Re:We’re Optimizing Ourselves to Death (2019)
by CalRobert on Monday November 23, 2020 @09:20AM
(#25186975)
But _why_ are those the houses getting built?
Why can't we demolish every residential structure under 5 stories tall in central London and build flats? Why can't you build in the green belt?
There are some good reasons - the negative externalities of one-off housing in the middle of nowhere are huge (I say, writing from a one-off house in the middle of Ireland), but there are some bad reasons too, like homeowners using "social and affordable" to concern-troll their way in to ensuring nothing actually gets built.
And yeah, dev salaries in the UK are shockingly low compared to the US (and Ireland for that matter, so far as I can tell) but when the supply of housing is constrained higher incomes don't help for long. Making $250k might enable you to buy a $2 million 4 bed 2 bath near decent schools in San Jose, but give it a while and you'll need $350k, then $450k, etc. (or remote work will break the back of the NIMBYs with any luck).
Why can't we demolish every residential structure under 5 stories tall in central London and build flats? Why can't you build in the green belt?
There are some good reasons - the negative externalities of one-off housing in the middle of nowhere are huge (I say, writing from a one-off house in the middle of Ireland), but there are some bad reasons too, like homeowners using "social and affordable" to concern-troll their way in to ensuring nothing actually gets built.
And yeah, dev salaries in the UK are shockingly low compared to the US (and Ireland for that matter, so far as I can tell) but when the supply of housing is constrained higher incomes don't help for long. Making $250k might enable you to buy a $2 million 4 bed 2 bath near decent schools in San Jose, but give it a while and you'll need $350k, then $450k, etc. (or remote work will break the back of the NIMBYs with any luck).