This is the question posed on CityNerd video titled “Walkable Cities But They Keep Getting More Affordable”
If you ditched your car, could you afford to leave the suburbs for a great urban neighborhood?
Ray Delahanty answers the question in the 26 biggest US cities.
The analysis assumes the all-in cost of owning and operating a car is $1,000 per month, including purchase, insurance, fuel, and maintenance.
In the city, transportation costs might total about $250 per month for transit passes, biking, ride-hailing, and other small expenses.
This results in an effective $750 per month increase in the housing budget for city center residents who do not own a car.
The results of the video are quite interesting, as you can get more m² in walkable areas in most cities


Ive watched this and many times its actually a collar burb that has the end of the transit system or far from the center to get the affordability. Im not complaining its basically what I have done but oh man it annoys me that the dense city center is not the most affordable area. Feel like we should be able to keep on building high rises till its the most affordable type of housing and do it mix with shops on at street level while we are at it with a few floors of office.
“Mega City One. 800 million people living in the ruin of the old world and the mega structures of the new one.”
“You know what Mega City One is, Dredd? It’s a fucking meat grinder. People go in one end. And meat comes out the other…”
I think the big thing is affordable enough for anyone who wants to live there does rather than have to live there. People can still own a small farm or have their own little land conservation area as long as they take care of it in a sustainable way. I honestly hate the burbs and in between lands. Just a waste. Aslo mega city one needs more rules on public greenspace. Its that distopia vs utopia thing. Make those mega complexes all green solar punk and oh man that is my type of place.