Reply to We need to build more: gentrification caused by blocking housing construction (not the opposite!)

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]There isn’t a great gov’t example of completely fixing the problem.

But HUD and subsidized affordable housing DOES improve the situation.

But our housing shortage is so severe we need to try everything:  build, rollback zoning, Section 8 subsidized housing, affordable rules, LIHTC subsidized housing.

We need to do everything.  DC should be trying it all.[/quote]

Do we have a housing shortage in America, or a shortage of very cheap housing in expensive neighborhoods? Just want to be clear[/quote]

You need to look at what makes a neighborhood expensive. In the DC area, its: [b]quality public schools[/b], proximity to metro, walkability, quality of housing stock, proximity to amenities (grocery stores and other convenient retail). Interestingly, crime and safety are not as correlative as you might think. Many of the most expensive neighborhoods in DC proper have a lot of crime (Shaw and Navy Yard being the two that come to mind fastest).

So you miss the point if you interpret this as just people wanting cheap housing in expensive neighborhoods. What's actually happening is that people want access to shared amenities, including taxpayer funded ones like schools, public transportation, and walk-friendly streetscaping. And even the ones that aren't public funded (decent houses, nearby grocery stores) are pretty basic needs.

So yes, there should be cheaper housing in our "expensive" neighborhoods, because you shouldn't have to be wealthy to gain access to some of this stuff. That's why people push for greater housing density, so that these amenities are genuinely shared among different socioeconomic classes.

And this applies in the city and in the suburbs. It's just easier to accomplish in the city where people don't fight density quite as much (they still fight it, but it's harder to argue against). But even in suburbs, we should have more socioeconomically diverse neighborhoods [b]clustered around public goods and amenities[/b]. It would be more efficient AND more just. [/quote]

There are half empty schools across the city. There are neighborhoods that desperately need supermarkets. Move there and the schools will fill up and the supermarkets will come. You know this, right?[/quote]

I am PP, and yes, I know this. I live in a neighborhood that when we moved here, desperately needed a supermarket (now it has 5). My kid attends a school that was struggling when we moved here and never had a waitlist, and now is hard to get into. I know. That's not the point.

The point is: now only wealthy people can move to this neighborhood. It's no longer possible for people at my income level to move here, even to rent. This neighborhood needs... affordable housing. And I am more than fine with that impacting my housing values, because it would also enable me to, say, move my growing family to a larger home in the neighborhood where we currently live, something that is not possible at the moment. We need more housing![/quote]

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