Reply to Bowser proposes to add over 1,500 new affordable housing units to "Rock Creek West"

Forum Index » Metropolitan DC Local Politics

Reply to "Bowser proposes to add over 1,500 new affordable housing units to "Rock Creek West""

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I wish someone could give me a coherent explanation of how these affordable housing ideas are supposed to work.

There seems to be blind faith that adding housing units will lower prices, but that just seems wrong.

There's five million people in the DC suburbs. If you add 30,000 units in DC, that will immediately be soaked up by people in, say, Arlington looking for better commutes. That in turn will open up places for people to move to Arlington from, say, Manassas who are looking for the same thing. That will open up places in Manassas for people who live in, say, Front Royal.

The end result is lower housing prices in Front Royal. Ok, that's great for people who live there but why should DC residents have to sacrifice so that people in Front Royal enjoy slightly lower housing prices?[/quote]

1. Yes, this is a regional problem.  That is why MWCOG has set REGIONAL goals for more housing, esp more AH.  Many people in DC itself are progressive, and want to help moderate and low income people around the region.

2.  Having more people live closer in will be better for the environment, and mean less cars driving into DC (since closer places have better transit), better for QOL in DC.

3.  Not everyone who lives out in the suburbs wants to move closer in.  Some people prefer Arlington to DC, Manassas to Arlington, Front Royal to Manassas, etc.  You appear to posit that a one dollar decrease in housing prices in DC fills up any increase in new units (what we economists call a perfectly elastic demand curve)  That is almost certainly unrealistic.  Its possible that MOST people would move closer in if they could, but that will still mean a slight drop in DC prices from new housing If many people won't (if the demand curve is inelastic - IOW if people really have preference for suburban living) then there could be large drops in DC prices. 
3.  [/quote]

Yes, everyone has their own particular reasons for living where they do. My only point is that this notion that adding housing units in DC will result in more affordable housing is a lie. [/quote]

Yes, that is your point. However it is not correct. [/quote]

Why not? You still haven't given me a clear explanation.

The only way prices can go down is if supply exceeds demand. But that will never happen. There are five million people in the suburbs. If even one percent of them decided to move into the city, that would more than soak up every last additional unit Bowswer is proposing. And certainly far more than one percent would want to move. Have you seen the traffic leaving the city at rush hour? And that's putting aside everyone who doesn't already live in the metro area but who might want to move here. Supply will never come close to catching up with demand.

You can see this effect in New York City. People live in shoeboxes and yet it is still expensive because there are still far more people who want to live there than can be accommodated. [/quote]

Yeah you definitely need a coherent explanation cause your understanding of what is being done is WAAAAAY out in another galaxy somewhere.

Let's recap and break it down...

Bowser wants to significantly increase [b]dedicated affordable housing options[/b] in Rock Creek West, which encompasses some of the city’s highest-income neighborhoods. Her administration has set a goal to bring 1,990 affordable housing units to that part of the District by 2025 — more than four times its current amount of 470 affordable homes.

You with me so far?  Okay now take a look at that bolded portion above...you see that?  Do you know what that is?  Let's break it down...

Dedicated affordable housing is defined as [b]income- and rent-restricted housing[/b] supported or subsidized by local and federal programs for households ranging from extremely low-income earning less than 30 percent of the Median Family Income (MFI) up to households earning less than 80 percent of the MFI.

Do you get the gist of what is being said?  Look at the bolded portion above...you see that?  Do you know what that means.  Let's break it down one last time...

Doesn't matter what the exorbitant prices of homes/condos/apartments in certain areas.  
There will be XX-number of DEDICATED HOUSING OPTIONS set aside for broke folks in those high-priced areas.

You getting it now?[/quote]

Maybe the Bowser flack can answer the question of why the existing rent controlled housing stock was deliberately omitted from the reported number of affordable units?  Why is this important pillar of true affordability (as opposed to higher income-based IZ units) being ignored?![/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics