Cities are growing and affordable housing is being pushed farther away. Autonomous vehicles will help to close that gap.
Stan Humphries, the Zillow Group Chief Analytics Officer and Chief Economist, writes that driverless cars will be faster and cheaper than public transportation, making it feasible for workers to commute into the city from distant suburbs.
Also, driverless cars will free up urban parking lot space for redevelopment. The vehicles can either remain in motion on city streets, or park outside of the urban core during low-demand hours.
Housing development on this newly buildable land would be less prone to the NIMBYism encountered when trying to increase density in existing residential neighborhoods. And as less affluent workers are pushed to live farther from their downtown jobs, some of this housing development could presumably help provide more desperately needed affordable housing in the hearts of our cities.
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