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The problem is that land is not subject to the same laws of supply and demand as other goods and services. It's very hard to make new land (unless you're Dutch)
by w_t_payne 6y ago
The problem is that land is not subject to the same laws of supply and demand as other goods and services. It's very hard to make new land (unless you're Dutch), and very hard to move residential capacity around in response to fluctuating demand. The alternative isn't necessarily rent control. The smart people in this forum could probably come up with some market-oriented system which would dramatically improve the flexibility and efficiency of residential real estate supply.
- lb1lf 6y ago-As you state, making new land is hard, so the simplest option remaining probably is to make more land desirable to live on - say, by improving local transit so that you can live farther away from downtown and still have a decent commute. Obviously, though, this approach requires an awful lot of people willing to fill the newly developed land to make the infrastructure investment worthwhile. Free lunches are few and far between. Sigh.
- w_t_payne 6y agoAnother alternative is building both up and down. Taller buildings for more residential space, and buried infrastructure for more room at the surface. Planning regulations need to acknowledge this reality though.