Your New Urban Factoid of the Day

Your New Urban Factoid of the Day, brought to you by Full Circle Ventures

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The average annual cost for the care and feeding of a midsize car in the U.S. in 2004 (assuming 15,000 miles driven per year) was $8,759.

Source: "Automobile Driving Costs, 2004," American Public Transportation Association.

Think about what would happen if a household were able to get rid of one car because it lived in a dense, mixed-use, walkable new traditional neighborhood.

The $8,759 annual expense to run a car is $729.92 per month. Today’s average rate for a thirty year fixed rate mortgage is 6.3%. At that rate, $729.92 per month will make the payment on a mortgage amount of $117,923!

Now consider what happens to a family’s ability to buy a home if, because they live in a new traditional neighborhood, they do not need one of their cars. They can afford to buy their home much more comfortably. They may choose to save that money or invest it. They may even choose to invest that money in real estate! If they choose to do so, they can buy a lot MORE home. Think about the implications to that family’s net worth when they spend that money on an appreciating asset rather than a depreciating one!

Yours for the dense, mixed use, walkable new traditional neighborhood,

Herb