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It's not the housing that costs. It's the land underneath the housing that is valuable. The reasons are demand and supply. The supply is fixed, the demand ca

by brc 17y ago

It's not the housing that costs. It's the land underneath the housing that is valuable. The reasons are demand and supply. The supply is fixed, the demand can vary greatly for a number of reasons. However, the only way to lower the price to live on that land is to make it in less demand, which means making the area less attractive to live in. Hardly what anyone wants.

electromagnetic 17y ago
Agreed, there's lots of 'affordable' housing in areas near me. However, the reason these houses cost so little is because they're in an area with crime rates through the roof. Oddly across the street from many of these houses the properties of similar designs with equal amounts of land costs $100k more. Affordable housing is a noble cause, but just give it to me without it being filled with drug dealers trying to sell to kids.
lliiffee 17y ago
You can sort of increase supply by building taller buildings.
- nazgulnarsil 17y ago
  zoning prevents the market from meeting demand properly. the justification is preventing externalities such as turning what was a nice small town into a condo complex etc. but the citizens who want to keep it a small town shouldn't do so at the end of a gun (legislation), if they want it they should pay for it.
  - evgen 17y ago
    The problem with this argument is that the citizens who want to keep a small town small were there first. They created and/or maintain the urban environment that makes the location appealing for the would-be condo builder. As such they have the right to make whatever rules they want within certain limits -- think of it as a "private" club that has a specific membership requirement (you must live within the prescribed boundaries to join.) If I join your club I should expect to abide by the rules set by the members according to the process that existed when I joined, just because I think the walls of the clubhouse should be painted blue doesn't mean that I can decide on a whim paint a small part of the wall. If the condo-builder wants to create a building as tall as he wants then he should find some piece of land that does not have restrictions attached to it, build his condo, and see if the people come... Zoning restrictions are a part of the market. If it were not for the restrictions the land would have a different value. Part of what makes a piece of property valuable are the side-effects of these very restrictions.
    - nazgulnarsil 17y ago
      um...so do the townspeople collectively own the entire town? including each other's lots? because if a lot is private property, nothing prevents me from selling my lot to a condo builder. I think that you could have a system like the one you describe be just, simply have people own shares in the town. voting stock is a much better system than universal suffrage.

by brc 17y ago

electromagnetic 17y ago

Agreed, there's lots of 'affordable' housing in areas near me. However, the reason these houses cost so little is because they're in an area with crime rates through the roof. Oddly across the street from many of these houses the properties of similar designs with equal amounts of land costs $100k more. Affordable housing is a noble cause, but just give it to me without it being filled with drug dealers trying to sell to kids.

lliiffee 17y ago

You can sort of increase supply by building taller buildings.

nazgulnarsil 17y ago
zoning prevents the market from meeting demand properly. the justification is preventing externalities such as turning what was a nice small town into a condo complex etc. but the citizens who want to keep it a small town shouldn't do so at the end of a gun (legislation), if they want it they should pay for it.
- evgen 17y ago
  The problem with this argument is that the citizens who want to keep a small town small were there first. They created and/or maintain the urban environment that makes the location appealing for the would-be condo builder. As such they have the right to make whatever rules they want within certain limits -- think of it as a "private" club that has a specific membership requirement (you must live within the prescribed boundaries to join.) If I join your club I should expect to abide by the rules set by the members according to the process that existed when I joined, just because I think the walls of the clubhouse should be painted blue doesn't mean that I can decide on a whim paint a small part of the wall. If the condo-builder wants to create a building as tall as he wants then he should find some piece of land that does not have restrictions attached to it, build his condo, and see if the people come... Zoning restrictions are a part of the market. If it were not for the restrictions the land would have a different value. Part of what makes a piece of property valuable are the side-effects of these very restrictions.
  - nazgulnarsil 17y ago
    um...so do the townspeople collectively own the entire town? including each other's lots? because if a lot is private property, nothing prevents me from selling my lot to a condo builder. I think that you could have a system like the one you describe be just, simply have people own shares in the town. voting stock is a much better system than universal suffrage.