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0 pointsjherskovic3y ago0 comments

If there was a supply of cheaper housing, I'd agree with this wholeheartedly. Part of the problem is that, in a lot of places (SF, NYC, Seattle, etc) you can price folks into homelessness. Sure, no one is entitled to live in a specific area, but for those who built their lives there, have a community, family, it's cruel to tell them "move to Nowheresville, OH so you can afford a roof"

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4 comments · 4 top-level

igorkraw3y ago

I mean, either you are cruel to home owners who have capital or you are cruel to poor people. I know where my priorities would be. Or we could of course try to remove the cruelty completely by not using a market system to manage a natural monopoly (space in a community). But if you choose cruelty, at least be cruel to those that can choose to suffer as opposed that cannot really escape

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Workaccount23y ago

And who are the ones that voted against building that cheaper housing?

mjmahone173y ago

On the other hand: if you own property, you could take a loan out in order to turn your single family home into a rent-collecting multi-unit house. That’s what people did all the time before zoning laws, and it’s a reasonable way for a retiree to earn an income.

The problem is the zoning laws: we don’t allow people to let out part of their property, so they’re forced either to attempt to downsize into a non-existent market, or get evicted for not being able to afford their taxes.

xnx3y ago

Would reverse mortgages be an option?

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