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No, the people who own houses have chosen to make them expensive. Because it is expensive, those people are quite rich. This gives them political power to make
by iopq 12y ago
No, the people who own houses have chosen to make them expensive. Because it is expensive, those people are quite rich. This gives them political power to make it more expensive. See: San Francisco regulations on construction.
- hueving 12y agoIt's a terrible feedback loop. Nobody who owns a house in SF in their right mind would vote for anything that could substantially decrease the value of their home.
- JulianMorrison 12y agoThe fix: (1) government re-regulates building to be easier and land to be more available, causing a housing boom. (2) government guarantees every house's value as it was before the reforms. If the value falls, government pays the difference. (3) Government raises a tax to pay this all off.
- iopq 12y agoThis is why we can't have nice things. Raise a tax to guarantee that the richest people keep being rich? Do not want.
- swatow 12y agoBut are the majority of SF residents owners? Is it really about voting, or about savvy political lobbying by property owners?
- pimlottc 12y agoIt does seem at least that homeowners tend to vote more often than renters: http://journalistsresource.org/studies/politics/citizen-action/homeowners-better-citizens-homeownership-community-participation-united-states http://journalistsresource.org/studies/politics/citizen-acti...