5 ms·
The real problem is that there is not enough housing that people want. I do not see how taxes, rent controls, minimum wage laws and other measures that do not a
by agent008t 7y ago
The real problem is that there is not enough housing that people want. I do not see how taxes, rent controls, minimum wage laws and other measures that do not address the fundamental problem of there not being enough quality housing can solve the problem.
You either:
1. Build more housing. But where? Ask about any specific project, and people are usually against it.
2. Redistribute existing housing. E.g. does everyone that lives in London really need to be in London? By definition, it will be a painful solution for some and require the use of force. Making existing neighborhoods nicer to make them more attractive for a particular demographic also fall into this category.
3. Spread people/jobs/businesses around more. This includes encouraging remote working practices where possible (but this will not help the kitchen staff). Perhaps turn currently depressed areas into some forms of free(r) economic zones, where taxes are lower and there is no requirement for planning permission?
4. Get better transport links. If trains were fast, went on time, were reliable and comfortable, more people would take the option of commuting and they would commute further out.
- chung411 7y agoI have a theory that as we build more apartments vs condos and home ownership goes down we will have more of these issues. Home ownership seems like a hedge to live in a city you enjoy long term. I could see in the future a Comcast of the world coming in and consolidating apartments under one banner for efficiency and rent becoming a much worse problem. What I cannot tell is how much of this is me just being pessimistic. I know it would take a long time and a lot of capital to own enough to make a large dent in housing.
- bryanlarsen 7y ago2-4 may help some but #1 is the real answer. The "people usually against it" should not have so much power to prevent building more housing.
- agent008t 7y agoBut it's not just NIMBYs that are against the building, it is "the general public" to the point where new housing developments are nearly political suicide. People both want new housing, but don't want highrise buildings changing the skyline (or don't want to live in them), want to preserve the look of the city (which includes keeping some awful looking buildings), do not want to build on any green spaces, etc.