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It's not the wage that needs to change it would be the prices of housing in the city. This can't change because it's not determined by some governing body. It's

It's not the wage that needs to change it would be the prices of housing in the city. This can't change because it's not determined by some governing body. It's called gentrification. It's currently happening to me. I could not afford to buy my house now and I just bought it a few years ago. Of course there still needs to be staff in the area working retail etc. but I haven't seen anyone over 25 in a store near me for over a year.

fennecfoxen 4y ago
It’s the natural consequences of policies enacted by many governing bodies. Cities with land use restrictions and onerous zoning restrictions where they are allergic to highways and only build bad public transit run by incompetents, built by corrupt contractors and expensive unions? The prices are substantially the fault of the local governance. This is why people move out of San Francisco and New York and Chicago.
- ForHackernews 4y ago
  You're almost laughably wrong: Chicago is super affordable[0] compared to those others, and it has great public transit. [0] https://livingcost.org/cost/chicago/san-francisco https://livingcost.org/cost/chicago/san-francisco
hi_im_miles 4y ago
I think absentee ownership and zoning laws have a fundamental impact on the availability of housing. It seems outside of governmental concern because their impact is already so normal. It’s normal for rich people to own/rent land they don’t occupy or use in perpetuity. It’s normal to see almost everything zoned for car dependent, single-family housing.
- FredPret 4y ago
  Landlordship is older than high rent
Spivak 4y ago
Tomato potato. If you make policy that lowers the cost of living then the living wage goes down and vice versa. I don’t think we’re at all in disagreement.
rtlfe 4y ago
> This can't change because it's not determined by some governing body. It actually is. Rents are expensive because zoning laws severely limit density and require lots of car parking.
- seanmcdirmid 4y ago
  Even in cities that don’t require that, rents are still expensive (with the exception of Tokyo where you can rent a 2.5 tatami sized apartment, shared toilet, no central heating, for $300/month).
  - rtlfe 4y ago
    > Even in cities that don’t require that, rents are still expensive Maybe you've got some good examples from other countries, but here in the US the only major city with reasonable zoning is Houston which has quite affordable homes.
    - seanmcdirmid 4y ago
      I wouldn’t mind living in Tokyo, Houston doesn’t tempt me at all. I assume much of its affordability is related to demand, and the fact that given a lack of zoning it can sprawl forever (also reducing its appeal). I met a homeless person in Seattle from Houston, even the homeless don’t find the city desirable (though it might be due to weather?).
  - pc86 4y ago
    In very few places in the US would "no heat and no toilet" be acceptable, regardless of price.
    - rtlfe 4y ago
      No heat seems bad, but I'd bet SROs with shared bathrooms would be extremely popular in NYC if they were legal. I'm not sure what happened to them, but there was a startup trying to do this: https://www.curbed.com/2021/03/brownstone-shared-housing.html https://www.curbed.com/2021/03/brownstone-shared-housing.htm...

fennecfoxen 4y ago

It’s the natural consequences of policies enacted by many governing bodies. Cities with land use restrictions and onerous zoning restrictions where they are allergic to highways and only build bad public transit run by incompetents, built by corrupt contractors and expensive unions? The prices are substantially the fault of the local governance. This is why people move out of San Francisco and New York and Chicago.

ForHackernews 4y ago
You're almost laughably wrong: Chicago is super affordable[0] compared to those others, and it has great public transit. [0] https://livingcost.org/cost/chicago/san-francisco https://livingcost.org/cost/chicago/san-francisco

hi_im_miles 4y ago

I think absentee ownership and zoning laws have a fundamental impact on the availability of housing. It seems outside of governmental concern because their impact is already so normal. It’s normal for rich people to own/rent land they don’t occupy or use in perpetuity. It’s normal to see almost everything zoned for car dependent, single-family housing.

FredPret 4y ago
Landlordship is older than high rent

Spivak 4y ago

Tomato potato. If you make policy that lowers the cost of living then the living wage goes down and vice versa. I don’t think we’re at all in disagreement.

rtlfe 4y ago

> This can't change because it's not determined by some governing body. It actually is. Rents are expensive because zoning laws severely limit density and require lots of car parking.

seanmcdirmid 4y ago
Even in cities that don’t require that, rents are still expensive (with the exception of Tokyo where you can rent a 2.5 tatami sized apartment, shared toilet, no central heating, for $300/month).
- rtlfe 4y ago
  > Even in cities that don’t require that, rents are still expensive Maybe you've got some good examples from other countries, but here in the US the only major city with reasonable zoning is Houston which has quite affordable homes.
  - seanmcdirmid 4y ago
    I wouldn’t mind living in Tokyo, Houston doesn’t tempt me at all. I assume much of its affordability is related to demand, and the fact that given a lack of zoning it can sprawl forever (also reducing its appeal). I met a homeless person in Seattle from Houston, even the homeless don’t find the city desirable (though it might be due to weather?).
- pc86 4y ago
  In very few places in the US would "no heat and no toilet" be acceptable, regardless of price.
  - rtlfe 4y ago
    No heat seems bad, but I'd bet SROs with shared bathrooms would be extremely popular in NYC if they were legal. I'm not sure what happened to them, but there was a startup trying to do this: https://www.curbed.com/2021/03/brownstone-shared-housing.html https://www.curbed.com/2021/03/brownstone-shared-housing.htm...