Office space and Monocentric vs Polycentric cities

I had another interesting Real Estate Economics class yesterday. Here are some of my notes:

80% of office space in 1965 was in "downtown" areas

65% of office space in 1992 was in suburbs

Of the newly built offices in last several years, 78% was built in suburbs

Today around 67% of office space in DC/Maryland/Virginia area is in suburbs compared to 20% in 1950

Summary: Office space has been moving to the suburbs and continues to do so

Wages are 10-20% less at the edge of cities than in the center

This is payment for the commuting cost

Amsterdam is a polycentric model which might explain why housing hasn't gone up over the last 300 years.

A polycentric city grows by adding new little centers (e.g., Atlanta, Phoenix, etc) so there isn't much scarcity.

Monocentric models (e.g., Manhattan) result in land scarcity because there is no where to build

A smart developer once said "he is in the business of creating scarcity". For example, everyone wants an ocean view, but that space is limited so he built inlets.

Summary: You make money in real estate from scarcity