Yoni Appelbaum on the real villians behind our housing and mobility problems

American Mobility: Decline and Its Meaning

• Several commenters note that Americans move far less than in the 1960s–70s, contrasting past “move first, find work later” behavior with today’s strong preference for stability.
• Some argue reduced moving isn’t inherently bad: moving is stressful, dual-income households make relocation harder, and many job types now exist in most metros.
• Others see low mobility among younger adults as a sign of systemic dysfunction: if 20‑somethings aren’t moving toward opportunity, something is “deeply wrong.”
• There are anecdotes of heartland “hollowing out,” with younger generations leaving states like Iowa and not being replaced.

Austin as a Case Study

• Austin is debated as either a success story or a future cautionary tale like Miami/Detroit.
• One side claims COVID-era population “cratering” in the city proper drove prices down and that recent upticks will re‑inflate prices; they see suburbs’ price rises as evidence of de‑urbanization enabled by remote work.
• Others counter that the “crater” is exaggerated or false, citing Census/ACS/city-demographer data and warning against mixing incompatible data sources.
• There is agreement that metro-wide pressure, including suburban growth, matters more than city-boundary headcounts.

Housing, Family Size, and Overcrowding

• A thread develops around the idea that you “can’t have both” a large home and good employment, making large or extended families difficult.
• Some argue large families historically did fine in small homes and that current expectations (each child having their own room) are excessive; multiple anecdotes describe sharing small houses and bedrooms as normal.
• Others respond that historical crowding often meant unsafe, unsanitary, and psychologically harmful conditions; they cite research linking overcrowding to a wide range of negative outcomes even after controlling for income.
• This spills into a broader argument over what truly “traumatizes” children, with side debates about exposure to sex and violence and whether modern concern is overblown or appropriately protective.

Utilization, Generations, and Cohabitation

• One detailed argument: homeownership rates have barely moved for decades, so the crisis is more about use of housing than pure supply.
• Rising single-person households, especially older adults occupying multi-bedroom homes alone, are said to create strong pressure on stock.
• “Great Wealth Transfer” from older owners to younger heirs is predicted to change dynamics, though timing and impacts are unclear.
• Decline of shared living (roommates, boarding houses) is blamed partly on tenant protections and eviction difficulty; others question this, noting cohabitation remains common in places with stronger tenant rights.

Policy Villains and Structural Causes

• Some emphasize private equity, foreign buyers, and high-income immigration as primary drivers of price inflation, and claim “we can’t build our way out.”
• Others argue the real culprits are generational wealth concentration and land ownership patterns, not 1960s urban activists.
• There is skepticism that pro–upzoning, pro–“luxury apartment” narratives are neutral; some see them as soft lobbying for developers.
• Several commenters insist that local communities should retain strong control over development and that deeper fixes involve enabling single-income households, decentralizing jobs, and rebuilding non-monetized community support networks.

Wages, Offshoring, and Housing Costs

• One view: high housing costs force higher wages, which push employers to offshore.
• A counter-view: offshoring and weakened labor markets came first, depressing earning power and making housing feel less affordable; broadly higher wages would, in this view, actually support more construction and affordability.