4 ms·

> So you're saying that affordable housing is preventing housing from being affordable? LOL. I think you're conflating 2 types of 'affordable housing.' People

> So you're saying that affordable housing is preventing housing from being affordable? LOL. I think you're conflating 2 types of 'affordable housing.' People say 'affordable housing' when they mean 'government legally forcing landlords to underprice their units' versus what the term should actually mean, 'a reasonable price range of rents'. > there's certainly lots of red tape in NYC construction, but I see zero evidence that there is more red tape with non-luxury construction. There isn't necessarily more but there should be less to incentivize builders. No point in going through all the bureaucracy if your margins are going to be super low. > Simply presenting alternate causes doesn't mean AirBnB isn't a cause It's a factor, for sure. I'm not defending Airbnb as a nonentity, my point is that it's easy to blame Airbnb because they're a new player whereas academics and state politicians seem less enthused about taking a cold, hard look at housing laws, while well-intentioned at protecting low-income renters, probably play a far larger role in increasing housing costs.

kerkeslager 9y ago
> People say 'affordable housing' when they mean 'government legally forcing landlords to underprice their units' versus what the term should actually mean, 'a reasonable price range of rents'. Huh? No, "affordable housing" means "rents people can pay" (an extreme example being a $250/month apartment). This isn't complicated. > There isn't necessarily more but there should be less to incentivize builders. No point in going through all the bureaucracy if your margins are going to be super low. Or, you could take steps that actually address the problem with the lack of affordable housing. Given that you just admitted red tape isn't necessarily more for affordable housing, removing red tape doesn't address the problem with the lack of affordable housing. Red tape is a problem, but it's hardly the most pressing problem. Builders are making plenty of money in NYC. So when we're discussing real pressing problems like the lack of affordable housing I would appreciate it if you stayed on topic and didn't bring up the irrelevant problem of red tape. I'm not worried about builders having to fill out more paperwork when people are literally homeless in the snow right now. > I'm not defending Airbnb as a nonentity Your previous post was definitely defending AirBnB, even if it was just so you could bring up your pet issue of giving already-rich people incentives. > academics and state politicians seem less enthused about taking a cold, hard look at housing laws, while well-intentioned at protecting low-income renters, probably play a far larger role in increasing housing costs. Plenty of people are looking at housing laws. It's just that if you look at housing laws without the myopic lens of "incentives are the only way we can do anything", it's pretty obvious that laws which prevent owners from raising rents on affordable housing don't cause the shortage of affordable housing. I'm just not sure how one can be so confused that they think allowing raising rents is the solution to rents being too high. I realize I'm being hostile here, but your viewpoint is hostile to the poor and homeless of NYC.
- exolymph 9y ago
  > I realize I'm being hostile here, but your viewpoint is hostile to the poor and homeless of NYC. I recognize that you feel passionate about this issue, but hostility is counterproductive in this kind of discussion. https://www.sonyaellenmann.com/2016/05/hostility-online-discourse-round-two.html https://www.sonyaellenmann.com/2016/05/hostility-online-disc...
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]

kerkeslager 9y ago

> People say 'affordable housing' when they mean 'government legally forcing landlords to underprice their units' versus what the term should actually mean, 'a reasonable price range of rents'. Huh? No, "affordable housing" means "rents people can pay" (an extreme example being a $250/month apartment). This isn't complicated. > There isn't necessarily more but there should be less to incentivize builders. No point in going through all the bureaucracy if your margins are going to be super low. Or, you could take steps that actually address the problem with the lack of affordable housing. Given that you just admitted red tape isn't necessarily more for affordable housing, removing red tape doesn't address the problem with the lack of affordable housing. Red tape is a problem, but it's hardly the most pressing problem. Builders are making plenty of money in NYC. So when we're discussing real pressing problems like the lack of affordable housing I would appreciate it if you stayed on topic and didn't bring up the irrelevant problem of red tape. I'm not worried about builders having to fill out more paperwork when people are literally homeless in the snow right now. > I'm not defending Airbnb as a nonentity Your previous post was definitely defending AirBnB, even if it was just so you could bring up your pet issue of giving already-rich people incentives. > academics and state politicians seem less enthused about taking a cold, hard look at housing laws, while well-intentioned at protecting low-income renters, probably play a far larger role in increasing housing costs. Plenty of people are looking at housing laws. It's just that if you look at housing laws without the myopic lens of "incentives are the only way we can do anything", it's pretty obvious that laws which prevent owners from raising rents on affordable housing don't cause the shortage of affordable housing. I'm just not sure how one can be so confused that they think allowing raising rents is the solution to rents being too high. I realize I'm being hostile here, but your viewpoint is hostile to the poor and homeless of NYC.

exolymph 9y ago
> I realize I'm being hostile here, but your viewpoint is hostile to the poor and homeless of NYC. I recognize that you feel passionate about this issue, but hostility is counterproductive in this kind of discussion. https://www.sonyaellenmann.com/2016/05/hostility-online-discourse-round-two.html https://www.sonyaellenmann.com/2016/05/hostility-online-disc...
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]