Why affordable housing isn't affordable
Bloomberg is notorious for pretending government is the solution rather than the problem and housing is no exception. The problem of not enough cheap housing stems from several regulations and regulatory climates - not from income levels. It used to be that on the US Census records, many were listed as "Boarders" - ie people who stayed in someone else's home and paid a small fee to have their meals provided and laundry done. Government did away with this source of cheap housing by mandating hospitality permits for such activities at the behest of the hotel industry - who they then began to hit with large fees for water and energy consumption!
Next you have zoning boards, who decide whether or not a particular property can house a residential, industrial, or commercial entity. And they pay property taxes based on their zoning, incentivizing government to push people into the higher-tax commercial and industrial areas.
What other ways can you think of that contribute to the lack of affordable housing?
Next you have zoning boards, who decide whether or not a particular property can house a residential, industrial, or commercial entity. And they pay property taxes based on their zoning, incentivizing government to push people into the higher-tax commercial and industrial areas.
What other ways can you think of that contribute to the lack of affordable housing?
And I would absolutely go back to a government of the size and scope of 100 years ago...
Just as with other things the gov't did away with (drugs, sex trade, undocumented workers), people who want a room to rent can still find one.
This is the spirit of the Third Amendment.
"When will we elect a government like we had during the 19th century?"
We really don't want that. Many people's basic rights were not respected. We had out-and-out slavery for part of the century. No women could vote. We have big problems, but I don't want to go back to the old days.
Like the problem of the federal government grabbing up most of the land in western states, I don't see very many legal methods to fight back against this menace. Most plans for "Gulch" style communities begin with buying up the land. But if legal title is not available, how do we create moral title, much less defend it? A brainstorming session on these questions might prove useful.
HOA's are a microcosm of Government, imposed by a small group of people authorized by the covenants of the deed authorized county government.
So you have Federal, State, Local, which would be city, and county, and also the HOA's.
gov·ern·ment
ˈɡəvər(n)mənt/
noun
1.the governing body of a nation, state, or community.
Some years ago, the government made purchasing houses very easy. People who should have bought $100K houses, bought $150K houses and after a few years of not being able to afford the payment, defaulted. In the past it was advised to keep a mortgage because the falling value of money would make the payments cheaper and falling interest rates would make it still more advantageous. But then, taxes, fees, HOA dues, insurance costs made that advice fallacious. The rising cost of everything and the stagnation of income has caused people to re-think the old American dream of the house, the car, 2.4 children and a dog.
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