I was dead wrong about those viral "average rent" maps

Kept seeing that map claiming the average rent in Austin is $1,400, but my buddy actually drove around and called 40 complexes last month and the real average was more like $1,800. Anyone else find those city rent maps are always way off from what you're actually paying?

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jordan_hill2mo ago

Those maps are pure fiction.

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violag802mo ago

Caught an NPR segment yesterday where they interviewed a cartographer about this exact thing. He said the same thing @jordan_hill, that most of those maps are based on old satellite data that's been smoothed over. The real terrain is way more rugged than what gets shown.

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abby_morgan182mo ago

Guess my sense of direction is based on those maps too.

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