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The fantasy is that low income people without cars will be attracted to mixed use developments where all their needs are in one place. But middle and upper inco
by byoung2 9y ago
The fantasy is that low income people without cars will be attracted to mixed use developments where all their needs are in one place. But middle and upper income people want that too, and that drives prices up. We own a condo in the Philippines with retail downstairs and a mall next door and prices have tripled in the 6 years since we bought. In traffic congested Manila mixed use is not just a luxury, it's a necessity.
- joe_the_user 9y agoIt's a myth that some particular kind of development will increase affordability. It's plainly obvious that an increase in the supply of available housing increases affordability of housing and a decrease similarly decreases it. And similarly with demand. Not everything has it's price determined by the blunt cudgel of supply and demand but things that are needed to live clearly do.
- akvadrako 9y agoThat's not obvious. NYC has a lot more available housing than somewhere upstate and is a lot less affordable. More housing means more people, but prices might even go up.
- rdiddly 9y agoMore supply might lower prices, or it might lead to "induced demand" that eventually makes prices creep back up... Maybe even higher than before. So you're both right. The deciding factor which way it's gonna go is basically "location, location, location."
- YokoZar 9y agoAnd where is that hypothetical "induced demand" coming from? Some other city that now has more affordable housing due to the people leaving town. Either way, when you legalize housing and build more houses, you end up with more houses. That makes getting a house easier, for someone, somewhere.
- closeparen 9y ago>a lot more available housing The amount of liquidity has little to do with the overall supply-demand balance. There is plenty of AMZN stock available for purchase; doesn't make it cheap.
- seanmcdirmid 9y agoIsn't mixed use the norm for Asia? Even (or especially) the poor will live near shops where they can buy things.
- jrochkind1 9y agoMaking a neighborhood nicer decreases affordability. Making a neighborhood crappier increases affordability. That's capitalism.
- dwaltrip 9y agoIt's called basic supply and demand.
- jrochkind1 9y agoI refuse to think the only way that humans can live successfully is with large portions of the population living in crappy neighborhoods because they don't have enough money to do otherwise, or that this even counts as "successfully".
- closeparen 9y agoThe only way to increase the aggregate experienced neighborhood quality is to make more good neighborhoods, probably where crappy ones currently stand. Many find this unpalatable, as it extends access from the upper middle class and then down instead of from the homeless and then up. Favored alternatives (rent control, affordability requirements) don’t meaningfully increase access at all, but merely redistribute it from highest bidders to lottery/waiting list winners.
- dwaltrip 9y agoI totally agree with you! But solutions don't come easily if the cause isn't understood.