Re:Across the rich world, an extraordinary jobs boom is unde...
by lostmymind66 on Thursday May 30, 2019 @01:12PM
(#20053483)
"Nonsense. Land is a scarce resource. Neighborhoods aren't getting any bigger - they can't get any bigger. So the only way for a city to increase its housing supply is to increase its density, and that runs into a buzzsaw of local politics."
Of course it's a scarce resource, but regulations don't make it any less scarce. The city where I grew up can't build any apartments past 5 stories because the local government feels like it's an eye sore. The result is housing/apartment prices that are 3X the price of other surrounding cities.
San Francisco is a good example of this. It can take a builder 10 years to actually get the permits to build a new house, because of regulations.
"The price I pay for my 1800sf 1/10 acre in south Minneapolis would buy me three times that in the burbs, but I don't wanna live in the burbs. I want to live in Minneapolis."
When you put it this way, I don't really feel bad for the high housing costs, because it seems like it's mostly about being inconvenienced.
Of course it's a scarce resource, but regulations don't make it any less scarce. The city where I grew up can't build any apartments past 5 stories because the local government feels like it's an eye sore. The result is housing/apartment prices that are 3X the price of other surrounding cities.
San Francisco is a good example of this. It can take a builder 10 years to actually get the permits to build a new house, because of regulations.
"The price I pay for my 1800sf 1/10 acre in south Minneapolis would buy me three times that in the burbs, but I don't wanna live in the burbs. I want to live in Minneapolis."
When you put it this way, I don't really feel bad for the high housing costs, because it seems like it's mostly about being inconvenienced.