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Even the Rich Are Being Priced Out of Central London

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Re: Even the Rich Are Being Priced Out of Central London

#111

Post by chadgeidel »

kschrader wrote: post #56
chadgeidel wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like living in the city. I would prefer to live in one. Denver housing isn't so crazy yet that I can't afford to live here, but it's pretty close. I make a pretty damn good salary and would struggle finding a house that doesn't require significant rennovation in the city. Yes, I could move to suburbia - I could commute slightly further, etc, etc. I would prefer not to. I would prefer that my neighbors are people an…

Just for comparison purposes, once a large portion of your housing is safety deposit boxes here's the sort of thing you can get for $300K: http://streeteasy.com/building/5-tudor-city-place-new_york/3... 275 sq. ft. with "a half refrigerator, 2 built-in electric burners, and a microwave oven"

Yeah, that's nuts. At least $300k gets me a ~1300 sq ft single family dwelling with maybe a detached garage and a yard.

Re: Even the Rich Are Being Priced Out of Central London

#112

Post by r00fus »

valkea wrote: post #104
r00fus wrote: post #19

And... this is what happens when you don't tax foreign cash infusions. For those who think we should get rid of taxes on cash repatriations - this is likely an outcome.

Foreign capital investment is great, so beneficial to the economy. The problem is with the housing market. Perverse subsidies, out of date zoning laws, and a lot of nimby based lobbying. Fix these things and I doubt anyone, including foreign investors, would be parking capital in property and just leaving it unused.

And that's why you use a tool like taxation to modify behavior to encourage positive outcomes.

Re: Even the Rich Are Being Priced Out of Central London

#113

Post by Tiktaalik »

sandworm101 wrote: post #90

I'm shocked that london, vancouver, SF and a few other cities are still functional. When working lawyers and doctors can no longer afford to live in a city, what actually happens? Are these now theme parks? Retirement villages for the uber-wealthy? Some (SF, seattle) have developed this strange mix of the very very rich and the homeless on the street. Others (Vancouver) see inverted traffic patterns as more professio…

>Others (Vancouver) see inverted traffic patterns as more professionals (carps etc) drive into residential neighborhoods to work on houses than residents drive out. Suburbs are now industrial zones, places where people go to work. Anyone who can afford to live in the suburb, in a detached house, can live on investments alone.

Do you have a source that more people are driving from the Vancouver core out than in?

I wouldn't describe Vancouver this way. The region was planned to have many regional centres, so that there is no mass migration from the 'burbs into the downtown. Instead people live and work everywhere.

There are more people working in downtown Vancouver than ever before, but traffic volumes in have been unchanged since the 60s. This is possible because of public transit and massive increases in the amount of residential density in downtown enabling people to walk to work.

Re: Even the Rich Are Being Priced Out of Central London

#114

Post by tcoppi »

leviathant wrote: post #105
s_q_b wrote: post #5

In DC, there's a big glut in foreign capital flowing in from foreign oligarchs and elites, particularly from Russia and China. Residential properties in so-called "safe cities" are both a form of investment and a potential life-raft should the political situation change in their nations.In addition to the artificially low supply created by extreme height limitations, this has caused prices to skyrocket. The apartment…

The same thing's happening in Philadelphia, so no doubt New York and DC are running out of places to snatch up. It's insane. I landed a pretty sweet deal on an old building close to the Delaware River for ~$265,000. A vacant lot near us sold for about the same a couple of years before that. This year, the lot behind us went on the market for $600,000 - a number I thought was pretty absurd. But two days after it had b…

If you aren't particularly attached to the area/house, it might be time to cash out and move somewhere more reasonable.

Re: Even the Rich Are Being Priced Out of Central London

#115

Post by dasmoth »

melling wrote: post #7

If only there was a way to make living within a city less important. There must be some way to move large numbers of people over "great distances" (50-100 miles) in a more commutable time.

If only there was a way to make working within a city less important.

There must be some way to move large numbers of bits over "great distances" so that knowledge/desk workers can choose where they want to live, and don't have to commute every day.

Re: Even the Rich Are Being Priced Out of Central London

#116

Post by Tiktaalik »

bogomipz wrote: post #100
mtkd wrote: post #68

I walked from Kings Cross to Marylebone at dusk recently - half way, I took the road up from the main Euston Road - walking through mostly residential - barely an apartment window with a light on - it's just money parked in property - the parks don't have kids playing in them any more The recent Vancouver tax changes have worked, I suspect/hope we'll start seeing that repeated in every city thats had it's life sucked…

Yeah thats oddly dystopian. Can you elaborate on the Vancouver tax change? I have not heard about this.

"Foreigners [not permanent residents] who buy residential property in the Vancouver area will have to pay an extra 15-per-cent tax as part of a B.C. government plan to slow the foreign speculation that many blame for making the region’s homes the most unaffordable in Canada."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/bc-to-t...

The tax is new and was enacted just before August so the impacts are still uncertain.

Re: Even the Rich Are Being Priced Out of Central London

#117

Post by 7952 »

melling wrote: post #43
pjc50 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is. It's full. (Most of the towns in the southeast of England are dominated by commuters to London)

What about the other directions? How many people commute from Birmingham, for example? It's only 126 miles away? That's a 30 commute sometime this century. It's really just a question of when.

It is unpalatable to me that we are wasting such a vast quantity of resources on moving people about. Our transport system can barely cope with people travelling modest distances.

Re: Even the Rich Are Being Priced Out of Central London

#119

Post by [deleted] »

bogomipz wrote: post #100
mtkd wrote: post #68

I walked from Kings Cross to Marylebone at dusk recently - half way, I took the road up from the main Euston Road - walking through mostly residential - barely an apartment window with a light on - it's just money parked in property - the parks don't have kids playing in them any more The recent Vancouver tax changes have worked, I suspect/hope we'll start seeing that repeated in every city thats had it's life sucked…

Yeah thats oddly dystopian. Can you elaborate on the Vancouver tax change? I have not heard about this.

[deleted]

Re: Even the Rich Are Being Priced Out of Central London

#120

Post by 1_2__3 »

msie wrote: post #118

I cringe at some of the comments here where people have already written off cities like sf, vancouver, London, DC etc. Their entire perception of those places is through a couple sensationalist news pieces.

Really? Because I either live in or have spent a fair amount of time in those places and I promise you there's no overblown rhetoric involved here. This is what happens when a significant fraction of the world that previously was unable and unwilling to relocate suddenly begins spreading across the globe. Not only is what's going on real, it was easily predicted decades ago.
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