Abstract

Problem, research strategy, and findings

In many U.S. metropolitan areas housing costs have skyrocketed in recent years relative to average incomes. A worsening shortage of affordable housing in these metros may push households away from job-rich cities and expensive neighborhoods into outlying areas, where housing is cheaper but jobs are more distant. To examine this issue, we revisit the jobs–housing balance, a popular topic of research in the 1990s, with a focus on the relationship between housing and the spatial location of workers relative to jobs. Our analysis draws on data from the Longitudinal Employer–Household Dynamics Origin–Destination Employment Statistics (LODES) for cities in California in 2002 and 2015. In contrast to earlier jobs–housing balance research, we find that California cities are becoming less self-contained over time, defined as a decline in the number of workers who both live and work within a jurisdiction relative to the number of commuters who travel either into or out of a city for work. Statistical models show that self-containment was higher in cities with lower housing costs and, in 2015, in cities with a greater balance between jobs and employed residents.

Takeaway for practice

The deepening housing affordability crisis in many metropolitan areas like those found in California are pushing workers and jobs farther apart, increasing the economic, social, and environmental costs of commuting. Policies to increase the supply of housing in job-rich and high–housing cost areas could help reverse this troubling trend, though they are likely to meet with considerable resistance. Our findings also underscore the importance of efforts that include but extend beyond housing production, such as policies to better match job skills and housing prices to the characteristics of workers.

中文翻译：

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重新访问工作 - 住房平衡

摘要

问题、研究策略和发现

在美国的许多大都市地区，近年来住房成本相对于平均收入飞涨。这些大都市中经济适用房的日益短缺可能会将家庭从就业机会丰富的城市和昂贵的社区推向边远地区，那里的住房更便宜，但就业机会更远。为了研究这个问题，我们重新审视了工作 - 住房平衡，这是 1990 年代的热门研究课题，重点是住房与工人相对于工作的空间位置之间的关系。我们的分析利用了 2002 年和 2015 年加利福尼亚城市纵向雇主-家庭动态来源-目的地就业统计 (LODES) 的数据。随着时间的推移，定义为在一个管辖区内生活和工作的工人数量相对于进出城市工作的通勤者数量的下降。统计模型显示，住房成本较低的城市自我控制程度更高，2015 年，就业和就业居民之间平衡程度更高的城市。

外卖练习

加利福尼亚等许多大都市地区日益严重的住房负担能力危机正在将工人和工作岗位推得更远，增加了通勤的经济、社会和环境成本。在就业机会丰富和住房成本高的地区增加住房供应的政策可能有助于扭转这一令人不安的趋势，尽管它们可能会遇到相当大的阻力。我们的研究结果还强调了包括但不限于住房生产的努力的重要性，例如更好地匹配工作技能和住房价格与工人特征的政策。