In addition to data showing an increasing number of America's poor and financially strapped families living in suburbs rather than central city and rural areas, and local data showing much higher foreclosure rates in the suburbs, the Center for Neighborhood Technology has put together a mapping tool for many metropolitan areas, including that of Maricopa County, AZ, showing that housing and transportation costs are often lower in central cities than in suburbs. This runs counter to the belief of many who purchased homes a few years ago that they had to "drive 'til you qualify" and find cheap housing in far flung locations. Of course, some of the most affordable housing is in areas of town in which you do not want to live, but as an urban dweller, I stand by the idea that there are many affordable neighborhoods in central Phoenix (and older areas of Tempe, Mesa, Glendale, and other Valley cities) that are worth living in, and our governments should focus on making those affordable areas more liveable (better city services, better public schools) instead of building costly new infrastructure to support new, far flung exurbs.
The following map shows the average monthly cost to own a home in the Valley of the Sun. The darkest areas have the highest cost.
Of course, people who live closer to work also spend less on transportation costs. So in addition to cheaper housing, the central city areas are cheaper for transportation, especially with gasoline over $3.50 a gallon in many places. In the blue areas, people spend more than 45% of area median income on housing and transportation combined.
This seems intuitive, but it goes against what many tell us here. Perhaps it is just easier for the "real estate industrial complex," as former Arizona Republic columnist Jon Talton used to call it, to make a profit in outlying areas, so they perpetuate the myth. You know, the Republic hasn't much been worth reading since Jon Talton left.
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