The Center for Neighborhood Technology has just updated their Housing+Transportation Affordability Index.  It shows that Kansas Citians continue to spend more on transportation than on housing. We spend 33% of our household income on transportation, and just 23% on housing. Only Tampa and Pittsburgh spend as much on transportation as we do. (See CNT”s Penny Wise, Pound Fuelish). This is especially true in parts of the area where housing and jobs are far apart and transit is absent.

On the left is a map of housing costs as a percent of household income.  On the right is the same map with transportation costs figured in. When transportation is considered, the location of affordable housing significantly shrinks to areas close to where most jobs are located.

That $130,000 starter house in Kearney or Gardner really isn’t so affordable when you factor in the cost of commuting to employment centers like Downtown or College Boulevard.

Try it out for yourself.  You can zoom in to specific neighborhoods and look at other maps like transit access, employment, CO2 footprint, etc.