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Some people paying high rent is fine. You are rich, you get to spend a lot of money. Usually, I don't care. Cities are important for too many reasons for me to

by Decade 10y ago

Some people paying high rent is fine. You are rich, you get to spend a lot of money. Usually, I don't care. Cities are important for too many reasons for me to enumerate right now. Basically, if we can't keep cities healthy, then our civilization will collapse, and we won't be able to rebuild. We have a problem when the option to spend less is not available. Then, to have access to the jobs and opportunities of the city, the workers have to spend inordinate amounts of money on expensive rents and time on commuting, which reduces the social benefit of having jobs. https://medium.com/@laurafooteclark/how-do-we-avoid-another-trump-1d4fcf04b9fe https://medium.com/@laurafooteclark/how-do-we-avoid-another-... It also reduces the real wealth, as value is diverted to past landowners (and tenants taking advantage of abusive laws, which are why I never supported the San Francisco Tenants Union) and not to the city as a whole. The Bay Area schools can't even hire teachers for all of their classrooms. We are awash in money, but experiencing poverty.

diminoten 10y ago
If it were a "real" poverty experience, house values would drop, wouldn't they? Apparently the issues experienced as a result of high housing prices aren't valued enough to drive prices of the homes down, yet. I guess my point, if I had one at all, is that it seems like the housing market is absurdly high in such a way that will eventually self balance, one way or another. Either the city will continue to sustain itself on the backs of the long commuters who can't afford to live in the city, or the quality of life in the city will drop, which will in turn lower housing prices until the workers who make the city life appealing can afford to live close enough to again commute reasonably. If, as you say, education is suffering, people will stop buying the houses, or they'll stop bringing kids to the districts. Either way, problem self-corrects, right?
- Nydhal 10y ago
  Yes, it self corrects but not in a smooth and stable way.
- lostdog 10y ago
  Not everyone is driven into poverty at the same price point. With a tech salary it's possible to float above the rising prices, but everyone else gets driven out. Housing prices will not "balance" because demand is extremely high and much of that demand has high salaries, and supply is extremely restricted (by NIMBY's and the laws they support).

by Decade 10y ago

diminoten 10y ago

If it were a "real" poverty experience, house values would drop, wouldn't they? Apparently the issues experienced as a result of high housing prices aren't valued enough to drive prices of the homes down, yet. I guess my point, if I had one at all, is that it seems like the housing market is absurdly high in such a way that will eventually self balance, one way or another. Either the city will continue to sustain itself on the backs of the long commuters who can't afford to live in the city, or the quality of life in the city will drop, which will in turn lower housing prices until the workers who make the city life appealing can afford to live close enough to again commute reasonably. If, as you say, education is suffering, people will stop buying the houses, or they'll stop bringing kids to the districts. Either way, problem self-corrects, right?

Nydhal 10y ago
Yes, it self corrects but not in a smooth and stable way.
lostdog 10y ago
Not everyone is driven into poverty at the same price point. With a tech salary it's possible to float above the rising prices, but everyone else gets driven out. Housing prices will not "balance" because demand is extremely high and much of that demand has high salaries, and supply is extremely restricted (by NIMBY's and the laws they support).