Quote from: RE on Nov 13, 2025, 10:48 AM

Quote from: K-Dog on Nov 13, 2025, 06:28 AMAdvocating housing requires no explanation.

It should be self-evident that a society that provides affordable housing for everyone would be safer and way more pleasant for everyone to live in.

Didn't the Russians try that out during the Stalin era and...."safer" might have worked out...and by pleasant did you perhaps mean....meager? Small? Cold?

Quote from: REThe biggest obstacle in changing this model is not Mickey Ds workers, but Banks and REITs which would see a devaluation of RE as a capital asset.

Not just them. You think k-Dog would be thrilled to see a major capital asset of his suddenly be worth a bunch less? Or me? We EARNED the value of these assets, loved how they appreciated, watching it all go up in smoke might be more than a little disconcerting.

Quote from: REMaintaining a shortage of affordable housing  keeps the property values up, thus all the obstacles to building it.
RE

Zoning and building laws that discourage/slow down new home building does the same. Great article recently on housing making a good argument that as suburbanites build out suburbia, and like it, they don't want just MORE folks building shit around them, so they pass local construction and zoning requirements that push new home builders further down the road because they can make more money in a less stringent regulatory environment. Add that on top of private equity making homes rentals (we've got one of those in our neighborhood, the place was built this spring, sold to a company, rented out to a nice couple) and it all adds up to faux shortage, or semi-induced, rather than malevolent behavior as opposed to just the market doing what the market does. And me and K-Dog sure like what the market does when it comes to our major physical assets!