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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Isn't it crazy to accommodate so many in DC, why can't federal government give them incentives to go to areas where cost of living is low and entry level jobs in abundance?[/quote]

Or repopulate dying towns.

It's way too complex and nuanced a subject for DCUM but the lack of population mobility - for which there are sometimes good reasons - is one of the problems we face as a country.

We should also build low income housing directly instead of using section 8. Section 8 just ends up increasing rents.  Can't we take what we've learned from the problems with "projects"  and section 8 and try something new.  Some sort of middle ground where we build it but create a [b]process to transfer ownership to the tenants over time.[/b][/quote]

NYC tried exactly that about 40 years ago.  Guess what's happening now with those properties?

Those that are located in neighborhoods that have significantly gentrified are now available only to rich retirees and trustfunders because those are cash only deals; no bank will give a mortgage for something that has income based sales restrictions.  The rest are in dire straits because the maintenance and upkeep cost money and the tenants do not have enough money to keep their buildings in good shape.  [/quote]

There has to be a way to learn from what when wrong and try again because the current system isn't very good and has lots of externalities.  That system isn't perfect but it's simple.  As long as new units get built to replace those that graduate it would solve a lot of problems.

Section 8 drives up rents because it sets baseline level but is calculated by using an average.  Therefore it's constantly increasing.  Each time it increases all the other levels adjust accordingly to maintain relative value.  It's a systemic error.

Rent Control meanwhile disincentives construction, upkeep, and property sales especially considering the section 8 induced price spiral happening in the rest of the market.[/quote]

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