I don’t see how the Penn program “forces” anyone out, if anything it is a windfall to those longtime owners who now decide to sell. Without the incentive program and the Alexander School, I don’t think the prices of houses would have increased by up to 6 fold (in some cases) over the past five years. I also think the area would have continued to slide in the other direction as it had been since the late 70’s until the Penn incentive began.
And if you really want to know what taxation is all about, check out what suburbanites pay and what services they don’t get (limits on trash pick up etc.). Many areas also get hit with a school tax on top of their property taxes and income taxes.
Another good thing about raising property values is more equity for loans so that one may reinvest in their property or themselves.
That's fine as far as homeowners are concerned. Yes, property owners can now draw on greater equity for improvements, and this applies to investment-property owners as well. But when landlords use this greater equity to improve their properties, it generally leads to an increase in the going rental costs of neighborhoods. And that's where the impact is hardest and most immediate: among renters.
I know several people who couldn't keep up with the rent increases that have happened over the past six years, and who've had to move further west and south. I'm sure than many of us know people who've been through this as well. In general, I think the Penn plan's helped the area, but let's not ignore this considerable and very real downside.
There are a lot of evils involved with the historic-designation proposal, of course.
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