What You Get for the Money

A single-family house in Clairton, Pennsylvania (outside Pittsburgh) costs considerably less than a parking space in New York City.

Comments

[Michael Wells]

Same thing in Minot, ND or Burns, OR or Scotts Bluff, NE. These are places that are emptying out or static - nobody leaving, nobody moving in.

When I was a baby my family lived in Adena, Ohio, maybe 100 miles from Pittsburgh. The last time I was there in the 80's I asked a realtor what my grandmother's old house (that my cousin still owns) would sell for. He said $500, if anybody would buy in Adena, but they don't. I just checked Adena on Zillow and got no information because it has no sales listed.

[Gary Dare]

In this article from The Oregonian of 20071210 (link in my byline), a critic of city planning put up these numbers to compare properties:

"Bashing Portland has become a cottage industry, and O'Toole is its leading figure.

Click. Here's a slide showing a big house on a lush, green yard. This is in Houston, a plump 2,300 square feet for $170,000.

Click. Here's a skinny house in Portland, maybe 1,200 scrunched square feet on a sliver of a yard. Asking price: $260,000."

This property is probably in SE Portland, a similar one in NW Portland (e.g., Alphabet District) would be $360,000 ... my guess for Toronto is $420,000 in The Annex, and Chicago North Side around $500,000 in Old Town, Lakeview (Wrigleyville) or Ravenswood.