5 ms·

What if I don't want to live in an apartment most of my life?

by pfedigan 9y ago

pchristensen 9y ago
Earn more or move or commute longer.
- majormajor 9y ago
  Or vote and be politically active. Ignoring that as a rational choice for many people already in expensive areas is just asking for your proposals to fail. We very frequently talk about the economic value that could be produced by different housing actions, but policy is not purely determined by economic value. I know more people opposed to upzoning because they like their yards and their space than because they're worried about their property values (denser cities in the US are very rarely cheaper).
- xenihn 9y ago
  Or work remotely
dibujante 9y ago
Leave. Or ask millions of people to kindly stop existing.
Daishiman 9y ago
Pay up the real value of a house in a city.
azernik 9y ago
Then you should probably not be living in an area where land is in short supply and high demand.
joejerryronnie 9y ago
Then you will be ostracized on HN for not being pro-urban.
- 2chen 9y ago
  Aesthetic reasons are the worst reason to be anti-urban.
- pchristensen 9y ago
  No one is ostracized, just confronted with economic reality of competition for space and the laws that distort it. I love living in a house but it’s a little silly to mandate that a house is the only thing that can legally be built on land that’s valued at over $2M/acre.
stale2002 9y ago
You are thinking about this wrong. For every apartmemt complex that gets built, that is X many LESS people who are competing to buy that suburb house that you love. The suburbs will still exist. But more appartments in the city means that prices go down for everyone.
rayiner 9y ago
Then move out to the suburbs? Don’t force the city to stay suburban to accommodate your snowflake preferences.
ghfbjdhhv 9y ago
I’d be happy to live in a condo, but live in a house instead, because you can’t really build condos here. I’m sure there’s somebody else who would like to live in my house.
patio11 9y ago
Pay ~$300k for a house in Tokyo, which will cost you +/- $10k down [+] and ~$1k a month for a mortgage. Japanese underwriting standards would consider this doable at a household income of approximately $2.8k a month or so. c.f. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGbC5j4pG9w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGbC5j4pG9w [+] I realize that number is surprising, and I would have found it surprising up until ~3 weeks ago, but I can assure you that this product is presently commercially available in Tokyo, including to people who do not exactly smash Japanese banks' definition of "desirable client."

What if I don't want to live in an apartment most of my life?

pchristensen 9y ago

Earn more or move or commute longer.

majormajor 9y ago
Or vote and be politically active. Ignoring that as a rational choice for many people already in expensive areas is just asking for your proposals to fail. We very frequently talk about the economic value that could be produced by different housing actions, but policy is not purely determined by economic value. I know more people opposed to upzoning because they like their yards and their space than because they're worried about their property values (denser cities in the US are very rarely cheaper).
xenihn 9y ago
Or work remotely

dibujante 9y ago

Leave. Or ask millions of people to kindly stop existing.

Daishiman 9y ago

Pay up the real value of a house in a city.

azernik 9y ago

Then you should probably not be living in an area where land is in short supply and high demand.

joejerryronnie 9y ago

Then you will be ostracized on HN for not being pro-urban.

2chen 9y ago
Aesthetic reasons are the worst reason to be anti-urban.
pchristensen 9y ago
No one is ostracized, just confronted with economic reality of competition for space and the laws that distort it. I love living in a house but it’s a little silly to mandate that a house is the only thing that can legally be built on land that’s valued at over $2M/acre.

stale2002 9y ago

You are thinking about this wrong. For every apartmemt complex that gets built, that is X many LESS people who are competing to buy that suburb house that you love. The suburbs will still exist. But more appartments in the city means that prices go down for everyone.

rayiner 9y ago

Then move out to the suburbs? Don’t force the city to stay suburban to accommodate your snowflake preferences.

ghfbjdhhv 9y ago

I’d be happy to live in a condo, but live in a house instead, because you can’t really build condos here. I’m sure there’s somebody else who would like to live in my house.

patio11 9y ago

Pay ~$300k for a house in Tokyo, which will cost you +/- $10k down [+] and ~$1k a month for a mortgage. Japanese underwriting standards would consider this doable at a household income of approximately $2.8k a month or so. c.f. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGbC5j4pG9w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGbC5j4pG9w [+] I realize that number is surprising, and I would have found it surprising up until ~3 weeks ago, but I can assure you that this product is presently commercially available in Tokyo, including to people who do not exactly smash Japanese banks' definition of "desirable client."