The housing crisis in NYC and several other cities continues unabated. We have a strange and unsettling mix of things happening that are causing and perpetuating it:
- Misguided community boards and housing preservation committees (and some NIMBYs - we have so many neighborhoods with lots of one and two story housing. Many of those should be replaced with tall apartment buildings.)
- Outdated zoning regulations
- An unwillingness to consider radical steps to fix these problems
There are a couple of ways to alleviate this:
- Build higher. A lot higher.
- Massively increase supply.
Put in place a regulation that says all new buildings must be X stories high (20,40,60, whatever.) Along with that, include a regulation that force said buildings to fit in with the neighborhood look. UWS and the West Village here in NYC have great examples of extremely tall buildings that are not Jetson's-style eyesores.
Also put in place a regulation that says existing building that can be built higher (while keeping the existing external facade) should be. Where this isn't possible, knock it down and replace it with a building that keeps the old facade.
Change the zoning restrictions and regulations to allow the above, and supply will go up, prices will (eventually) come down, and the neighborhood looks will remain similar. Everyone gets some of what they want, and the place stays diverse, vibrant, and does not force local workers to deal with punishing commutes just so they can do their jobs.
The above applies just as much to NYC or any other large city that is holding back housing development. As per the UN:
"In 1950, one-third of the world’s people lived in cities. Just 50 years later, this proportion has risen to one-half and will continue to grow to two-thirds, or 6 billion people, by 2050. Cities are now home to half of humankind."
Some other issues:
- many luxury apartments are built, rented/sold, and left empty. We should consider a special tax on these to help fund development.
- property tax reassessments can lead to higher rents. We should consider simply suspending these altogether until housing supply catches up to demand; people getting chased out of their apartment for no other reason than "the land got more valuable" should be considered completely unacceptable.
- there still may be an unwillingness to explore ways of building housing more cheaply in the first place so that running a building on lower rents becomes economical.
- we're still too slow to develop the subway system. It is the best in the world, yes, but it still needs serious expansion. Issues of MTA mismanagement and complaints about disruptiveness will need to be dealt with.
Rent stabilization and control are not the answers; they are bandaids on an extremity that has been blown off. If 5-10% of apartments were empty, we wouldn't need them, anyway. Here's a policy idea: a vacancy target. "5% of apartments empty with no involuntary doubling up" sounds like a great start.
