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> We have spent decades telling American families that homeownership is the safest investment. We then spent decades enacting policies to ensure this is true. D
by tshaddox 4y ago
> We have spent decades telling American families that homeownership is the safest investment. We then spent decades enacting policies to ensure this is true. Do we think investors were going to just sit that out and ignore a safe and government protected investment?
So one group wants to maintain a financial investment that was sold to them as a sure-fire way to make money with little work and little risk, and another group wants...shelter. If it truly is the case that the desires of these two groups are butting up against each other and are mutually exclusive, is it really hard to decide which group should get what they want?
- davidw 4y agoShow up at any kind of planning commission or city council meeting and you will hear people absolutely UP IN ARMS that building some, say, apartments or townhomes or whatever will "destroy their property values". Even in markets when said property has like doubled in price over the last 10 years with no work from the owner-occupants.
- jjoonathan 4y agoYIMBY organization is the answer, but we have a long way to go.
- davidw 4y agoDoing some of this work locally is one of the more rewarding things I've ever done. "DC level politics" tend to be long, drawn out fights, but a few people can make a big difference locally. I've seen homes get built that I showed up to say 'yes!' to. These are both great groups: * https://yimbyaction.org/ https://yimbyaction.org/ * https://welcomingneighbors.us/ https://welcomingneighbors.us/
- bombcar 4y agoThis is entirely possible and worthwhile; few people who are happy with how things are going bother to show up at all, so the only people who do are the people with a gripe or a grudge. Even just a note to the city council saying "thanks" when you notice a new development is way more than most will ever do.
- tshaddox 4y agoYes, I understand the desires of that group and the desires of the other group. I’m suggesting that, if we truly must choose only one group to satisfy, it’s not very difficult to decide.
- undersuit 4y agoI think we'll choose both! An expansion of Section 5 HUD policies to grant housing to the renters and investment returns to the rich.
- jjoonathan 4y agoNo, it's not hard: investment = getting paid to take risks. That's the whole point. Profits come with responsibility. Of course, if responsibility suddenly means losses instead of effort-free gains, investors will try to squirm out of their responsibilities. Morally, though, the situation is crystal clear.
- tshaddox 4y ago> investment = getting paid to take risks Well, kinda? It's more like getting paid to know the risks better than the market, or getting paid to be able to predict the future better than the market.