No. of Recommendations: 17
One of the odd things in the USA is that some of the most dense housing areas are ALSO some of the most expensive housing areas. NYC, urban LA, for examples.
It's not so odd...there are places people want to live. High demand per unit drives up price per unit, and increases the profitability of whatever density increases might be allowed, so the density tends towards the maximum the zoning and NIMBY situations will allow. Once the density has hit its allowable limit, prices can keep rising so long as the fashionability holds up.
Interesting that you mention LA, though--it's quite the outlier. Yes, the average density is reasonably high, but it has an oddly diffuse population distribution, so LA's average is accomplished more through a very big area of medium to medium-high density rather than a more common dense core surrounded by low density. In the "total urbanized area" of LA, the most densely populated 20% of land will get you about 64% of the total population. Using the same "total urbanized area" definitions, the densest 20% of the urbanized area will get you about 88% of the population of San Francisco, and about 82% in New York.
I speculate that, by comparison to other cities, LA also doesn't have the same usual concentration of small area(s) of super high demand and super high prices towering over the demand and prices in the areas that are only a bit less desirable. In London, average house prices around Bond Street Station are about 4.2 times those around Baker Street Station, the next tube stop along. A very pleasant 17 minute walk between the two. There is of course no direct comparison for LA, as nobody would ever walk for 17 minutes to test it : )
Jim
