Assignment 9
Urban geography (pt. 1)
Select a US metropolitan area at random that has between 150,000 and 500,000 people that is not in Wisconsin or Minnesota. For that city, you will assume a downtown commute (pick an organization or business in the downtown area as your end point) and study three potential home locations at varying distances from this hypothetical work location:
- Home location A: as close to the work location as possible
- Home location B: 2-5 miles from the work location
- Home location C: 10-25 miles from the work location
- Using Zillow or another similar platform, find three available rentals within those ranges, and fill out the table below. As much as you can, try to keep the square footage, number of bedrooms, and number of bathrooms consistent between each of the three locations. E.g.,
| Address | Home details | Monthly cost | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Location A | 1 W Broadway Blvd, Tucson, AZ 85701 | 2 bd, 2 ba, 1116 sq. ft. | $2167 |
| Location B | 1832 N Dragoon St APT 1, Tucson, AZ 85745 | 2 bd, 2 ba, 916 sq. ft. | $1395 |
| Location C | 752 W Rio San Pedro, Green Valley, AZ 85614 | 2 bd, 2 ba, 1112 sq. ft. | $1500 |
For each home, include one screenshot of (a) the interior of the unit and (b) the exterior of the unit (using Google Street View if you there isn’t a picture of the exterior). In total, you should have six pictures.
How does the price change as you move away from the center of the city? Which type of living situation would you prefer and why?