[castell]

Interesting site!

"Complex problems don't have simple solutions. It could be a series of sticks: a vacancy tax, an increase in tenants' rights through guaranteed leases and binding arbitration over rent increases (as outlined in the Small Business Survival Act). Or it could be carrots: tax breaks to small businesses to help ease the pain of high rents, or streamlined registration and a reduction of regulatory hoops for certain types of retail tenant. [...]"

And some possible solutions to fix this complex problem

[mjevans]

I'd like the first two to apply to apartments, any rent-able property really.

After that is the development stick. Tax property at a minimum based on the surrounding average property tax rates. This will encourage proportional investment in areas and prevent hold-outs who are waiting for some hypothetical from sitting on a community asset forever.

[icebraining]

What if for some reason the property is really worth less than the surrounding properties? Seems like a recipe to have properties that barely pay for themselves, which discourages investing in renovations, etc.