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The free market will not solve this problem. Just look at all the major cities in the world; they all have a problem of gentrification and rising prices for hou

by esarbe 7y ago

The free market will not solve this problem. Just look at all the major cities in the world; they all have a problem of gentrification and rising prices for housing. Rent-seeking will always drive the prices to the barely-acceptable and thus will make it affordable for a large portion of the population. That portion is either driven to the periphery or denied housing altogether. So no; housing will not automatically become affordable. There are forces in the market that prevent that.

zozbot234 7y ago
The "major cities in the world" are among the most desirable areas to be in, almost by definition. So no, housing will never be all that affordable in Manhattan NYC. But does it really need to be, provided that resources are being put towards their "highest and best use"? Some people will have to live elsewhere - and NYC has very good subway transit that helps people do just that.
- seanmcdirmid 7y ago
  Homeless people in NYC aren’t generally commuting in from cheaper places in...maybe Mew Jersey? Connecticut? West Chester county? The subway and train there is great, it can allow you to commute from farther out...instead of paying $3k for a one bedroom you can pay $2k instead with a one hour+ commute. But it doesn’t really solve the housing problems at the low end.
quotemstr 7y ago
> all have a problem of gentrification and rising prices for housing We use prices to ration access to scarce resources. Why should housing in the center of a desirable city be cheap?
- zozbot234 7y ago
  Good question. For that matter, why should high-value housing in the center of a desirable city enrich a bunch of private landowners, and not the surrounding community which creates that value in the first place?
  - seanmcdirmid 7y ago
    Property tax is supposed to capture public good usage.
    - quotemstr 7y ago
      Which is why proposition 13 is such a wicked law: it insulates property owners from the downsides of increases in property values while giving them all the upsides. It takes skin out of the game.
  - mixedCase 7y ago
    > why should high-value housing in the center of a desirable city enrich a bunch of private landowners Because they bought low-property housing from the entity who previously owned it without a guarantee that the demand was going to be there and then demand grew. Risk meet reward. Are you suggesting to violate property rights because you did not have the foresight, luck and/or the resources to make the same investment?
    - coldtea 7y ago
      >Because they bought low-property housing from the entity who previously owned it without a guarantee that the demand was going to be there and then demand grew. Risk meet reward. Risk? More often than not, they engineer the growing of demand, help throw out old tenants (even with thuggish methods), select new tenants to drive up values (e.g. with redlining), use connections in the city government to develop specifically the areas they bought or intent to buy, and so on...
Proven 7y ago
> Just look at all the major cities in the world; they all have a problem of gentrification and rising prices for housing. That's a failure of regulation that brings about centralization, so you can thank you friendly government for that.

by esarbe 7y ago

zozbot234 7y ago

The "major cities in the world" are among the most desirable areas to be in, almost by definition. So no, housing will never be all that affordable in Manhattan NYC. But does it really need to be, provided that resources are being put towards their "highest and best use"? Some people will have to live elsewhere - and NYC has very good subway transit that helps people do just that.

seanmcdirmid 7y ago
Homeless people in NYC aren’t generally commuting in from cheaper places in...maybe Mew Jersey? Connecticut? West Chester county? The subway and train there is great, it can allow you to commute from farther out...instead of paying $3k for a one bedroom you can pay $2k instead with a one hour+ commute. But it doesn’t really solve the housing problems at the low end.

quotemstr 7y ago

> all have a problem of gentrification and rising prices for housing We use prices to ration access to scarce resources. Why should housing in the center of a desirable city be cheap?

zozbot234 7y ago
Good question. For that matter, why should high-value housing in the center of a desirable city enrich a bunch of private landowners, and not the surrounding community which creates that value in the first place?
- seanmcdirmid 7y ago
  Property tax is supposed to capture public good usage.
  - quotemstr 7y ago
    Which is why proposition 13 is such a wicked law: it insulates property owners from the downsides of increases in property values while giving them all the upsides. It takes skin out of the game.
- mixedCase 7y ago
  > why should high-value housing in the center of a desirable city enrich a bunch of private landowners Because they bought low-property housing from the entity who previously owned it without a guarantee that the demand was going to be there and then demand grew. Risk meet reward. Are you suggesting to violate property rights because you did not have the foresight, luck and/or the resources to make the same investment?
  - coldtea 7y ago
    >Because they bought low-property housing from the entity who previously owned it without a guarantee that the demand was going to be there and then demand grew. Risk meet reward. Risk? More often than not, they engineer the growing of demand, help throw out old tenants (even with thuggish methods), select new tenants to drive up values (e.g. with redlining), use connections in the city government to develop specifically the areas they bought or intent to buy, and so on...

Proven 7y ago

> Just look at all the major cities in the world; they all have a problem of gentrification and rising prices for housing. That's a failure of regulation that brings about centralization, so you can thank you friendly government for that.