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You can now visualize rent/own rates in every city in America with one easy-to-use map (red is renter, blue is residents). Using US Census data, former New York Times journalist and Web developer Ken Schwencke has created this useful tool to help visualize the status of housing units across the country.
Despite soaring rents, more and more people are moving into rental units. US homeownership is at its lowest level in two generations. Each city on the map tells its own story of urban development.
In Houston, about 44% of housing units are occupied by owners, compared to 55% occupied by renters, putting us roughly in line with other major cities.
Schwenke takes the data even deeper. Instead of simple color coding, he places dots within each area. Each dot represents 25 housing units using the same color pattern. Now we can not only see where owners and renters live, but how densely they live.
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These tools are not only great for understanding your own city, but others as well.
To keep up with the latest from Ken Schwencke, follow him on Twitter.
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