4 ms·

> the state generally sucks at doing these things. Most European states do a great job of this - the suck part comes (like in the UK), when the state stops sup

> the state generally sucks at doing these things. Most European states do a great job of this - the suck part comes (like in the UK), when the state stops supporting this and a generation of people are left without decent housing options.

luckylion 6y ago
I live in Germany, and I can assure you, the state does not do a great job in this regard. I don't know about France, but seeing the satellite cities surrounding Paris, I have some doubts. Where are they doing a great job in Europe?
- MagnumOpus 6y ago
  I have lived in Germany, France, UK and US, and I can assure you that Germany does a comparably great job. No structural homelessness problem (beyond the rare addiction victim), new social housing being built rather than relying on housing built 60+ years ago, no/few state subsidies to a private rental sector preying on social tenants etc etc. Just because it is not perfect doesn't mean it isn't better than 95% of the alternatives. One place that does it better is Austria - the Vienna model of social housing provision enables lower classes to live well in what is one of the world's most expensive places to buy housing in.
  - luckylion 6y ago
    > No structural homelessness problem (beyond the rare addiction victim), new social housing being built rather than relying on housing built 60+ years ago, no/few state subsidies to a private rental sector preying on social tenants etc etc. I'm not sure what you're referencing -- most social housing is done by private entities with state subsidies. Many local governments have set a minimum amount of social housing for new projects, so e.g. 30% of apartments (or by square meters) have to be done as subsidized housing. That aside, I'm sure that it's possible to do worse, but that doesn't make it great. If Vienna has found a way to make the state work efficiently, I'd love for them to export it. So far, I've not seen that happening in any of the industries it is involved.

luckylion 6y ago

I live in Germany, and I can assure you, the state does not do a great job in this regard. I don't know about France, but seeing the satellite cities surrounding Paris, I have some doubts. Where are they doing a great job in Europe?

MagnumOpus 6y ago
I have lived in Germany, France, UK and US, and I can assure you that Germany does a comparably great job. No structural homelessness problem (beyond the rare addiction victim), new social housing being built rather than relying on housing built 60+ years ago, no/few state subsidies to a private rental sector preying on social tenants etc etc. Just because it is not perfect doesn't mean it isn't better than 95% of the alternatives. One place that does it better is Austria - the Vienna model of social housing provision enables lower classes to live well in what is one of the world's most expensive places to buy housing in.
- luckylion 6y ago
  > No structural homelessness problem (beyond the rare addiction victim), new social housing being built rather than relying on housing built 60+ years ago, no/few state subsidies to a private rental sector preying on social tenants etc etc. I'm not sure what you're referencing -- most social housing is done by private entities with state subsidies. Many local governments have set a minimum amount of social housing for new projects, so e.g. 30% of apartments (or by square meters) have to be done as subsidized housing. That aside, I'm sure that it's possible to do worse, but that doesn't make it great. If Vienna has found a way to make the state work efficiently, I'd love for them to export it. So far, I've not seen that happening in any of the industries it is involved.