| > . . . post WWII[1], most Americans outside of those in rural areas[2] could not afford to home their own home[3]. Suburbs are the exact opposite of an elitist policy[4], and in fact the overwhelming majority of Americans . . . live in the suburbs[5]. [1] Note that home prices wobbled a bit but were relatively even from the recovery after WWI and the flu through the early 60s. Income over that time increased significantly (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/16-05intax.pdf). Things change rapidly after that. I think it suggests a more complicated situation than "it all changed post WWII." https://voxeu.org/article/home-prices-1870 [2] About half of the country. Nothing like today. https://getrawmilk.com/content/urbanization-usa-rural-vs-urb... [3] Affordable because of VA and FHA loans after the war. And increasing wages. And flat housing prices. [4] Actually, the FHA (#3) mainstreamed redlining. That's pretty darned elitist. https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/mapmaker-r... [5] We're mostly suburban in the same way we're all middle class, smart, and attractive: self-description, but not any objective measure. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-14/u-s-is-ma... |