The US Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development have developed a "Location Affordability Portal" (LAI) which estimates the typical cost of housing and transportation as a percentage of household income in communities across the US including Kenton County. The bottom line is that walkable, non-car-centric areas tend to be more affordable.
You can access the portal
here.
Because what is “affordable” is different for everyone, you can choose among a diverse set of family profiles—which vary by household income, size, and number of commuters—and see the affordability landscape for each one in your neighborhood, city, or region.
The housing and transportation cost estimates indicate how much a particular household profile would pay if they lived in a given block group between 2006 and 2010. To customize your housing and transportation expenses using current market costs, use
My Transportation Cost Calculator.
The LAI can help individuals, planners, and researchers get a more complete understanding of the costs of living in a given location by accounting for variations between households, neighborhoods, and regions, all of which impact affordability
This portal provides some interesting scenarios regardless of whether you believe the basic premise of its existence. Check it out for whatever it’s worth.
Views expressed in this article do not reflect an official position or policy of the NKAPC. The article is presented here to provide input for those interested in land use planning issues.