Berkeley Program on Housing and Urban Policy

In this study, we present an analysis of the impacts of high tech economic growth on the incidence of critical housing problems among all households and among moderateincome working families in major metropolitan areas. We rely on data from the 1999 American Housing Survey, supplemented with data from the State of the Cities 2000, Landis and Elmer (2001), and Burby et al. (2000). Overall, we found that the level of high tech activity impacts, positively and significantly, the incidence of critical housing problems for all households and for moderate-income working households, regardless of tenure. Consistent with anecdotal information about the problems of working families, we found stronger impacts on moderate-income working households than on all households. We conclude that housing policy should be broadened to address the problems of working families as well as those of the poor, especially when dealing with problems arising from rapid economic growth.