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> It is not a crisis that you cannot afford to live in Aspen It is a crisis if you work in Aspen and can not afford to live in Aspen. > It is not a crisis tha

> It is not a crisis that you cannot afford to live in Aspen It is a crisis if you work in Aspen and can not afford to live in Aspen. > It is not a crisis that you cannot afford an apartment in the very specific neighborhood in the very specific borough of New York City that you prefer. It is a crisis to work in NYC and are not be able to afford to live in NYC, which is real situation that actually exists for many people today. I understand there are a tiny few percent of people who's issues are 'badly mischaracterized as crises'. But the vast majority of the crisis is correctly characterized. We have a major urban housing problem. We should not dismiss it with a "let them eat cake" attitude.

rsync 9y ago
"It is a crisis if you work ..." No, it's not. It's very inconvenient, certainly. Further, it is completely incompatible with many very fashionable life scripts. However it is trivially solved in any number of different ways (relocation, downsizing, commuting, etc.) and is therefore not a crisis. A starter home in a downscale neighborhood and a second job were, at one time, life scripts that were enthusiastically embraced as the necessary rungs on the ladder into the middle class. It is hard to believe that a generation later these actions are "unthinkable" and evidence of a "crisis". Nobody owes you living in Aspen.
- marnett 9y ago
  Luxury ski resort cities aside, there are cities where a teacher at a public school downtown, who is a civil servant serving the community, cannot live in the very community they serve. That is problematic. It is not particularly healthy to have major service workers forced out of the communities they serve. Your ignorance within the space shows with some of your suggested 'solutions.' You do realize some people are too poor to move, right? You do realize some cities were designed around cars and lack decent public transit, right? And downsizing? The people who are affected by housing crises spend their months in shelters and being evicted from apartments. Your lack of care for fellow members of your community aside, you could at least recommend equally outlandish solutions that align more with your view of the people affected like, 'just give the serfs a shack and stop the whining.'
  - rsync 9y ago
    "Your ignorance within the space shows with some of your suggested 'solutions.'" When I was growing up in a poor, semi-rural community in Colorado, my father drove a four hour round-trip every day to his job in Denver. I know of other people in my peer generation (late generation x) whose parents made similar decisions and sacrifices (second jobs, starter homes, relocation) that are now considered unthinkable and evidence of a crisis. I reject that line of thought.
    - marnett 9y ago
      And I agree that for your father, while it was a sacrifice, it was not a crises. However, it is more than a major inconvenience if one 1) does not own a car, 2) was born within the city of discussion, 3) has literally no free time or free capital to spend 'finding a better job in a better COL area.' I agree two software engineers in the bay area who want to raise their child in a single family home in the peninsula, but can't shell out the millions necessary to do so don't quite fit the bill for those affected by a housing crises. In fact, that scenario allows for all of the solutions suggested above (relocate, commute, etc). The crises is that in a large number of American cities poor and minority populations were left in the urban core while wealthier families moved out into the suburbs. Several generations later, wealthy families now want to flight back to the urban cores, while plenty still occupy the suburbs. This leaves almost no area for the poor people to go. That sounds like a crises to me - and I am thankful I never have to be personally afflicted by it, but I do no good whatsoever making absolutist claims about how poor people just need to work harder. You are being ignorant of the single mother of two raising her children, the father isn't paying child support, and 80% of her ~$700 income (all welfare) goes to rent - and pretending these highly complex, largely ignored cases are not massively present in those afflicted by poverty, that is wrong. The above scenario is not an exception, but largely par-the-course. What solutions do you have for her?

rsync 9y ago

"It is a crisis if you work ..." No, it's not. It's very inconvenient, certainly. Further, it is completely incompatible with many very fashionable life scripts. However it is trivially solved in any number of different ways (relocation, downsizing, commuting, etc.) and is therefore not a crisis. A starter home in a downscale neighborhood and a second job were, at one time, life scripts that were enthusiastically embraced as the necessary rungs on the ladder into the middle class. It is hard to believe that a generation later these actions are "unthinkable" and evidence of a "crisis". Nobody owes you living in Aspen.

marnett 9y ago
Luxury ski resort cities aside, there are cities where a teacher at a public school downtown, who is a civil servant serving the community, cannot live in the very community they serve. That is problematic. It is not particularly healthy to have major service workers forced out of the communities they serve. Your ignorance within the space shows with some of your suggested 'solutions.' You do realize some people are too poor to move, right? You do realize some cities were designed around cars and lack decent public transit, right? And downsizing? The people who are affected by housing crises spend their months in shelters and being evicted from apartments. Your lack of care for fellow members of your community aside, you could at least recommend equally outlandish solutions that align more with your view of the people affected like, 'just give the serfs a shack and stop the whining.'
- rsync 9y ago
  "Your ignorance within the space shows with some of your suggested 'solutions.'" When I was growing up in a poor, semi-rural community in Colorado, my father drove a four hour round-trip every day to his job in Denver. I know of other people in my peer generation (late generation x) whose parents made similar decisions and sacrifices (second jobs, starter homes, relocation) that are now considered unthinkable and evidence of a crisis. I reject that line of thought.
  - marnett 9y ago
    And I agree that for your father, while it was a sacrifice, it was not a crises. However, it is more than a major inconvenience if one 1) does not own a car, 2) was born within the city of discussion, 3) has literally no free time or free capital to spend 'finding a better job in a better COL area.' I agree two software engineers in the bay area who want to raise their child in a single family home in the peninsula, but can't shell out the millions necessary to do so don't quite fit the bill for those affected by a housing crises. In fact, that scenario allows for all of the solutions suggested above (relocate, commute, etc). The crises is that in a large number of American cities poor and minority populations were left in the urban core while wealthier families moved out into the suburbs. Several generations later, wealthy families now want to flight back to the urban cores, while plenty still occupy the suburbs. This leaves almost no area for the poor people to go. That sounds like a crises to me - and I am thankful I never have to be personally afflicted by it, but I do no good whatsoever making absolutist claims about how poor people just need to work harder. You are being ignorant of the single mother of two raising her children, the father isn't paying child support, and 80% of her ~$700 income (all welfare) goes to rent - and pretending these highly complex, largely ignored cases are not massively present in those afflicted by poverty, that is wrong. The above scenario is not an exception, but largely par-the-course. What solutions do you have for her?