Futurology

I'm watching big chunks of my neighborhood go from one-story ranch houses on half-acre lots to three-story units on postage stamp lots. But I'm also watching the cost of this housing skyrocket, because the units are kept independent and free-standing rather than being built as connected blocks with shared insulation, electric, plumbing, and AC.

Consequently, a street that used to sell in the $100k-250k range is putting houses on the market for $600k-$800k. The issue isn't rate of construction, its the availability of vacant real estate. The solution isn't to maximize efficiency of land use, its to build luxury properties that can be flipped to rental companies and speculators.