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GeorgeWBush2016 t1_je25pih wrote

We live in a capitalist country and our housing is reflective of that. Without signifficant systemic change you can really only change things along the margins.

I'm pro development but if NYC is still under building any new units will quickly get absorbed no matter how much you build.

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objectimpermanence t1_je2bmzy wrote

This is a great reminder that capitalism is not the same thing as a free-market system.

We live in a capitalist country, but hardly any part of our economy operates in a free market. The housing market in particular is heavily distorted by regulation, for better or worse.

We are in a problem of our own making. High housing prices are a symptom of poor policymaking.

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No-Practice-8038 t1_je2llzx wrote

Um… it’s distorted alright…..by builders and Wall Street buying up those sweet sweet politicians.

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objectimpermanence t1_je2xoor wrote

A few years ago, it was estimated that 40% of the buildings that exist in Manhattan would be illegal to build under current zoning rules.

That is the kind of market distortion that contributes most significantly to the housing crunch.

The biggest opponents of zoning reform in NJ & NY are left-wing activists, not developers and Wall Street.

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AccountantOfFraud t1_je5gv5f wrote

>The biggest opponents of zoning reform in NJ & NY are left-wing activists

Don't think this is true at all. I've seen a lot more "Left-wing" activists calling for zoning reform such as removing parking requirements, increase in height, etc.

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ceeyell t1_je2f1un wrote

NYC has created over 1 million jobs in the past decade. They've built only 400,000 housing units in that time. Less than 1 housing unit for every 5 jobs created. This is a regional crisis, and JC can only do so much to keep up.

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bodhipooh t1_je34jg7 wrote

>NYC has created over 1 million jobs in the past decade. They've built only 400,000 housing units in that time. Less than 1 housing unit for every 5 jobs created.

Your math aint mathing... 1 million jobs, 400K housing units means 1 housing unit for every 2.5 jobs created. So, half as bad as you posited. And, considering that the average NYC household consists of 2.63 people (source), your stats are not as damning as you seem to believe. There is no question that NYC is not building enough housing, but one has to also dive into this a bit more carefully to understand how that is the case considering that the numbers being cited don't make that argument persuasively. What is happening is that the household size figure is distorted by some larger families and households in lower economic rungs, as well as by ethnic groups and such. CUNY publishes a very interesting breakdown and analysis of housing stats in NYC. In any case, most of the new construction being built is targeted at groups that often live alone, or with another person (couples with no kids) and so the 400K units being mentioned are probably housing a number closer to something like 800K people, leaving the rest to be absorbed by neighboring towns.

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