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Renters are so much less likely to be voters that this has little impact. In Seattle, for instance, municipal elections are on odd-numbered years. As a result,
by Schiendelman 4y ago
Renters are so much less likely to be voters that this has little impact.
In Seattle, for instance, municipal elections are on odd-numbered years. As a result, get out the vote operations that tend to increase renter turnout during presidential elections don’t have much impact on local elections.
We had a vote in the 90s that reduced housing supply considerably, “Citizens Alternative Plan.” It was a February special election with 23% turnout. 15% of Seattle voters downzoned the city.
- xboxnolifes 4y ago> Renters are so much less likely to be voters that this has little impact. This, however, does not mean it is causal. Just because it's the case at the moment does not mean it would be the case if homeownership dropped 50%.
- Schiendelman 4y agoHomeownership is well below 50% of the voting eligible population in many major cities. But it’s the majority of the voters. There are many studies on homeownership and voting. I recommend the book “The Homevoter Hypothesis” if you’d like to start informing yourself about these issues!
- civilized 4y agoBut this seems like it could change if we lived in a world where everyone was a renter, rather than renters being a young, transient population that unsurprisingly doesn't vote.
- Schiendelman 4y agoInterestingly, that doesn’t happen in most places - there’s a fairly stable proportion of people who want to own, so you get condo construction.
- AussieWog93 4y agoThis is a concern in Australia too and we have mandatory voting with a near-100% turnout.