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comment by steve
steve  ·  2139 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Why Don’t People Who Can’t Afford Housing Just Move Where It’s Cheaper?

I’m surprised that the article didn’t touch on another (what I think is an) important topic: availability of services and public transportation. When I was doing lots of outreach work, I would agonize for some of these people whose situation was this dire. In Denver, if you live within 5-10 miles of downtown, your rent is easily double that of what you’d find in the burbs, as in $2500 vs. $950 for a 2 bedroom.

But do you know what the burbs don’t have? A clinic that accepts Medicaid for your asthmatic kid, or the monthly program that lets your kid get free clothes from some weird fourth tier “stuff that TJ Maxx couldn’t even sell” program. There’s one bus route that comes every 45 to 90 minutes instead of three routes with a bus every 10-20 minutes.

It’s a tough transition to make for sure, and urban areas have the services that the burbs (very intentionallly) do not.