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The elderly are becoming homeless at a rate not seen since the Great Depression

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Re: The elderly are becoming homeless at a rate not seen since the Great Depression

#771

Post by phatfish »

mattnewton wrote: post #654
cogman10 wrote: post #478

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What government policy would allow for a 2k apartment building and not a $500 apartment building? I just don't buy this argument. The reason there's not a $500 apartments being built is because by expanding the residence out just a tiny bit you can charge $2000 for the same space that 2 $500 apartments would occupy. I'm seeing this play out where I live that has practically no zoning laws or regulations (LOTS of buil…

> What government policy would allow for a 2k apartment building and not a $500 apartment building? Basically all of them? All you need is minimum parking + a height limit. Since the ROI of the lot is a function of units *average price, and a height limit + parkinng requirements caps the # of units per lot, the average price has to be higher for it to make sense to an investor. Also it’s worth noting that supply is j…

I read today that there are 7 billion square feet of unsold homes in China. Apparently no government can get housing right. The west has too little due to bad regulation & NIMBYs.

China built too much (due to certain regulations being too lax it seems, and corruption probably).

https://www.reuters.com/world/china/even-chinas-14-bln-popul...

Re: The elderly are becoming homeless at a rate not seen since the Great Depression

#773

Post by PopAlongKid »

lambdasquirrel wrote: post #659
jimt1234 wrote: post #611

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been told since childhood that the main obstacle to inexpensive public transit in the the majority of US is racism - keep those people in their neighborhood . I've never done any sort of research or anything, and even though it's depressing, it sounds plausible.

In the SF Bay Area, I think that crowd basically went to, let’s block any and all development, period. There is a serious NIMBY/xenophobic component up and down the West Coast though. As an example that I can talk about, I once took voice classes from a teacher in Berkeley, and the neighbors made her apply for a business license from the city and limit the hours of operation… not that there were ever more than 3 of u…

> made her apply for a business license from the city and limit the hours of operation

That's not an example of being "spiteful", it's just following the law, as all home-based businesses are required to do in most larger towns.

Re: The elderly are becoming homeless at a rate not seen since the Great Depression

#774

Post by Slava_Propanei »

jimt1234 wrote: post #611
gavin_gee wrote: post #594

Some good commentary in this thread, however one topic thats never raised in the topic of affordable housing is fast cheap public transit. I could never imagine being able to buy a house in London. but the train network makes it possible to live in a more affordable neighbourhood and commute as needed. In the US we seem to think that cities can continue to have affordable housing in the most desireable areas. this is…

I've been told since childhood that the main obstacle to inexpensive public transit in the the majority of US is racism - keep those people in their neighborhood . I've never done any sort of research or anything, and even though it's depressing, it sounds plausible.

[dead]

Re: The elderly are becoming homeless at a rate not seen since the Great Depression

#775

Post by voidwtf »

CWuestefeld wrote: post #287
voidwtf wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This can’t be a real, thought out, response. I’m living in Florida. I will agree with you that rent-seeking and increasingly abusive landlords are a huge problem here. However, the largest drivers of pricing out retirees in my anecdotal observations is uncontrolled healthcare, insurance, and food costs. The electric companies have also increased their rates and been allowed to add insane flat infrastructure recovery…

Not disagreeing with your observations, but I'd like to add property taxes, and most specifically, the portion used to support public schools, to your list. Excluding the past year, this is where I've seen the greatest increases in my expenses. And since it's government creating most of this, it's hard to imagine that there's any relief to be found by looking towards government for a solution.

I think you may have missed that Florida passed a school choice act, and that tons of funds are now flowing into private religious schools. A ridiculous waste of money, especially considering a majority of said schools raised their tuition rates to just absorb the new funding. DeSantis policies at work.

Re: The elderly are becoming homeless at a rate not seen since the Great Depression

#776

Post by digging »

NoMoreNicksLeft wrote: post #768
digging wrote: post #662

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope, you're just old enough to remember the propaganda. Social housing (in the US) has always been underfunded to make it look bad. It was a worst-of-both-worlds compromise which served to undermine confidence in government and promote racism. There is literally no reason a municipal government can't run high quality social housing. That's why it happens, outside of the US.

> has always been underfunded to make it look bad. I Yes, the "secret capitalists hiding in the woodpile" theory of why communism sucks. You, of course, are immune to the other side's propaganda, and your own brain is a perfect simulator of the real world so you've run mental experiments that prove to you irrefutably how awesome it would be. If only other people paid for it for you. > That's why it happens, outside o…

> Yes, the "secret capitalists hiding in the woodpile" theory of why communism sucks.

As I specified in my previous post, I was talking about public housing in the US.

> This is shit throughout all of western civilization. Go check out Ireland, or any place in Europe right now. It's shit everywhere.

The poster child counterpoint is Austria, proving it's possible. Hard to do? Mostly on a political front.

Anyway, I apologize for escalating the tone of the conversation.

Re: The elderly are becoming homeless at a rate not seen since the Great Depression

#777

Post by JTbane »

jklinger410 wrote: post #467
c_crank wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did anyone force all those students to take student loans?

They absolutely did. And once you realize that, you will have reached a new level of emotional and intellectual maturity.

100% agree. Also, to a young adult, student loans are a nigh-irresistible way to get away from your parents and gain independence, while worrying about the costs later.

Re: The elderly are becoming homeless at a rate not seen since the Great Depression

#778

Post by mhuffman »

invalidOrTaken wrote: post #217
escapedmoose wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Among my friends seeking to buy houses, the greater problem is the ability of large companies to buy up whatever is on the market, which they then immediately turn into a rental. It’s nearly impossible to compete with a company who will pay $50k over asking price, in cash, for the house you’re trying to get. Comparatively, immigrants don’t have the purchasing power to compete, so saying they’re the problem is a weird…

>Among my friends seeking to buy houses, the greater problem is the ability of large companies to buy up whatever is on the market, which they then immediately turn into a rental. It’s nearly impossible to compete with a company who will pay $50k over asking price, in cash, for the house you’re trying to get. Comparatively, immigrants don’t have the purchasing power to compete, so saying they’re the problem is a weir…

> Because immigrants can compete down at the level of rents.

On a per house level, undocumented immigrants can often pay more than others because they are willing to live many more people to a house with rents being charged on a per-person basis. If the house is all male workers, homeowners can charge $100 per week per person (now, it used to be $50 and before than it was $25) and can have up to 4 people per bedroom (I've seen up to 8) and often multiple in the living-room. If families, there can often be 3-4 families in a single house, all paying less than they normally would to rent an individual house but much more total than the house would ever rent for otherwise.

Re: The elderly are becoming homeless at a rate not seen since the Great Depression

#779

Post by eadmund »

cogman10 wrote: post #478
spir wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You only perceive corporate landlords as the greater problem because we're not living in the counterfactual reality where there are millions of new apartments that are inexpensive, tiny, safe, quiet, modern, clean, dignified, and well-located. In pretty much every major city in North America, it is illegal or there is too much red tape to build the affordable housing people actually want. Why is it that living in a t…

What government policy would allow for a 2k apartment building and not a $500 apartment building? I just don't buy this argument. The reason there's not a $500 apartments being built is because by expanding the residence out just a tiny bit you can charge $2000 for the same space that 2 $500 apartments would occupy. I'm seeing this play out where I live that has practically no zoning laws or regulations (LOTS of buil…

> What government policy would allow for a 2k apartment building and not a $500 apartment building?

Bans on single room occupancy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_room_occupancy

Requirements for parking spots. Parking spaces are not free to construct or to maintain.

Requirements for windows.

And no, of course I don’t wish to live in a windowless single-room apartment without a kitchen, private bathroom or space for my car. But were I broke, I would rather live in that than pay money I don’t have for a nicer place.

> The reason there's not a $500 apartments being built is because by expanding the residence out just a tiny bit you can charge $2000 for the same space that 2 $500 apartments would occupy.

I understand that the typical pattern is that new construction is luxury, and over time those units wear down and become more and more affordable. Adding new $2,000 units to the market reduces the value of existing units.

Re: The elderly are becoming homeless at a rate not seen since the Great Depression

#780

Post by sillyfluke »

rajman187 wrote: post #717
gavin_gee wrote: post #594

Some good commentary in this thread, however one topic thats never raised in the topic of affordable housing is fast cheap public transit. I could never imagine being able to buy a house in London. but the train network makes it possible to live in a more affordable neighbourhood and commute as needed. In the US we seem to think that cities can continue to have affordable housing in the most desireable areas. this is…

While I agree the public transit in the US is abysmal at best, I'm not sure the UK is a good measure anymore. Rail strikes and engineering work are happening with such frequency that getting around seems to take longer and longer. A 1+ hour commute to just travel 10 miles is pretty absurd. Insane cost overages and years of delays aside, the Elizabeth line has suffered from nearly 10% of all services being canceled in…

Perhaps experiences like yours is why I was downvoted for my London comment. But we are talking relative to the US here, and I do believe there is no comparison. I also found the bus network rather extensive and frequent in the suburban areas, and not unpleasant compared to other countries.

Senior citizens are also more flexible with their travel times and often have the luxury of avoiding rush hour

Many western economic powerhouses of old seem to be facing the same infrastructure problems, whereas autocratic countries that are building everything from scratch appear to have their shit together by comparison. It's not good PR unfortunately.

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