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One of the dichotomies I've noticed is the talking points about affordable housing juxtaposed with saying the concern with "illegal immigration" by the opposite

by surge 3y ago

One of the dichotomies I've noticed is the talking points about affordable housing juxtaposed with saying the concern with "illegal immigration" by the opposite side of the political spectrum is overblown. My thing is, even if its not the main issue causing issues with demand, I don't see how you can bring in nearly 3 million "undocumented migrants in a year" who are all going to compete for the lowest tier of the housing market, and outcompete single parents, etc on what they can afford in rent (since many have several adults rooming together and sharing rent). If you only have so many affordable apartments/houses etc to go around in a town/neighborhood/borough, etc, an influx of a few thousand, especially in high population areas is going to drive rents up and create constraints on the market. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/migrant-border-crossings-fiscal-year-2022-topped-276-million-breaking-rcna53517 https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/migrant-border-... It's certainly not helping. I don't see how you can not link these two issues, if you bring in migrants, documented or not (or not migrating through legal methods), they need housing, and its going to be the undocumented ones competing for housing in the sector with our most vulnerable citizens. There seems to be some level of cognitive dissonance politically, at least in the media, when it comes to these two issues. Maybe those on the ground notice it or have tried to call it out. But if I can see it from my middle class suburbia, I don't see how this is getting missed, if not outright ignored. All that to say, while certainly a local issue, this is a national issue I feel is at play here that local governments (short of stunts like bussing ppl to Martha's Vineyard or NYC), have no control over.

hotpotamus 3y ago
It’s fairly rare that I see arguments against immigration on the grounds that immigrants are more competitive in the labor and housing markets. Interestingly I have seen it said by folks like David Frum and Paul Krugman who I’d call center-right and center-left respectively. What tends to bubble up is hatred; calling them dirty and rapists and whatnot. The fear mongering about how migrant caravans are coming to overdose my children with fentanyl or whatever the panic de jour is isn’t helping the cause for me, though it does seem quite effective for many. On the other end of the economic spectrum, it seems like builders only want to build high end luxury housing where the margins are fat. While I’m sure the ROI on that is nice from a financial standpoint, it doesn’t seem to add much to society for some rich dude to own another mansion that they might spend a month or two in per year. I don’t know if that sort of thing is a huge effect however. It does seem that as wealth inequality ever increases, so do our social problems.

by surge 3y ago

hotpotamus 3y ago

It’s fairly rare that I see arguments against immigration on the grounds that immigrants are more competitive in the labor and housing markets. Interestingly I have seen it said by folks like David Frum and Paul Krugman who I’d call center-right and center-left respectively. What tends to bubble up is hatred; calling them dirty and rapists and whatnot. The fear mongering about how migrant caravans are coming to overdose my children with fentanyl or whatever the panic de jour is isn’t helping the cause for me, though it does seem quite effective for many. On the other end of the economic spectrum, it seems like builders only want to build high end luxury housing where the margins are fat. While I’m sure the ROI on that is nice from a financial standpoint, it doesn’t seem to add much to society for some rich dude to own another mansion that they might spend a month or two in per year. I don’t know if that sort of thing is a huge effect however. It does seem that as wealth inequality ever increases, so do our social problems.