In a message dated 7/15/03 6:19:35 AM Pacific Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> I was recently in San Francisco, and had a conversation with a cab > driver about the cost of housing. In SF they have fairly strict rent > control which keeps housing affordable, and encourages longer term > tenancy. Rents can go down, but can't go up more than a small > percent. I see some potential classist ghettoization, but have we > ever looked at why this would or wouldn't work in the Twin Cities? > > Eric Meininger, Lowry HIll East I'm way late on this, and I think Keith Reitman was dead on target about the logic of rent control, however, I'd like to add a comment. I've lived with rent control in NYC. It doesn't work there. The model has been in operation for something over half a century now, and it's led to misuse, abuse, building abandonment, zero maintainance, and general mayhem. They've tweaked it and tried to kill it and the legacy lives on--and will live on for a long, long time. In buildings that have a rapid turnover, you can (we did) have a midtown 3-br renting for something like $80 a month sitting next to a one room apartment going for $2000 a month and a waiting list to get into it. Why? Because people in the $2000 are hoping that people in the $80/3-br will move or die and they'll work their way up the list for the next chance at getting in there. This is in the "good" buildings, where elevators work, windows have glass in them, halls are swept, and people are standing in line waiting to get in. Some people sell their subleases and you'll find a $85/month apartment advertised, with consideration. "Consideration" is a cash gift of thousands of dollars to the person who holds the actual lease, and who may be the grandchild of the person who signed the lease. If you want a real lesson in opening the city doors to graft, substandard housing, building abandonment, take a look at NYC rent control. There are quite a few studies online--check google or alltheweb.com If you use a comparative cost of living calculator, like the one at http://www.bestplaces.net/html/col1.asp you'll discover that the COL of SanFrancisco is over 300% the COL of Minneapolis, rent control not withstanding. Try the calculator--it's actually fun! It's also very informative. Emilie Quast SE Como TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
