This interview about how Austin, TX’s massive growth caused a housing affordability crisis is an interesting comparison to what is happening in Sioux Falls right now;
People flock to booming cities for good reasons: jobs, educational opportunities, cultural and recreational activities. But traffic can be a nightmare and housing costs are off the charts.
“Very few, if any, growing cities have given real thought to what they want to be when they grow up,” said Mallach. “They’ve been conditioned to think that growth is good, not growing is bad, so what passes for planning is usually about how to accommodate growth.”
The population of Austin, Texas, has grown more than 33 percent since 2010. The median cost of a house in Austin jumped from less than $200,000 in 2010 to more than $500,000 in 2022.