In California, Momentum Builds for Radical Action on Housing - CityLab: "Cities around the world are dealing with severe housing shortages and inflated housing costs. But nowhere is housing such a potent political issue as in California, whose unique geography, state policies, and activist culture have combined with a poorly distributed economic boom to create a “perfect storm”—the chosen words of multiple sources for this story.
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This is what political scientists call a "policy window," a time when legislators are looking for solutions and there is an opportunity for interest groups who may have been ignored to get the ear of somebody looking for a bill to push. Ideas that can be framed as solutions to the "housing crisis" will be considered. The most obvious problem is that owner-occupied housing in much of California, especially southern California and the San Francisco Bay area, is insanely expensive. Why? Many people say it is all about the law of supply and demand, and that the supply of housing is inadequate to meet the demand. The solution they propose is for cities to allow construction of more high-density housing. Cities are generally reluctant to do this, so State Senator Scott Weiner is proposing that the state should force cities to issue building permits for high-density construction near transit hubs. That would mean condominiums and apartment buildings. Condominiums are the go-to idea for legislators every time somebody proposes to make owner-occupied housing more affordable. But the problem is that we just found out the hard way, when the housing market tanked in 2006-2007, that selling condominium housing to people of moderate income is a risky proposition. I could go on about this, but I think I've made that point enough times for now. However, that experience won't stand in the way of doing the same thing all over again, because when it comes to home ownership in this country, there is no mistake that we won't repeat.
1 comment:
It’s time to think outside the high density, condominium box.
Instead of clustering workers around a concentrated area of office buildings, financial centers, tech hubs, and related services, why not spread out work sites and job opportunities to where people now live in more affordable housing? Seems like it would be a hell of a lot more efficient to build some new commercial real estate and make use of existing highways and transit for reverse commutes.
Technology-based workers should be able to find ways to integrate remote and satellite work sites, thereby reducing the need for long commutes.
Density can be overdone. Like eating a whole box of chocolates or a half gallon of ice cream in one sitting.
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