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David Byrne: If the 1% stifles New York's creative talent, I'm out of here

theguardian.com

1–10 of 91 posts

Re: David Byrne: If the 1% stifles New York's creative talent, I'm out of here

#5
post #3

What's he want, more rent control? To put "the 1%" 'up against a wall'? What is this article other than a whiny complaint, pandering to the envious masses?

Rent control is Who do you expect to do for service workers? Honestly. Do you expect those people to live in squalid conditions 20 to a room like we did 100 years ago?

Are you aware that that rents even within a 2hr commute distance do not decline enough to be affordable (except in a declining number of bad neighborhoods)? You can live on the Metro North/Amtrak routes as far up as Poughkeepsie and still pay $1200-$1600/mo for a studio/1br. Commuting is also expensive on its own with monthly passes often costing ~$400/mo. Plus having to have a car and car insurance in those areas on top of that.

Where do want to put people who do low-wage jobs that can't be automated? What's your plan?

Re: David Byrne: If the 1% stifles New York's creative talent, I'm out of here

#6
Towards the end of the article, Mr. Bryne touches on a topic that is at the heart of a city devoid of culture --- people who buy large swaths of property and then do not live here. We don't need rent control, but we do need to build affordable housing instead of luxury condo after luxury condo for people to use a few weeks out of the year. The least expensive average rental price for a studio is $1481/month. Landlords require you to earn 40x the monthly rent. That's $60K a year. That's a nice living in most places in the US. In NYC, it's just scraping by. http://www.mns.com/manhattan_rental_market_report

Re: David Byrne: If the 1% stifles New York's creative talent, I'm out of here

#7
I have a book of jokes from the 1970's. One of the jokes is "if it weren't for the muggings, there would be no human contact in New York." I remember reading it recently and finding it so anachronistic. The idea of getting mugged in Manhattan or Queens or Brooklyn seems so alien to me today (though I remember as a visitor in the early 1990's the same areas seemed quite post-apocalyptic).

My point is... take off the rose colored glasses.

Re: David Byrne: If the 1% stifles New York's creative talent, I'm out of here

#8
post #3

What's he want, more rent control? To put "the 1%" 'up against a wall'? What is this article other than a whiny complaint, pandering to the envious masses?

Rent control is Who do you expect to do for service workers? Honestly. Do you expect those people to live in squalid conditions 20 to a room like we did 100 years ago? Are you aware that that rents even within a 2hr commute distance do not decline enough to be affordable (except in a declining number of bad neighborhoods)? You can live on the Metro North/Amtrak routes as far up as Poughkeepsie and still pay $1200-$16…

This is exactly what Toronto is trying to do by subsidizing housing in metropolitan area.

People maybe inclined to argue against subsidizing more expensive housing in downtown areas, but the cost of commuting from lower income outer areas actually increases pollution, and traffic costs. It also breaks the poverty cycle by preventing geographic and possibly cultural segregation of the lower income families.

Re: David Byrne: If the 1% stifles New York's creative talent, I'm out of here

#9
post #3

What's he want, more rent control? To put "the 1%" 'up against a wall'? What is this article other than a whiny complaint, pandering to the envious masses?

> What's he want, more rent control?

That's one option.

> To put "the 1%" 'up against a wall'?

That kind of hyperbole is unwarranted given the very reasonable tone of the article.

> What is this article other than a whiny complaint, pandering to the envious masses?

I'd call it an astute observation by a creative, intelligent person about the city in which lives.

Re: David Byrne: If the 1% stifles New York's creative talent, I'm out of here

#10
post #3

What's he want, more rent control? To put "the 1%" 'up against a wall'? What is this article other than a whiny complaint, pandering to the envious masses?

I think he wants the 1% to leave because they're not artists but their presence drives up prices. There's only space for one of them in that town...

Kind of like no one can afford to live in SV unless they're in tech and/or are rich.

Price out the producing class, production leaves the area.

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