[nei]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Maybe it's because, in France, urban living for the wealthy is the norm, and so the rich live in cities because that's what they do, not necessarily because they have urbanist tendencies. In the U.S. urban living for the wealthy is the definite exception, so wealthy people who choose to live in Manhattan are making a conscious choice to embrace an urban lifestyle?

That may be part of it, but there's still limits on how inconvenient car ownership will be due to lack of parking.

One other factor. The 11th arrondissment and the Upper East Side have similar densities but the Upper East Side has much higher average heights. Either housing unit sizes are larger in the Upper East Side, or building coverage is lower. Or likely both. Since Manhattan has larger blocks and wide roads, perhaps it's possible the total road length for street parking is smaller than dense Paris neighborhoods. Few and wider roads equals less space for street parking than more, narrow roads. Add in the smaller car lengths.

I mean, in the U.S., if you are wealthy, there's absolutely no reason to live in an urban environment unless that's your specific preference. The default location for the rich is wealthy suburbia, with single family homes geared around the auto. But in France, the wealthy tend to live in apartments in more urban environments, and you are simply following the "rules" to live in the 7th or 16th, just as you are following the "rules" if you're a radiologist living in a wealthy suburb in Ohio or wherever.

Makes sense, I think. But I think that many affluent New Yorkers except young singles would consider buying cars if parking wasn't so expensive or inconvenient. Driving car ownership levels to maybe 50-60% instead of 25% of households. Most affluent urbanites would probably consider a car nice to have even if they don't need to use it much; for example, for getting out of the city.

Also, maybe some wealthy urbanites in the U.S. have vehicles but in their weekend/country homes? Totally anecdotal, but I know some wealthy Manhattan families that own cars, but keep them in other home in the Hamptons or on the Connecticut coast. Would the Census pick this up?

ACS is however the respondent answers. Not sure how the question is worded. But even in Manhattan, those wealthy families aren't that large of the population. 8% of Manhattan core hoseholds have an income > $500,000. And an additional 15% $200-$500,000 / year.

http://www1.nyc.gov/assets/planning/...core_study.pdf

I'd guess the second home class would be limited to those making above maybe $350-$400k/ year, and then not all of them.