4 ms·

Rent is higher in some areas due to market forces. If I have an apartment and can rent it out for $2500/month why shouldn't I? A 1 bedroom in my immediate are

Rent is higher in some areas due to market forces. If I have an apartment and can rent it out for $2500/month why shouldn't I? A 1 bedroom in my immediate are rents for @1800/month. Go 5 miles down the road and the same space rents for $1000-1200/month. Differences? "Desirability" "newness" "better schools (which makes no sense if you don't have kids" "atmosphere (I read everyone looks like me)" You can go into some older areas of the city and find rents below $800/month.

falcolas 7y ago
> If I have an apartment and can rent it out for $2500/month why shouldn't I? Perhaps because “you” value morals other than “make the most money I possibly can”? Or you want to provide housing that’s affordable by those who do the blue collar, nearly-minimum-wage work that powers our modern cities? Profit isn’t everything. I’ll even go so far as to say that the current expectation to get “maximum profits at any cost” is a (“The”?) driving factor in the problems we lament in our society.
- nonford150 7y ago
  Yes profit isn't everything. Providing a safe, clean place to rent is foremost. But - if $2500 is the market rate for that living space there is no reason not to charge the market rate. The goal of a rental space is to meet those forces. A lower wage worker should expect less amenities, but not should be expected to live in an unsafe dirty place.
thatcat 7y ago
The difference in price between an efficiency / 1br / 2br is often negligible. Explain the market force cause of this. Let's consider why older housing is so much cheaper for a second.. Property tax isn't recalculated until you update the building or rebuild on the property. So it's a huge disincentive to ever change any buildings, split lots, etc.
bsanr2 7y ago
Market forces shaped by poor zoning and building codes. $800/m is still precarious for roughly twice minimum wage. Food is also more expensive and harder to get to in less upscale areas of most cities.
- JoeAltmaier 7y ago
  Not sure how zoning and codes raises housing prices? Poor codes would result in cheaper housing (with no alarms or sprinkler, weak roofs that collapse under snow load, thin walls etc). And zoning can definitely reduce housing costs. In my city developers were required to mix single-family and multiplex in neighborhoods.
  - bsanr2 7y ago
    The opposite also happens: barring multi-family dwellings that would reduce costs, and enacting codes that would allow for cheaper, but still safe, dwellings. The former is happening in pretty much every city, and there's no shortage of reporting on it, so I'll leave that to you, but for the former, I would specifically look at the laws that are forcing advocates of tiny houses and backyard apartments to continue fighting. Toronto recently reformed their laws to allow for the latter, after years of pressure. Suffice it to say, these situations are far more common in cities than the ones you've described.

falcolas 7y ago

> If I have an apartment and can rent it out for $2500/month why shouldn't I? Perhaps because “you” value morals other than “make the most money I possibly can”? Or you want to provide housing that’s affordable by those who do the blue collar, nearly-minimum-wage work that powers our modern cities? Profit isn’t everything. I’ll even go so far as to say that the current expectation to get “maximum profits at any cost” is a (“The”?) driving factor in the problems we lament in our society.

nonford150 7y ago
Yes profit isn't everything. Providing a safe, clean place to rent is foremost. But - if $2500 is the market rate for that living space there is no reason not to charge the market rate. The goal of a rental space is to meet those forces. A lower wage worker should expect less amenities, but not should be expected to live in an unsafe dirty place.

thatcat 7y ago

The difference in price between an efficiency / 1br / 2br is often negligible. Explain the market force cause of this. Let's consider why older housing is so much cheaper for a second.. Property tax isn't recalculated until you update the building or rebuild on the property. So it's a huge disincentive to ever change any buildings, split lots, etc.

bsanr2 7y ago

Market forces shaped by poor zoning and building codes. $800/m is still precarious for roughly twice minimum wage. Food is also more expensive and harder to get to in less upscale areas of most cities.

JoeAltmaier 7y ago
Not sure how zoning and codes raises housing prices? Poor codes would result in cheaper housing (with no alarms or sprinkler, weak roofs that collapse under snow load, thin walls etc). And zoning can definitely reduce housing costs. In my city developers were required to mix single-family and multiplex in neighborhoods.
- bsanr2 7y ago
  The opposite also happens: barring multi-family dwellings that would reduce costs, and enacting codes that would allow for cheaper, but still safe, dwellings. The former is happening in pretty much every city, and there's no shortage of reporting on it, so I'll leave that to you, but for the former, I would specifically look at the laws that are forcing advocates of tiny houses and backyard apartments to continue fighting. Toronto recently reformed their laws to allow for the latter, after years of pressure. Suffice it to say, these situations are far more common in cities than the ones you've described.