21–30 of 109 posts
Maybe the article works for Vancouver (I've never been there), but I don't see it working in most places.
Why downvote with no reply?
Vienna is the most dull and calcified city I've ever lived in, and it's not a growing city. It's not super useful to compare to cities that are thriving.
Vienna is the most livable city 10 times in a row now!
The article states that Vienna's population in 1914 (at the beginning of WW1) was 2 million, vs 1.9 million today. I'm no housing policy expert, but isn't it possible that Vienna's rents are stable and low in part because they haven't had to increase their housing stock in over 100 years? It seems to me that a new-world city like Vancouver that has grown tremendously over that period wouldn't be directly comparable.
Yes, increasing population generally leads to increasing land prices, so I think that's a good question. There are other things that drive land values up, however, such as just generally increased productivity due to technology and any other factor (because a more productive population earns more and can thus afford to pay more in rent to their landlords). For a full assessment I would like to see other Austrian citi…
Vienna is the most dull and calcified city I've ever lived in, and it's not a growing city. It's not super useful to compare to cities that are thriving.
Vienna is the most dull and calcified city I've ever lived in, and it's not a growing city. It's not super useful to compare to cities that are thriving.
Vienna is the most livable city 10 times in a row now!
From the article: > As both the Vienna model and Henry George[1] would suggest, the problem is forever and always the cost of land. Burdensome land costs, and the rentiers who gain massive wealth by passive land speculation, are the real enemies — not developers, not our homeowners, not our public officials. [1] https://thetyee.ca/Solutions/2018/06/04/Tax-To-Solve-Housing... (linked in the article) EDIT: From the loo…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, increasing population generally leads to increasing land prices, so I think that's a good question. There are other things that drive land values up, however, such as just generally increased productivity due to technology and any other factor (because a more productive population earns more and can thus afford to pay more in rent to their landlords). For a full assessment I would like to see other Austrian citi…
Vienna is a bit out of the ordinary in that regard because it has been a stronghold of leftist government. The 2nd and 3rd biggest cities in Austria are Graz and Linz which don't have that kind of left-leaning policy. You can rent flats there for rates similar to Vienna public housing. But those are much smaller cities. Vienna is more comparable to Munich for instance where rents are much higher and which is a city t…
The article states that Vienna's population in 1914 (at the beginning of WW1) was 2 million, vs 1.9 million today. I'm no housing policy expert, but isn't it possible that Vienna's rents are stable and low in part because they haven't had to increase their housing stock in over 100 years? It seems to me that a new-world city like Vancouver that has grown tremendously over that period wouldn't be directly comparable.
You can't just take those two data points and assume that they are connected by a straight line. Vienna was down to about 1.5 million around 1990 and has been growing since. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna#Demographics
> Vienna's rents are stable and low
For the record, they are neither. There has been crazy, and accelerating, growth in rental costs over the last ten years.
The article states that Vienna's population in 1914 (at the beginning of WW1) was 2 million, vs 1.9 million today. I'm no housing policy expert, but isn't it possible that Vienna's rents are stable and low in part because they haven't had to increase their housing stock in over 100 years? It seems to me that a new-world city like Vancouver that has grown tremendously over that period wouldn't be directly comparable.
So a hundred years ago the city imposed crazy taxes on land owners and then bought the land for themselves. Then the city built a lot of housing on the now city-owned land via non-profit construction. The article doesn’t make a strong attempt to explain how their housing affordability is “solved” though. How easy it to find a new apartment to rent? How much does it cost? What do you get for that price? How does this…
Objectively, Vienna's housing price index is up 75% in real terms since 1990. While that's not the ideal 0%, it is much better than San Francisco where prices have gone up by 400% since 1990.
Low prices don’t mean much if there is no market availability. Many cities that are heavily rent controlled have horror stories of year long waits to get a unit. Or, far worse, black markets where controlled units exchange hands privately. The other responder to my comment suggests this is not the case in Vienna, nice!
The laws of supply and demand can not be defeated. Vienna is a desirable city, so there should be demand. If the city has found a way to produce sufficient supply that’s interesting. Most major cities, including SF, have completely failed to produce sufficient supply.