The New York Post today has a story on what it described as “new hipsters fight[ing] old
hipsters in Brooklyn.” The gist of it is that a wave of relatively wealthy
gentrifiers moved into the neighborhood of Bushwick a decade ago and now a
second wave of even wealthier residents is flocking to the hip neighborhood,
driving up housing prices.
The first wave is not happy with the rising rents
associated with the second wave, and is demanding “affordable housing”
concessions from developers who dare build middle-upper income rental units.
This response is sadly typical. Rising real estate prices are a natural
consequence of urban redevelopment. But the real estate market in New York City
is anything but natural and a large share of the sky-high housing prices can be
attributed to land-use controls such as zoning and rent stabilization laws.
Unfortunately, those who advocate for “affordable
housing” (note: this is not housing affordability) often make the
problem worse by supporting policies that actually further reduce the stock of
available housing — artificial supply restrictions that drive up prices……New York’s housing affordability problem will almost certainly get worse. And New Yorkers themselves deserve most of the blame.......To Read More….
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