4 ms·

I noticed there is a split how this topic is discussed in (center-)left and (center-)right circles. The right generally takes as a given that the cause of the

by xg15 11mo ago

I noticed there is a split how this topic is discussed in (center-)left and (center-)right circles. The right generally takes as a given that the cause of the problem (if there is a problem at all) is that there is not enough housing and we just have to build more. The left argues that in we in fact do have enough units that could be used for housing (or at least the situation is not as clear-cut), but that other factors prevent them to be available at affordable prices, like the effects of extreme income and wealth inequality on the market. Personally, I think the "left-wing" explanation makes more sense - at least I've never understood where that sudden shortage of physical housing is supposed to have come from. We neither had a population explosion, nor a war or catastrophe that would have destroyed a lot of houses. So then why would there have been "enough" housing in the past but not anymore today?

dragonwriter 11mo ago
> Personally, I think the "left-wing" explanation makes more sense - at least I've never understood where that sudden shortage of physical housing is supposed to have come from. It comes from construction dropping far below what was necessary to keep up with historical utilization in proportion to population after the Great Recession and, while it has recovered above the amount needed to keep up, it hasn't been far enough ahead for long enough to cover the accumulated post-GR deficit. While this is a couple years old, it illustrates the issue: https://www.axios.com/2023/12/16/housing-market-why-homes-expensive-chart-inventory https://www.axios.com/2023/12/16/housing-market-why-homes-ex... (And the national story undersrates the problem going on in lots of in-demand cities, which weren't keeping up with local need before the broader collapse of the GR.)
- xg15 11mo ago
  Thanks for the pointers. That argument makes some sense actually. However that would still not explain the existing vacancies: https://www.ourneighborhoodvoices.com/sfgate-there-are-more-than-40000-vacant-homes-in-san-francisco-report-says/ https://www.ourneighborhoodvoices.com/sfgate-there-are-more-... https://www.axios.com/local/san-francisco/2025/06/27/office-to-housing-conversion-potential-sf https://www.axios.com/local/san-francisco/2025/06/27/office-... OT, I found a look at the US population growth trends quite interesting, especially Figure 2 and the apparent massive explosion in immigration in the last years. Not sure what exactly is going on there. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2024/12/population-estimates.html https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2024/12/population-es...
inglor_cz 11mo ago
About 14 thousand people move to Prague yearly (netto), but construction hasn't kept pace by any means; Czech building permits are a bureaucratic hell on Earth - hello fighting a 10 year paper war over a banal block of flats! By pure mathematics, there must be a shortage, and there indeed is. There isn't any shortage in Ostrava where I am from, because the city lost 40 thousand people since the 1990s. But there is a shortage of well-paid jobs.
banana_sandwich 11mo ago
Because people want to live in cities again. Lot of people do not want to live in suburbs / exurbs. they want walkability. bikability. community. car-lite living. It’s high in demand, short on supply.

by xg15 11mo ago

dragonwriter 11mo ago

> Personally, I think the "left-wing" explanation makes more sense - at least I've never understood where that sudden shortage of physical housing is supposed to have come from. It comes from construction dropping far below what was necessary to keep up with historical utilization in proportion to population after the Great Recession and, while it has recovered above the amount needed to keep up, it hasn't been far enough ahead for long enough to cover the accumulated post-GR deficit. While this is a couple years old, it illustrates the issue: https://www.axios.com/2023/12/16/housing-market-why-homes-expensive-chart-inventory https://www.axios.com/2023/12/16/housing-market-why-homes-ex... (And the national story undersrates the problem going on in lots of in-demand cities, which weren't keeping up with local need before the broader collapse of the GR.)

xg15 11mo ago
Thanks for the pointers. That argument makes some sense actually. However that would still not explain the existing vacancies: https://www.ourneighborhoodvoices.com/sfgate-there-are-more-than-40000-vacant-homes-in-san-francisco-report-says/ https://www.ourneighborhoodvoices.com/sfgate-there-are-more-... https://www.axios.com/local/san-francisco/2025/06/27/office-to-housing-conversion-potential-sf https://www.axios.com/local/san-francisco/2025/06/27/office-... OT, I found a look at the US population growth trends quite interesting, especially Figure 2 and the apparent massive explosion in immigration in the last years. Not sure what exactly is going on there. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2024/12/population-estimates.html https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2024/12/population-es...

inglor_cz 11mo ago

About 14 thousand people move to Prague yearly (netto), but construction hasn't kept pace by any means; Czech building permits are a bureaucratic hell on Earth - hello fighting a 10 year paper war over a banal block of flats! By pure mathematics, there must be a shortage, and there indeed is. There isn't any shortage in Ostrava where I am from, because the city lost 40 thousand people since the 1990s. But there is a shortage of well-paid jobs.

banana_sandwich 11mo ago

Because people want to live in cities again. Lot of people do not want to live in suburbs / exurbs. they want walkability. bikability. community. car-lite living. It’s high in demand, short on supply.