iceflame1211 t1_j5adqjs wrote on January 21, 2023 at 3:42 PM

Affordable housing developments are the answer, or at least a large part of it IMHO. Maine actually passed a state credit recently to help sprun further development of these projects. They're typically beautiful new buildings or rehabbed old historical ones that are located centrally and required to be affordable for 15-30 years+. They often house dozens of families in a small footprint.

Unfortunately, often nobody wants them in their neighborhoods.

DidDunMegasploded t1_j5c9nox wrote on January 21, 2023 at 11:22 PM

If we can oust NIMBYs, it would certainly help a lot. But that's like trying to oust anti-vaxxers. Impossible to do. They will always exist.

The irony is real. Sad, but real. Build more affordable housing--that is not owned by greedy dickshits who gouge the prices so it's no longer affordable, TYVM--and it would help a lot with the housing crisis.

djsteve2014 t1_j5y0m5x wrote on January 26, 2023 at 10:04 AM

The answer isn’t more affordable housing. The answer is to limit short-term rentals, aka AirBnB’s before there’s nothing left for anyone to affordably rent. Yes, even those affordable housing condos are getting converted to AirBnB’s. Everything is being converted to short-term rentals. It blows my mind how folks aren’t seeing the forest for the trees on this issue.

iceflame1211 t1_j5ykjjy wrote on January 26, 2023 at 1:41 PM

I wholeheartedly agree short-term rentals can be an issue, but it's a very nuanced subject. This is the first time I've ever heard anyone say more affordable housing isn't the answer, though. Affordable housing is one of very few topics that politicians on both sides of the aisle generally agree is a good thing, and historically has proven to help house families in need.

Those "affordable housing condos" I assume you mean apartments, but I'm still perplexed by this statement. Affordable housing complexes are required to have a certain set-aside of units remain affordable (opposed to market rate), typically for 15 or 30 years, and often at the end of that period they're "redeveloped" and spun into the same thing again, or sold to non-profits to operate in perpetuity.

Can you tell me the names of any affordable housing projects that have been/are being converted into short term rentals? It's just something I've never witnessed or heard of.