this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2023
1378 points (87.2% liked)

Memes

45690 readers
1339 users here now

Rules:

  1. Be civil and nice.
  2. Try not to excessively repost, as a rule of thumb, wait at least 2 months to do it if you have to.

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] -2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

the vast majority of new housing has been market rate

Hmmm, market rate is determined by price fixing so the people living there have to make more so they can live there and then the rent is price fixed up, and so on, and so on, and so on...

Raising taxes doesn't help anyone in the short run since by the time it gets to being put towards something, it would probably be tax breaks for the tech companies. You're right, I skimmed your comment because I knew what your goal was and you'd say anything to try and reach that goal; Build so there is money for investors, open the zoning laws all across the board so you can bulldoze and build more luxury apartments that families don't want and the middle class and lower can't afford. Trickle down housing takes 30 years to see results, all of your points are meaningless to me because you're not operating in good faith.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Hmmm, market rate is determined by price fixing so the people living there have to make more so they can live there and then the rent is price fixed up, and so on, and so on, and so on…

Look at the chart I showed in my last comment again. Clearly landlords in Minneapolis aren't raising rents in perpetuity. Gee, could that be because they abolished single-family zoning in 2018, and they're already seeing a stabilized rental market despite being a large, desirable, high-QoL city? So much for your assertion that it "takes 30 years to see results".

Raising taxes

My goal isn't raising taxes. My goal is to replace bad taxes like sales, income, and property taxes with good taxes like land value taxes, carbon taxes (and other taxes on negative externalities), and severance taxes.

all of your points are meaningless to me because you’re not operating in good faith.

My guy, who do you think I am? Do you think all YIMBYs are actually just a secret cabal of developers rubbing our greedy little YIMBY hands together to demolish your historic gas stations and parking lots?

I'm a fresh-out-of-grad-school engineer who rents an apartment in a major city. I've seen the power of YIMBYism first hand, as I was able to negotiate down the landlord on rent before signing the lease, because there was a credible threat of me leaving and finding somewhere else cheaper. The reason why? My city, Montreal, is the most affordable major city in North America, with some of the lowest barriers to density, and extensive neighborhoods of "missing middle" housing (e.g., townhouses, plexes, low- and mid-rise apartments). All despite being a very desirable, very high-QoL city. Turns out having options gives you actual negotiating power against your landlord.

If you have all the fear of homelessness and your landlord has no fear of vacancy, then your landlord has all the power over you. If you have plenty of options, and your landlord has a credible fear of vacancy, you will have actual negotiating power. NIMBY policies only serve to empower landlords and weaken tenants.

Unlike you, I want to actually grant tenants (myself included) more negotiating power against their landlords by granting them more choices in housing.

Further, do you legitimately believe the current crony capitalist system has produced enough housing in America and Canada? Or is it possible vested interests have captured local governments to artificially limit supply and thus limit competition, and that NIMBYs like you are the pawns to protect their speculative investments?

[–] [email protected] -4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Again, trickled down housing will work for your grandchildren. Last comment.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Again, it's already working in Minneapolis and several other cities. I'll even post the table again for your convenience.