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Poor Neighborhoods Make the Best Investments

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Re: Poor Neighborhoods Make the Best Investments

#121

Post by mobilefriendly »

dragonwriter wrote: post #86
lawpoop wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, since that time, we've moved away from slavery to labor saving machines. Since we're at a point where many people are under-employed, and we expect many more to become so, we can probably re-institute something like this. After all, the United States was a crazy experiment to revive 2,000-year-old Greek idea called 'Democracy'. While we did have slaves at the beginning, we have managed to enfranchise all adults…

> After all, the United States was a crazy experiment to revive 2,000-year-old Greek idea called 'Democracy'. Not really. Representative democracy as the substantive form of government was an established tradition in Britain and it's North American colonies long before the US (a prime motivation for the revolution was perceived increasing deviation from that norm by the central government in respect to the administra…

While obviously informed by modern thinking, the Founders rooted the American experiment firmly in classical Greek and Roman tradition. There's a reason why US government buildings all look like classical temples.

Re: Poor Neighborhoods Make the Best Investments

#122

Post by twblalock »

OrwellianChild wrote: post #113
twblalock wrote: post #93

Be aware of unintended consequences of improving neighborhoods. If poor people can't afford to live in nice neighborhoods, and we transform their surroundings into nice neighborhoods, they won't be able to afford to stay. Richer people will move in and drive up the prices. These effects are likely to be amplified in towns with high demand for housing and low supply.

I think a lot can be learned from inverting the spin of the advice you are proposing... What you are saying is: "Leave neighborhoods unpleasant so only poor people want to live in them." Looking at it this way gets at the heart of the problem with this way of thinking. Can I suggest a counter point? Solve the systemic issues that prevent low-income people from seeking good housing, rather than advocating to keep them…

Your interpretation changes the meaning of what I said, and it is uncharitable at best. I never advocated keeping the poor "in their place." I just pointed out that unintended consequences can occur in these kinds of situations.

Re: Poor Neighborhoods Make the Best Investments

#123

Post by [deleted] »

mobilefriendly wrote: post #120
jmknoll wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't even need to be an all-or-nothing thing. You could have a state law saying something like "All employees are allowed to attend one public policy meeting during working hours each month." Its not a huge expense for business owners, as I assume these meetings don't run more than an hour or two, and while it doesn't allow people to attend every single planning meeting, they can get to the ones which are most…

Such a state law would be unconstitutional, for violating rights to assembly/speech and for forced service. The government can't take your time (freedom) or force people to attend meetings without due process.

[deleted]

Re: Poor Neighborhoods Make the Best Investments

#124

Post by kbart »

nine_k wrote: post #43
siscia wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would say all cities (also in the north) but just few exceptions were build before cars where even an idea...

An old city could be bombed into a complete ruin and rebuilt from scratch; this happened in Russia, Poland, Germany, UK during WWII. Fortunately, Italian cities were mostly left intact.

Still they were rebuilt without cars in mind.

Re: Poor Neighborhoods Make the Best Investments

#125

Post by chillwaves »

mobilefriendly wrote: post #120
jmknoll wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't even need to be an all-or-nothing thing. You could have a state law saying something like "All employees are allowed to attend one public policy meeting during working hours each month." Its not a huge expense for business owners, as I assume these meetings don't run more than an hour or two, and while it doesn't allow people to attend every single planning meeting, they can get to the ones which are most…

Such a state law would be unconstitutional, for violating rights to assembly/speech and for forced service. The government can't take your time (freedom) or force people to attend meetings without due process.

How is "allowed to attend" forced service? And how does this differ from requirements for sick leave?

Re: Poor Neighborhoods Make the Best Investments

#126

Post by pjc50 »

supernumerary wrote: post #64

Detroit is implementing a program along these lines. They are selling properties in so called 'bad neighborhoods' and mandating that they be rehabbed and renovated within 6 months to code. The average cost of rehabbing a home bought for $1000~$2000 say is $50,000. Have a look at the website: http://www.buildingdetroit.org/ The 'Rehabbed and Ready' ( http://auctions.buildingdetroit.org/RehabbedAndReady ) homes demonst…

Similarly Stoke-on-Trent was selling houses for £1 with an obligation not to rent or sell for 5 years: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2986152/Quids-Couple...

Re: Poor Neighborhoods Make the Best Investments

#127

Post by tomohawk »

yabatopia wrote: post #100
supernumerary wrote: post #64

Detroit is implementing a program along these lines. They are selling properties in so called 'bad neighborhoods' and mandating that they be rehabbed and renovated within 6 months to code. The average cost of rehabbing a home bought for $1000~$2000 say is $50,000. Have a look at the website: http://www.buildingdetroit.org/ The 'Rehabbed and Ready' ( http://auctions.buildingdetroit.org/RehabbedAndReady ) homes demonst…

These conditions are crazy. Requiring in investment of ten thousands of dollars in a home in a high risk neighbourhood within six months after purchase is borderline preying on the gullible. A street in Detroit can go in a downward spiral within months. All it takes is one bad apple (home) that gets boarded up or goes down in flames near your investment and your purchase becomes a super high risk gamble, most probabl…

In Baltimore, they were selling properties for $1 a pop. Many people found out how that could be a losing investment.

While it worked in some parts of the city, other parts of the city had entire blocks bulldozed. Kind of like what happened in SF when they blew up buildings to stop the fire.

Re: Poor Neighborhoods Make the Best Investments

#128

Post by dalerus »

supernumerary wrote: post #64

Detroit is implementing a program along these lines. They are selling properties in so called 'bad neighborhoods' and mandating that they be rehabbed and renovated within 6 months to code. The average cost of rehabbing a home bought for $1000~$2000 say is $50,000. Have a look at the website: http://www.buildingdetroit.org/ The 'Rehabbed and Ready' ( http://auctions.buildingdetroit.org/RehabbedAndReady ) homes demonst…

Well and the actual cost isn't $1000-$2000. From the website: "The Detroit Land Bank will issue a Quit Claim Deed at closing, which transfers its interest in the property. The purchaser will be responsible for any delinquent taxes, water bills, or liens on the property."

That could be quite a large amount depending on the back-taxes and liens that could have been placed on the property.

Re: Poor Neighborhoods Make the Best Investments

#129

Post by tomohawk »

It seems like what they're saying is that taxation per square inch is higher in poorer areas, and that areas that are doing better have less taxation. Could it be that the areas that are doing better are doing better for that reason?

A land tax instead of a property tax seems to be the way to go. This would avoid punishing people from improving their property.

Re: Poor Neighborhoods Make the Best Investments

#130

Post by ghostDancer »

ghaff wrote: post #101
sundvor wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's pretty sickening, but can't help but consider true. Upvoted and added this comment for emphasis. In Australia voting day is always a Saturday, from 8 am to 6 pm, also with ample opportunity to mail in beforehand. Oh and you'll be fined if you don't cast your vote... It may not be perfect, but appears way more democratic to me than the US elections. http://www.aec.gov.au/Voting/polling.htm (When I left Norway n…

I often vote absentee (or "early" this year) in the US because of travel or just because. But if I had to vote in person I'd guess I'd miss at least as many votes on weekends because I'm off somewhere as weekdays. I'm also unconvinced that forced voting is a positive. If you don't care enough to develop an opinion and vote, why should your random "because you have to" vote count?

In some countries you can vote blank(you don't find a good enough representation among the parties) or a non valid vote (as a protest). The problem is how they count those votes, in Spain is like if have not voted.
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