LH>However, the author of the United Nations Housing Indicators report LH>asserts that, in most cases, the average housing size in major cities LH>can be taken as roughly representative of the nation as a whole. It isn't the average housing size that's the issue (pace Pollitt) it's the *cost* (which also of course varies with size). Housing in London (and parts of the SouthEast) is massively more expensive than elsewhere in the UK. ----- Original Message ----- From: Lawrence Helm To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Thursday, May 25, 2006 4:00 AM Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: [lit-id] The Poverty of Heritage Note footnote 11 of the Heritage report: "See Katha Pollitt, "Poverty: Fudging the Numbers," The Nation, November 2, 1998. Pollitt argues that it is misleading to compare the living space of poor Americans nationwide to that of average citizens in major cities in other nations, since European cities, in particular, have small housing units that are not representative of their entire nations. However, the author of the United Nations Housing Indicators report asserts that, in most cases, the average housing size in major cities can be taken as roughly representative of the nation as a whole. A comparison of the data in Table 4 and Appendix Table A would appear to confirm this."