One common leftist argument against new housing is the "Red Vienna" argument: the claim that housing can only be affordable in places where the government dominates the housing market. Supporters of this claim like to mention Vienna, where (according to progressive lore) Big Brother builds lots and … [Read more...]
The Storper paper: not exactly a bombshell
Some commentators are slightly agog over an academic paper by Andres Rodrieguz-Pose and Michael Storper; Richard Florida writes that they shows that " the effect of [housing] supply has been blown far out of proportion. "Most of this paper isn't really about the effect of housing supply on … [Read more...]
High-Rises and Street Life
One common argument against tall buildings is that they reduce street life, because the most expensive high-rises have gyms and other amenities that cause people to stay inside the buildings rather than using the street. Because Manhattan has plenty of high-rises and plenty of street life, I have … [Read more...]
A great new paper on how government fights walking
Many readers of this blog know that government subsidizes driving- not just through road spending, but also through land use regulations that make walking and transit use inconvenient and dangerous. Gregory Shill, a professor at the University of Iowa College of Law, has written an excellent … [Read more...]
Big Media Gets Big Buildings Wrong
While reading someone else's work, I recently ran across an article by David Cay Johnston of the New York Times, claiming that overseas oligarchs turning apartments all over the world into unused "ghost apartments". In this article, Johnston writes: "In Paris, for instance, one apartment in four … [Read more...]
Evidence that home-sharing doesn’t raise rents
A common argument against Airbnb and similar home-sharing companies is that they raise rents, because every apartment used for short-term rentals could be used for long-term rentals. A recent paper by a Spanish Ph.D. candidate suggests otherwise.The paper focused on Santa Monica, California … [Read more...]
New York State’s Property Tax Cap
One reason for California’s high housing costs might be Proposition 13. This law, passed by referendum in the 1970s, may discourage housing production in two significant ways.First, under Proposition 13, all housing- even vacant land- is taxed at its original purchase price rather than its … [Read more...]
New and Noteworthy: Randy Shaw’s Generation Priced Out
In Generation Priced Out, housing activist Randy Shaw writes a book about the rent crisis for non-experts. Shaw's point of view is that of a left-wing YIMBY: that is, he favors allowing lots of new market-rate housing, but also favors a variety of less market-oriented policies to prevent … [Read more...]