05-27-2020, 09:02 AM
(05-26-2020, 08:56 PM)plam Wrote:(05-26-2020, 05:19 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: So why is housing here so valuable, is it...perhaps...artificial scarcity, both of housing downtown (we have huge swaths of legislated single family housing), not to mention the legislated scarcity of walkable, transit friendly neighbourhoods in the rest of the city.
Yes, maybe we could make more affordable housing by buying suburban sprawl housing, but that's not necessarily a good (because the last thing recipients of affordable housing need to be forced to buy is a car), or equitable policy (why should only the wealthy get to enjoy a car free lifestyle).
I've been thinking about this. Housing has been getting expensive basically in almost all English-speaking countries. Less so in Japan and Germany. But definitely so in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and certain parts of the US. I'm sure it's partly supply. Is it just supply? I don't know.
Availability of land, due to restrictive zoning policies, is generally recognized as the single biggest factor.
We can't do without zoning altogether but what we have now really constrains the construction of new housing, and thus drives up the prices.