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Section 8 is destroying our housing market. All these subsidies just encourage people to stay in CA/Bay area and push up the cost of housing for everyone else
by pascalxus 9y ago
Section 8 is destroying our housing market. All these subsidies just encourage people to stay in CA/Bay area and push up the cost of housing for everyone else to unsustainable levels.
Of course the solution is to have a massive increase in the supply of housing. That will never happen. The next best option is to have mass exodus of people leaving the bay area.
- kevinburke 9y ago> Section 8 is destroying our housing market. That's flagrantly false, and a dog whistle. If anything, the existence of Section 8 should encourage more housing supply, since there's more money for rent. NIMBY's have an unusually large say in the approval process here, and we've been underbuilding for decades. NIMBY's are very well organized and they have huge incentives to invest tons of money in their homes due to Prop 13, and to block new housing development so existing property values keep going up. CEQA gives NIMBY's and environmental groups wide latitude to file lawsuits to block projects they don't like, and they succeed in about half the lawsuits they file. Cities prioritize office building over residential due to Prop 13.
- pascalxus 9y agoEverything you said is true, except one thing. You assume that the supply can increase if there's more money for rent. But, that's not entirely true. As you said, NIMBYs are blocking developments at every turn. The supply is not being allowed to increase. And by hamstringing developers with affordability requirements, that's going to decrease supply even further.