Thoughts on housing/building in Philadelphia

Some articles today and some related thoughts.

• An Inquirer article reports that Center City's housing boom is being driven by demographic forces, and thus is unlikely to suffer the bubble-burst that other regions anticipate. In fact the Center City District folks predict another 20% growth in the next five years. There are other interesting notes there about the demographic make-up of the city's residents.
  
  
• In related news, the Daily News reports that condo buying remains strong in the city. It may be that the super-luxury market will saturate, but there's plenty of desire to own downtown.
  
  
• Not a local story, but one with local implications, a blogger looks at housing regulation in New York and at the balance between the desire to maintain "neighborhood character" and the desire to generate enough new housing (e.g., taller buildings) to keep prices from driving regular folks out of town. An interesting take.
  (via Atrios)