3 ms·
That's... not the key point to take away there. The point is, if the rate of new citizens (who need new housing, i.e. aren't living with a family member who al
by xienze 3y ago
That's... not the key point to take away there. The point is, if the rate of new citizens (who need new housing, i.e. aren't living with a family member who already has existing housing) is greater than your rate of speed with which you can throw up new housing, you're gonna be in trouble. This is Canada right now. Their population is increasing at like 1-2% per year due to immigration. That's insane.
People forget that construction projects aren't like AWS, you can't just spin them up and down in and instant and "poof", 500K houses, ready in a week. There's a significant amount of spin up time for this sort of stuff, nevermind the money required.
- KptMarchewa 3y agoHave you looked at how, for example US population has grown in the late 19th century? The rates have been extraordinarily greater than today.
- xienze 3y agoThe US would also take breaks where they greatly reduced immigration levels in order to let things "settle" a bit, instead of running it full throttle with no end in sight. AND of course, birth rates were significantly higher, which is what drove a lot of growth. Which can be accommodated much easier from a housing stock perspective, as mentioned earlier. The situation today isn't exactly the same.
- KptMarchewa 3y agoOnly "break" was a recent decade, with smallest increase of population in time. Up till 1860s US was growing at over 30% every decade, up till 1910 20%, and up till 2000 over 10%, with only exception being 1940s... due to known reasons. "Foreign born" percent of population was higher in the 1800s as well.
- TX81Z 3y agoThere are whole towns in the United States that were built in a year during the baby boom. It is possible whether or not the government is willing to make it happen is a completely different issue.
- xienze 3y ago> There are whole towns in the United States that were built in a year during the baby boom. It is possible whether or not the government is willing to make it happen is a completely different issue. Ultimately everything is a matter of willingness, but the world has also changed. More regulations, more bureaucracy, more money involved, more planning. It's the reason why we could definitely build the Hoover Dam again today, but definitely not in five years or for as little as we originally spent.
- TX81Z 3y agoPrecisely my point, it’s not an issue of physics, it’s politics.