living room and one is in the bedroom. I cool whichever room I'm physically occupying and keep doors closed. I'm at work during the heat of the day and keep the A/C completely off. The kitchen is along the south wall and is against an un-air-conditioned stairwell, so it is the warmest room; it also has the gas oven, gas water heater, gas stove, and (electric) fridge, so it generates a lot of heat. Thankfully, the kitchen also has a door. I keep the door closed and the window open when I'm cooking something so that I don't have to offset the heat generated by my appliances.

Another thing. Many older apartments are drafty. Mine isn't. I installed (or improvised) weather stripping on the doors and caulked-in any gaps that I could find anywhere in the unit.

[kylejack]

Ah. I've got an old apartment in a downtown building, and I'm sure I'm losing heat. I should look around for holes. I've got central air but turn it off during the day on weekdays. Closing a door isn't really practical, because I'm renting and the door to my bedroom is a sliding door that will pass air even when closed. Other electricity expenses are a flat screen TV and my computer. I used 885 kwh last month at 6.7 cents an hour plus the utility charge (41.20).

[TheNiche]

Ah. I've got an old apartment in a downtown building, and I'm sure I'm losing heat. I should look around for holes. I've got central air but turn it off during the day on weekdays. Closing a door isn't really practical, because I'm renting and the door to my bedroom is a sliding door that will pass air even when closed. Other electricity expenses are a flat screen TV and my computer. I used 885 kwh last month at 6.7 cents an hour plus the utility charge (41.20).

I'd tell you to stick down a strip of something along the path that your pocket door closes, but it's a moot point since you've got central air.

On the other hand, since you are renting and don't really care about the theoretical effect of back pressure on the longevity of the A/C system, you might fiddle with which vents are open and which are closed at any given time so as to create the effect of a zoned system.

[luciaphile]

They're calling Washington D.C. the most expensive in absolute terms and the most affordable in relative terms because households there that are in the 25% to 50% range of median income earn vastly more income on average. This reflects that their demography and economy are skewed, not that there is a lesson that can be translated toward better public policy elsewhere.

So even though that slice of households within D.C. have housing costs that are 65% higher and transportation costs that are 5% higher than Houston's, they earn 57% more money, they're obviously from the same socioeconomic class and this is a valid apples-to-apples comparison with strong predictive validity...right?

No. That's just stupid.

It would be useful to examine the lifestyles of people that are of comparable backgrounds. For instance, it would be useful and interesting to compare the earnings and expense profiles of undocumented immigrants from Latin America that are living in various cities and that do not speak English and that have minimal skills. And then, within that group, what happens if they live in family households versus non-family households. However, we would also want to evaluate the qualitative aspects of their lifestyle. Do they live in a house or an apartment. How large? What is the crime rate within their neighborhood? Do they keep roommates? How do they commute? How long does the commute take? If they have kids, do their schools rank well with respect to students from similar households? I'd imagine that Texas would perform quite well if you bother to segment out the population like that.

I was hoping editor would make an appropriately wonky response, but he declined to enter the fray. I can't supply that, but I can ask this: why should we be overly concerned about the relative affordability of American cities for undocumented immigrants?

I am presuming your typical economist/business-wing-of-the-GOP support for unlimited immigration, and in return you may presume whatever xenophobia on my part that you wish. The nuances of our positions are perhaps not important.

[samagon]

I reject the premise that you need a car in Houston, and I demand more transit.

I believe that in more realistic terms (cause Houston has no transit worth speaking of) Houston is a 1 car per household kind of place.

But it's all part of the lifestyle with which we choose to live.

If I stopped to think about how much I'm tossing in my car, where I could get some cheap used car, I'd be depressed, but I enjoy driving, so that's that.

[kylejack]

Plenty of transit in Houston, and more on the way. I use Metro to get around quite a bit. Then there's free market solutions, like Wave and Rev Eco. But not Yellow Cab. Never Yellow Cab. I hate them so much.

[TheNiche]

I was hoping editor would make an appropriately wonky response, but he declined to enter the fray. I can't supply that, but I can ask this: why should we be overly concerned about the relative affordability of American cities for undocumented immigrants?

I am presuming your typical economist/business-wing-of-the-GOP support for unlimited immigration, and in return you may presume whatever xenophobia on my part that you wish. The nuances of our positions are perhaps not important.

I could've said that we should be comparing the lifestyles of dentists or CPAs that are demographically similar and that have similar household characteristics. I could've made the same inquiry as narrowly as to compare the lifestyles of Wal-Mart greeters, but not so broadly as to compare a heterogeneous category such as salespeople.

I went for the unskilled Latin American immigrant household because it is a segment of the population that Houston has in huge numbers and that Washington D.C. and San Francisco do not. Houston has so many low-earning people living here not only because of proximity but because, for them, we are an affordable locale relative to earnings potential. That this is true means that our median income gets skewed downward. Typical lower-earning people are going to pay a larger percentage of their income toward housing and transportation than higher-earning people, regardless of which city they live in; so a city where the median worker is a forklift operator will appear in this study to be at a disadvantage from a city where the median worker is an entry-level accountant, even if the forklift operator lives in the city that would yield the highest income relative to earnings for forklift operators.

My critique of this study has nothing to do with a political agenda. The research methodology is bunk, that's all.

[luciaphile]

D.C. now has the highest median income in the country, I think I read -- if you consider the downward pressure on median income that the poverty of D.C.would exert you realize how well the lawyers and lobbyists and some federal employees are doing. This isn't exactly shocking, but interesting that those classes are immune to the recession.

I supposed the authors of the study were just trying to compare affordability -- D.C. or San Jose? -- for professional classes, for people like themselves; but I googled and the National Housing Conference (founded by one of those crusading lady reformers) has been instrumental, since 1931, in instituting all the market distortions progressive policies on housing that have led us where we are, and which interest me purely from an environmental standpoint. Anyway, they would have no reason not to trumpet Houston's affordability, unless it goes against their favored narrative about Texas. Perhaps advocacy and not statistical analysis is their strong suit.

A study of the sort you propose does sound more germane, but the Census Bureau chose not to ask people their vocations. Home ownership versus rental was the theme of the 2010 census as I recall.

I appreciate your explaining it a second time. You might teach, The Niche -- if you could be as patient with those more slow-witted than yourself as you have elected to be with me. I can tell you are practicing at patience, I can practically hear you gritting your teeth.

[TheNiche]

I appreciate your explaining it a second time. You might teach, The Niche -- if you could be as patient with those more slow-witted than yourself as you have elected to be with me. I can tell you are practicing at patience, I can practically hear you gritting your teeth.

I don't mind--with you or certain others.