Manhattan still needs the lower and lower-middle class folks to keep it running. Pricing them out of the city means they live farther away, causing:
1. An increase in their commutes, causing a decrease in wealth.
2. A decrease in their effective wage per hour spent "at" work (I include commute time here because it's time committed to employment), reducing their financial productivity.
3. A decrease in time spent with their families, which research shows negatively affects piles of aspects of family life and child development. Reductions in parental content affect emotional health, reduce academic performance, increase likelihood to make poor decisions vis a vis the law...
Housing price inflation depresses factors for success in families that can't keep up. A shiny bus stop or subway station is a lot less valuable to the community than a janitor spending an extra hour with her/his family at the end of the day.
1. An increase in their commutes, causing a decrease in wealth. 2. A decrease in their effective wage per hour spent "at" work (I include commute time here because it's time committed to employment), reducing their financial productivity. 3. A decrease in time spent with their families, which research shows negatively affects piles of aspects of family life and child development. Reductions in parental content affect emotional health, reduce academic performance, increase likelihood to make poor decisions vis a vis the law...
Housing price inflation depresses factors for success in families that can't keep up. A shiny bus stop or subway station is a lot less valuable to the community than a janitor spending an extra hour with her/his family at the end of the day.