| > You don't need to go as far as to demand detailed central plans, as if the parent poster is a Soviet tankie. All you have to do is get rid of the already-extant central planning regime that the US has, which is specifically designed to keep land expensive. I'm not advocating public execution of billionaires here. I'm talking about getting rid of companies like RealPage ( https://www.propublica.org/article/yieldstar-rent-increase-r... ) and other companies that either collude information asymmetry or otherwise buy up the market and wait to artificially drive prices higher.. I'm talking about restrictions of companies buying residential dwellings (not corporate dwellings, but im sure that could be gamed). I'm talking about rent control. I'm aware that's a top-down command approach. Maybe use it as a cap per sqft? I'm talking about relaxing or eliminating zoning restrictions. Much of them were put in place as a racist plan during the 40's-60's. I'm talking about having banks *require* including on a mortgage application if you've paid rent for X years at Y rate, that you qualify for a mortgage of the similar terms. I'm talking about having the mortgage rate be different (LOW) for your primary residence. I'm talking about converting apartment complexes into a benefit corps run by the people who live there. Again, having people live in dwellings where they reasonably know that they are safe is inherently a great thing, and builds a real community. Problems that arise can be handled by the people who live there, like if a recession hits and 1/10 lose their jobs. (Yes, this is more radical.) Every one of these changes would enable more people to have their own place to live, and live better how they want to live. Does it solve every problem? Of course not. It's steps to do this. And what I see here in my area, we're going the very wrong way. More and more are going homeless or vanlife every week. And that piece of stability disappears. And it's hard to reestablish once you're in that direction. It's not just an individual issue - at a certain number, it turns into a societal issue that needs a society-wide solution. |