[jtown,man]

I've seen this issue (urban housing affordability) in Austin and many of it's peer cities.

Its actually cheaper to live in urban Chicago than urban Austin or Nashville. It simply is. Chicago has way more inventory and less population growth. Austin and Nashville have a very small stock of urban housing stock which has caused what limited stock they do have to increase in value to insane levels.

Add in the need of a car in Austin and Nashville, and a place like Chicago (or Philadelphia) become increasingly attractive.