DirectorBeneficial48 t1_je25gfz wrote on March 28, 2023 at 9:26 PM

Lots of ideas, few of which would pass political muster because of where we live, but we could start with mandatory huge chunks of any new building being low-income with strict rent control. Any lot left undeveloped after x years gets eminent domain'd and turned into public housing (looking at you, 111 1st St.)

mastershake29x t1_je2ab1j wrote on March 28, 2023 at 9:58 PM

This idea doesn't work. But the goal of getting empty lots developed is worthwhile. How do we get there?

One easy way is to base property tax solely on the amount of land owned. So a residential building on a X sized lot pays the same property tax as a X sized parking lot. So there's a financial incentive to do something with your land that's more productive (and to make it more productive quicker).

DirectorBeneficial48 t1_je2bntb wrote on March 28, 2023 at 10:07 PM

They literally do work in huge chunks of the rest of the world.

objectimpermanence t1_je32bgx wrote on March 29, 2023 at 1:23 AM

Nope.

Rent control is nearly universally reviled by economists across the political spectrum. Practically every place that has enacted strict rent control measures also has long waiting lists for housing because price controls exacerbate shortages.

The eminent domain idea doesn’t work because the US constitution (see the 5th and 14th amendments) requires state and local governments to pay just compensation to the owner of the land that is taken. That money has to come from somewhere. Good luck getting people to shoulder another huge property tax increase to pay for that. That would be political suicide for any politician who proposes such a plan.

DirectorBeneficial48 t1_je37gl0 wrote on March 29, 2023 at 2:02 AM

We go through this every time this pops up. You're wrong. You're very wrong. You're incredibly fucking wrong. Stop being so dumb and wrong. 1) Many economists in this country are conservative. They espouse that shit because they are perfectly happy and content with coming up with a conclusion and then putting out bullshit to make it work. 2) Economics as a whole is mostly bullshit espoused by people who just want free cocktails and tell people who will give them what they want to hear. 3) It literally works all over the world, you fucking idiot. Go look at what was posted elsewhere in the replies here about how it works all throughout Europe, in that article's case, Austria.

And yes, people in this country are very fucking stupid and would not want to pay a small tax increase in order to ensure that we could have good public housing (which would in turn ease the financial burden for many more and actually allow people to live in an area where they work and not pay 50%+ of their take-home for rent, which would bring up a new group of middle class people, etc. etc. etc). You're correct in that just about no politician would actually try and make peoples' lives better.

You got to that conclusion the completely wrong way, but you at least got one thing right.