Why Cities Should Be Leading the Push for Immigration Reform
Why Cities Should Be Leading the Push for Immigration Reform
A new study by AS/COA and the Partnership for a New American Economy shows immigrants have boosted U.S. housing demand in less desirable neighborhoods making them viable for middle-class Americans.
Dylan Matthews over at the Washington Post has a good summary of some interesting new research from Duke University economist Jacob Vigdor comparing the immigration rates across America at the county level with local housing values. Vigdor's conclusion: The greater the number of immigrants in a county, the higher the home values there (each of the 40 million immigrants in the U.S. adds 11.5 cents to the value of the average home in the county).
Broadly, this implies that immigrants help boost housing markets, in much the same way that they've been shown in the past to shore up aging populations where large numbers of workers are retiring out of the workforce. And they've had the greatest impact boosting the housing market in areas that could use it most – specifically, in shrinking Rust Belt cities, or in the deteriorating neighborhoods of major metropolitan areas where it's elsewhere unaffordable to live....
But the findings about housing value make the strategy all the more compelling. In Harris County, Texas, home to relatively affordable Houston, Vigdor found that immigration over the past decade has contributed more than $25,000 to the value of the average home. The below map from his research, conducted by the Americas Society/Council of the Americas and the Partnership for a New American Economy, plots the impact of immigration on home values across the country, county by county....
