Why Britain doesn’t build • Hacker News Board

Re: Why Britain doesn’t build

#501

Post by khalladay » Wed, Jun 28, 2023, 12:43 PM UTC

brailsafe wrote: post #490

khalladay wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Canadian techie here :) I moved to the US for work super early in my career, and recently moved back to Canada after nearly a decade (mostly just for a change in scenery). I work in games, so I never made the super high FAANG wages I see talked about everywhere on here, but it's true even in games that you'll make significantly more in the US than in Canada. I make more than I need for the lifestyle that makes me hap…

The latter half of your comment is much more important to me personally, even as someone who's usually up for an adventure, but if you don't have a degree my impression is that it's pretty much not feasible to cross the border and get a job, or at least sufficiently annoying that I'd need to want that a whole lot more than I do. Aside from that though, I only tend to like the U.S in small doses; it's an extremely wor…

Fwiw, I don't have a degree (just a diploma from a college in toronto) and it has been a non issue. It mattered slightly when I had less than 3 years of work experience, but after that no one has cared.

We have very different views of the US though. I felt the same as you when my only US experience was in the Bay Area, but after living in Chicago for 5+ years and having visited a bunch of places around the country, I miss a lot about American culture now that I'm not there.

Re: Why Britain doesn’t build

#502

Post by carlosjobim » Wed, Jun 28, 2023, 1:31 PM UTC

carlosjobim wrote: post #424

lucideer wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The state shouldn't need to build houses (in fact it doesn't; it just uses your tax money to pay private companies to build houses). It should just make the building and zoning rules simple enough that it's possible to make money from building houses and selling them, and let people get on with it. This is the modern wisdom in the west - it's the approach taken by many governments since the Reagan era (not just in…

Most men have the capability to build a house themselves and with help of friends. What is needed is the release of land, plain and simple. The landed gentry have enormous amounts of real estate and they want high prices to release any part - this is their retirement plan for them, their children, and children's children. Let workers buy land cheap and you will have a lower base level of housing cost, bringing the co…

It's easy to just down-vote my post and move on. But stop for a moment and think about it: Why is the lifetime output of even a highly skilled professional worth just a tiny fraction of what a land owner in the same community is worth from doing nothing? The land owner can sell a tiny piece of his estate every 20 years and live his whole life without contributing anything. And on the opposite side, those who are not landed will have to work hard their whole life and usually with nothing to show for it.

Go talk to everyday people and ask what their dream is. Except for winning the lottery, the dream of everybody is to buy real estate and live of rent and price increases. Not having a career, not creating a big and successful business. Those are fools errand and a waste of your life, because laws and governance are now all-in on making every aspect of the economy having the purpose of transferring wealth to the landed gentry.

Re: Why Britain doesn’t build

#503

Post by Detrytus » Wed, Jun 28, 2023, 1:48 PM UTC

lotsoweiners wrote: post #462

Detrytus wrote: post #430

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Such problems only exist in third world countries, such as US or UK. My country solves this by issuing a plastic ID card to each citizen. You apply for it at your local town hall, and it is free of charge. You can use that ID for voting, or any other interaction with the government when they need to confirm your identity. Hell, they even issued a smartphone application recently, that can be legally used as ID.

And in the US if you don’t want/need a driver’s license then you just get a state issued ID card. Easy peasy.

Does that card allow you to vote? Is it free to obtain? Do people know that such option exists?

Re: Why Britain doesn’t build

#504

Post by leoedin » Wed, Jun 28, 2023, 1:56 PM UTC

lotsoweiners wrote: post #467

leoedin wrote: post #328

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This pretty much sums it up. I doubt it's some special boomer mentality as much as a "people" mentality. People are fairly selfish and don't want to reduce their quality of life. What's shifted over the last few decades is that people live longer. Boomers basically just got lucky - they didn't have a huge older generation above them, so the cost of social security was fairly low when they were young. They managed to…

You forgot to mention that boomers had high mortgage rates. According to https://themortgagereports.com/61853/30-year-mortgage-rates-... my parents, boomers, would likely have had 16%+ and 12%+ rates when they bought their first homes. Contrast this to myself, a borderline Millennial/Gen X, who bought houses after the 2008 crash and currently have a 3% mortgage. Makes me wonder why Boomers are the always the primary…

The interest rate at the time of buying is actually fairly irrelevant. What matters is the total lifetime cost of housing. Even though interest rates were high, purchase costs were much lower in terms of multiples of income. It's pretty clear that many boomers have benefited from a very low total lifetime cost of housing.

The low interest rates/high house prices is now turning into a double blow - at least here in the UK (and for anyone that needs to move house in the US) - as low interest rates meant low monthly payments, which has inflated house prices further. Now people are having to refinance massive mortgages at higher rates, the cost is becoming even greater.

Ultimately you just have to look at statistics of home ownership rates by age to see that things are getting worse for younger people. https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/economic-research/resbull/2022...

Re: Why Britain doesn’t build

#505

Post by Auracle » Wed, Jun 28, 2023, 5:39 PM UTC

anthonypasq wrote: post #431

Auracle wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How often do people actually go to concerts or events? Why do I need specialized stores if I have the internet? Eating out is expensive and generally not good for you, calorie-wise. Cities are fun, but people fail to realize that rural places are also pretty great. You just need to make your own fun, but you actually have the room (and money) to do so. I can go out in my yard and do archery, target shooting, etc. I l…

classic hackernews shut-in that doesnt understand that people enjoy culture, i go to a concert/show at least once a month and they are the best things i spend my money on.

That's fine and dandy, but most people probably don't approach anywhere near that regularity. I enjoy culture just fine, but I'm a busy father and I also enjoy my hobbies.

All I'm saying is that most people that act like rural areas have "nothing to do" probably don't do all that much regularly anyways - and there are simply different things to do. We live 5 minutes from a state park with great hiking and have two public beaches within 5 minutes as well.

Re: Why Britain doesn’t build

#506

Post by asdff » Wed, Jun 28, 2023, 5:40 PM UTC

renewiltord wrote: post #307

asdff wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you got rid of cookie cutter buildings because they might be fraught then you'd have to condemn most of nyc and most of london. The home era boom these articles all cite came because they were just churning out the same floorplans or more or less the same buildings with the same materials all day. In the US you could even order one of these standardized homes from the sears catalog, have it shipped to you already…

They came from a different time when we didn't care about the lives of construction workers. We have unions now to protect workers' rights and we have regulations and code to protect people living in these buildings. That's why they say regulations are written in blood. People have lost their lives so that we can have the rules and regulations that keep our standard of living so high. We need more regulation, not les…

A lot of regulation has no safety purpose. Stuff like parking minimums requiring an expensive parking structure or space dedicated for surface parking, mandating x amount of units be rented under market rate, overbuilding elevator capacity, insisting on things like balconies, or void space for astroturf that reeks of dog pee. All of these things are sometimes mandated by ordinance or code, increase the costs per unit and limits the size of the potential build per construction loan, and these are costs beard by the renters ultimately.

Re: Why Britain doesn’t build

#507

Post by Auracle » Wed, Jun 28, 2023, 5:42 PM UTC

P_I_Staker wrote: post #434

Auracle wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How often do people actually go to concerts or events? Why do I need specialized stores if I have the internet? Eating out is expensive and generally not good for you, calorie-wise. Cities are fun, but people fail to realize that rural places are also pretty great. You just need to make your own fun, but you actually have the room (and money) to do so. I can go out in my yard and do archery, target shooting, etc. I l…

Some people have little interest in those things. You've also really only listed solitary activities. Sure you can do some of these things "with people", but it's a far cry from more social activities. To answer your first question: a lot. There's people that are very different from you, that really don't do well without these interactions. They expect to go out 1-3 times a week or at least monthly. Small area commun…

That's true, but I'd argue those that go out monthly could easily live an hour or two from the city.

Don't get me wrong - if I were still single I'd probably move to a city, if only for the dating prospects. Once you have a family though and limited free time the pros and cons change a bit.

Re: Why Britain doesn’t build

#508

Post by lukas099 » Wed, Jun 28, 2023, 8:24 PM UTC

nsteel wrote: post #484

lukas099 wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think we should shoot for house prices increasing at exactly the inflation level (after a correction for current high prices of course). To me, this would be good enough to be considered a 'good investment', and wouldn't be unfair to future generations.

The BoE desperately needs more knobs to control inflation, diversifying into house building is actually a great idea.

Do you think central banks should be given jurisdiction over fiscal policy? Historically, they have been limited to monetary policy, no?

Re: Why Britain doesn’t build

#509

Post by frankfrank13 » Wed, Jun 28, 2023, 10:45 PM UTC

spaceman_2020 wrote: post #432

Chyzwar wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Migration to bigger tier one cities is partly to blame. Many young people want to live in NY and rent a shoebox flat for life. They think that they can become Friends protagonists when in fact they become broke and blame government.

At least where I live, the difference in wages between big cities and even tier-2 cities is night and day. And forget wages, sticking around in small cities is often career suicide. As a young person, you can’t be blamed for wanting McKinsey in NYC on your resume instead of Acme Hardware Store in random town, Idaho.

Mck pays the same in all cities in NA :)

Re: Why Britain doesn’t build

#510

Post by brailsafe » Wed, Jun 28, 2023, 10:47 PM UTC

khalladay wrote: post #501

brailsafe wrote: post #490

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The latter half of your comment is much more important to me personally, even as someone who's usually up for an adventure, but if you don't have a degree my impression is that it's pretty much not feasible to cross the border and get a job, or at least sufficiently annoying that I'd need to want that a whole lot more than I do. Aside from that though, I only tend to like the U.S in small doses; it's an extremely wor…

Fwiw, I don't have a degree (just a diploma from a college in toronto) and it has been a non issue. It mattered slightly when I had less than 3 years of work experience, but after that no one has cared. We have very different views of the US though. I felt the same as you when my only US experience was in the Bay Area, but after living in Chicago for 5+ years and having visited a bunch of places around the country, I…

I've visited Chicago once, and hope it's not too long before I visit again. I actually love many bits of the U.S culturally and physically, I meant to say that I just don't know that I'd prefer to live there for an extended period of time.

Regarding the degree, it was less a matter of whether people care, and more about the actual visa. Perhaps a two-year diploma is more workable; I only have a 1 year technical diploma from a Uni, and although I haven't aggressively pursued getting across, it doesn't seem like I'd meet the requirements with it. Would be curious though, because the job market is truly shit here atm.

Just took a short road-trip down through Washington and Oregon, and really enjoyed my time. You're right in that I didn't think much about the difference until I got down to the Bay Area. I do think there is some sort of imbued mega-capitalist eat eat eat buy buy buy nature to many other places though that just sort of vibes me out sometimes, and maybe some airports are an example of this; almost a volume difference.

I noticed it for the first time when passing through the Minneapolis airport of all places. Felt like there was a hundred neon signs flashing at me to eat some burger or get a pedicure while waiting for my flight. Every table at a particular restaurant had an iPad right when they came out. While we have Cabela's and Bass Pro Shops, there's are basically theme parks. That kind of thing; it's not everywhere, in-fact it's probably a rare feeling I get, but it's a level of excess that's hard to feel comfortable around.