Townhomes are making Seattle more affordable, new study finds

A new Redfin report shows Seattle has become the most economically integrated city in the nation. That means that in Seattle, more than anywhere else, bosses live near their lower-wage employees.

The report's findings may seem counterintuitive, given the accounts of high prices and bidding wars that seem to tell a different story.

People love to hate townhomes. On many community message boards, one can find complaints about how denser housing has changed the character of a neighborhood.

But there's an important and often overlooked way that townhomes have changed the character of many Seattle neighborhoods, said Taylor Marr, the chief economist for Redfin.