In cities all across America, an infiltration of wealthy investors, developers, and bankers is driving poor and middle-class families out of their own towns.
If "socialism" is gathering together to accomplish common goals, then the wealthy elite practice "socialism" in associations, roundtables, Davos meetings, trade groups, and closed meetings at clubs, working to control more wealth, power, and political influence. And when they pursue political control of government, isn't it "socialism" to grant a select group more ability to accumulate wealth through government policies, laws, and programs? Or is it only "socialism" when gains are distributed to the poor, disadvantaged, or unconnected? SD Auburn CA
Thanks so much for writing this article. As a community-based farmer in Austin, Texas for nearly 20 years, it has been devastating to watch my friends, customers and neighbors pushed out of areas where their families have lived for generations. As a sixth generation Texan, I was alarmed when an out-of-state developer decided he would replace the historic property (that we had rented and farmed for 10 years) with a densely packed high-end RV park. When we suggested that he instead create an agrihood (farm-centered community) of tiny homes, we rallied support with our neighbors, elected officials and media for this new concept in order to protect green space and the historic Bergstrom farmstead. This development, crafted with the help of TBG Partners, preserved four acres of food/flower production as well as made room for a large community garden, pocket gardens, and edible landscaping. It has been a long, difficult process, but our farm is proof that it can be done. Don't give up!
I don't know about the USA but here in France the Govt. is cutting down on people who own more than one home, some of which are only used by AirBNB renters.
Talk about a "spot on" editorial! Having lived in Florida for almost fifty years, you have summarized this issue, which has overtaken normalcy with an epidemic of overgrowth! Small towns are demolishing the work of Mother Nature to an exasperating extent. Talk about heavy traffic, lines at stores, crowded malls, restaurants, hospitals, and more! Sadly, methinks we have lived in the best of times--and I wish it weren't so!
It’s sad that many Americans cling to the view that the private market will take care of all housing needs despite much evidence to the contrary.
In his 2017 book "How to Kill a City," Peter Moskowitz points out: "In nearly every other industrialized nation besides the United States, there is near-consensus that purely private land markets will not meet the needs of the poor, and so measures have been taken to ensure that at least some land remains off the market or subject to regulations that make it affordable."
Moskowitz also reports: "Though the governments of Sweden, Hong Kong and Germany are by no means anticapitalist, they have accepted a truth that few in the United States are willing to grapple with: unregulated capitalism cannot provide a complete solution to the housing question."
Here in Columbus, Ohio, even the city's one newspaper (Gannett-owned) recognized that private markets alone won’t provide sufficient housing. The Columbus Dispatch said in a 2018 editorial: “Developers will always cater to customers seeking higher-end accommodations in apartments, condos and single-family homes. Where they need an extra push is in providing new or renovated housing stock for low-income and even homeless residents.”
Unfortunately, as shown in Ohio State University emeritus professor Kevin Cox’s 2021 book “Boomtown Columbus: Ohio’s Sunbelt City and How Developers Got Their Way,” the Columbus city government has often failed to provide sufficient push in its extreme deference to developers on this and other issues. As for why that is, Cox also says "there is a pattern in Columbus of developers smoothing the way through campaign contributions."
It’s part of why Columbus has an affordable-housing crisis but keeps reelecting the same city officials who caused it and other major problems.
Ditto, my hometown of Saratoga Springs, NY. Although it had been a summer haven for the rich one month out of the year since the 1800's (August and the Thoroughbred horse racing), the other eleven months it was just small town USA. Twenty or so years ago, when the New York Racing Association decided to extend the race meet from mid-July to Labor Day, well, it just became the place everyone from downstate just had to have a piece of. Then the developers came to "improve" the place. Lots of sell out on the part of the elected officials with the big $$ being passed around. Landmarks of the city being torn down to be replaced with atrociously expensive monstrosities of one type or another. An Orvis store. An Overland store (very swanky only in 18 very select places in US). Vomit. Regular people can no longer afford their taxes, etc.
There's a movement in Milwaukee to shut down a homeless shelter because the neighborhood doesn't like the people it attracts. But the homeless don't have the money to take the bus or taxi to the homeless shelters miles away.
Without the ability to BUY and own one’s’ home there is no community incentive. I have written several times about the issue of corporate buying up whole areas to then rent out property at god- awful over priced rent. People never then feel completely part of the neighborhood. People come and go, sometimes with devastating results for owners. Homeowner associations end up with no say in the adhering to covenants meant to keep property value up.
Value goes down except for the corporate thieves who take all to the stock market. Why do we always end up with surprise on our faces about all these issues? We talk and talk and suffer! Quit allowing some to own more than what they need.., tax a second home to death!
We are going through this exact issue in LakeRidge ,Va. Pretty soon what was a special neighborhood is becoming a parking lot of renters... many who think nothing of and are not told that certain maintenance issues have to be kept up.
What owners are starting to organize in our area is that we will “sue” the owners who rent out property and leave the crud to the neighbors who own and stay. Renters are not our enemy. They are our neighbors. Owners who are absent in any way of being responsible for the upkeep of property and its value are the enemy. We shall keep our property value up by blaming it on those responsible for its decline.
God damn! One more issue to have to claim in order to be sane,
But that would be (spoken in shuddering tones) "socialism." The two pillars of so-called socialism are government control and redistribution of wealth. Well, hello, government employees. I finished my career as a schoolteacher--I was well aware from whence the money came and felt no heartburn. I think it is about time for a reprinting of C. Wright Mills's THE POWER ELITE, arising from what was already obvious in the 1950's.
IMHO, there is nothing wrong with gentrification, which, by the way, can be viewed as taking modest housing and giving them a total body lift, or taking run down buildings and making them more livable and eye appealing. However, that being said, I fully understand the sad problem of unaffordable housing. Certainly the increasing of minimum wages should have an eventual positive impact. More
municipalities must join in providing [ not ‘ project- like] housing on a sliding scale basis: housing which is durable, low maintenance and well designed. Furthermore, why not follow the Habitat the Humanity blue print and have house- raising events? There are also government owed properties( city, state, federal) which are abandoned or simply in disuse. Remodeling/ renovating these into decent apartments is a no brainer. Yes, it costs money, but what are the alternatives?
This should have been addressed 40 years ago,we seen it coming,along with climate change ,over population ,along with the economic inequalities,no one to blame but our greedy selfish selves! I’m one of those people who screamed bloody murder back in the 60s protesting against the war,racism,sexism I genuinely thought I was a working class hero! My youth and idealism was a reflection of my naïveté! Standing up for the things I believed in was a cop out ,because once I had to provide for a woman and child along with the brutal reality of my father’s cancer my mother’s cancer and 2 grand parents in the hospital ,my bravado was gone ! I was faced with the hard reality of I must take responsibility for my being a part of the society that was not going to wait for me to change it’s make up! Being a working tradesman was the only thing I knew,the idealism was put on hold while I became another part of the existence that I did not wish to be part of,or to accept! Not being wealthy was the death of my hopes to help change the system that I was born into.Over the years I did what I could to make any difference I could,helped folks to form Unions,be a good boss when I had the chance,teach kids how to be good people and help others! Now pushing 70 I still have a nagging sense of responsibility to help fix this screwed up country, and I’m trying to make amends for not being able to do it when I should have found a way when it was my turn at bat ! Know what ? The games still being played, and I’m on deck! Never say never! Peace to everyone!
We have kissed Democracy goodbye a long time ago. Unchecked campaign financing buys all of our representatives in government. By the people, for the people, of the people, I believed that so many years ago. Joan Ragan
It amazes me that teachers, the people who willingly sign up for teaching the next generations of Americans, are supposed to settle for district provided affordable housing. Five years of college, student loans, and continuing educational requirements while teaching are all expensive and time consuming. Just pay teachers a professional wage and more people will take up teaching. As it is now, hardly any college students want to become teachers. Is it any wonder? Sign me off as a teacher who taught 30 years.
What a beautiful snow and l saw 2 pairs of cardinals at the bird feeder! My Letter to the Editor is on the news stand in this week's Hinton News of 1/17/24. I doubt all of those trucks with Texas plates will be able to get to work on the MVPipeline. I doubt many people will see my letter.. I neglected to put Utilities trunk line and it reads 'trunkline for development of remote estates" use for when the ban is put on Hydraulic Fracturing.
If we don't reign in the GREED of the wealthy, we will all be surfs in a Feudal System. We must have the courage to fight the GREED, and the first thing is to get rid of the paid off enablers in our Congress, President and Supreme Court. And the good news is we don't have to sacrifice our lives and fortunes. All we have to do is insist on voting for representatives who support our values. We all have to do this together!
Where are the representatives who support our values? To be able to run for office a candidate is required to raise a certain amount of pecuniary support (number of dollars), correct?
good and timely observation. In my work on sustainability and by that I mean figuring out what humans need to do so that human and other life has the posibility of thriving into the indefinite future, I have had to address the issue of affordable housing. Whether or not a community has adequate housing for those who live and work there is a system level (ie governance ) issue). People and their elected leaders have to decide the issue is importanta and do something about it. In practice, it does not work to subsidize developers or builders. It also does not tend to work to subsidize those who need housing. What can work is community land trusts to manage the process. People needing housing get into it at less than so called market rates, but they can't just cut and run when the property appreciates. Equity is shared but it is based only on what the person has put into it. Thereby, the town maintains their stock of affordabler housing. Jon R Schulz
If "socialism" is gathering together to accomplish common goals, then the wealthy elite practice "socialism" in associations, roundtables, Davos meetings, trade groups, and closed meetings at clubs, working to control more wealth, power, and political influence. And when they pursue political control of government, isn't it "socialism" to grant a select group more ability to accumulate wealth through government policies, laws, and programs? Or is it only "socialism" when gains are distributed to the poor, disadvantaged, or unconnected? SD Auburn CA
I think our economy has morphed into corporate socialism with government for, of and by the incorporated
The wealthy certainly do like to make things easier for themselves, and not so much for the rest of us, or the workers that service the wealthy.
Totally!
Thanks so much for writing this article. As a community-based farmer in Austin, Texas for nearly 20 years, it has been devastating to watch my friends, customers and neighbors pushed out of areas where their families have lived for generations. As a sixth generation Texan, I was alarmed when an out-of-state developer decided he would replace the historic property (that we had rented and farmed for 10 years) with a densely packed high-end RV park. When we suggested that he instead create an agrihood (farm-centered community) of tiny homes, we rallied support with our neighbors, elected officials and media for this new concept in order to protect green space and the historic Bergstrom farmstead. This development, crafted with the help of TBG Partners, preserved four acres of food/flower production as well as made room for a large community garden, pocket gardens, and edible landscaping. It has been a long, difficult process, but our farm is proof that it can be done. Don't give up!
I don't know about the USA but here in France the Govt. is cutting down on people who own more than one home, some of which are only used by AirBNB renters.
Talk about a "spot on" editorial! Having lived in Florida for almost fifty years, you have summarized this issue, which has overtaken normalcy with an epidemic of overgrowth! Small towns are demolishing the work of Mother Nature to an exasperating extent. Talk about heavy traffic, lines at stores, crowded malls, restaurants, hospitals, and more! Sadly, methinks we have lived in the best of times--and I wish it weren't so!
It’s sad that many Americans cling to the view that the private market will take care of all housing needs despite much evidence to the contrary.
In his 2017 book "How to Kill a City," Peter Moskowitz points out: "In nearly every other industrialized nation besides the United States, there is near-consensus that purely private land markets will not meet the needs of the poor, and so measures have been taken to ensure that at least some land remains off the market or subject to regulations that make it affordable."
Moskowitz also reports: "Though the governments of Sweden, Hong Kong and Germany are by no means anticapitalist, they have accepted a truth that few in the United States are willing to grapple with: unregulated capitalism cannot provide a complete solution to the housing question."
Here in Columbus, Ohio, even the city's one newspaper (Gannett-owned) recognized that private markets alone won’t provide sufficient housing. The Columbus Dispatch said in a 2018 editorial: “Developers will always cater to customers seeking higher-end accommodations in apartments, condos and single-family homes. Where they need an extra push is in providing new or renovated housing stock for low-income and even homeless residents.”
Unfortunately, as shown in Ohio State University emeritus professor Kevin Cox’s 2021 book “Boomtown Columbus: Ohio’s Sunbelt City and How Developers Got Their Way,” the Columbus city government has often failed to provide sufficient push in its extreme deference to developers on this and other issues. As for why that is, Cox also says "there is a pattern in Columbus of developers smoothing the way through campaign contributions."
It’s part of why Columbus has an affordable-housing crisis but keeps reelecting the same city officials who caused it and other major problems.
Ditto, my hometown of Saratoga Springs, NY. Although it had been a summer haven for the rich one month out of the year since the 1800's (August and the Thoroughbred horse racing), the other eleven months it was just small town USA. Twenty or so years ago, when the New York Racing Association decided to extend the race meet from mid-July to Labor Day, well, it just became the place everyone from downstate just had to have a piece of. Then the developers came to "improve" the place. Lots of sell out on the part of the elected officials with the big $$ being passed around. Landmarks of the city being torn down to be replaced with atrociously expensive monstrosities of one type or another. An Orvis store. An Overland store (very swanky only in 18 very select places in US). Vomit. Regular people can no longer afford their taxes, etc.
There's a movement in Milwaukee to shut down a homeless shelter because the neighborhood doesn't like the people it attracts. But the homeless don't have the money to take the bus or taxi to the homeless shelters miles away.
Dear America,
Without the ability to BUY and own one’s’ home there is no community incentive. I have written several times about the issue of corporate buying up whole areas to then rent out property at god- awful over priced rent. People never then feel completely part of the neighborhood. People come and go, sometimes with devastating results for owners. Homeowner associations end up with no say in the adhering to covenants meant to keep property value up.
Value goes down except for the corporate thieves who take all to the stock market. Why do we always end up with surprise on our faces about all these issues? We talk and talk and suffer! Quit allowing some to own more than what they need.., tax a second home to death!
We are going through this exact issue in LakeRidge ,Va. Pretty soon what was a special neighborhood is becoming a parking lot of renters... many who think nothing of and are not told that certain maintenance issues have to be kept up.
What owners are starting to organize in our area is that we will “sue” the owners who rent out property and leave the crud to the neighbors who own and stay. Renters are not our enemy. They are our neighbors. Owners who are absent in any way of being responsible for the upkeep of property and its value are the enemy. We shall keep our property value up by blaming it on those responsible for its decline.
God damn! One more issue to have to claim in order to be sane,
We are obviously not being heard.
But that would be (spoken in shuddering tones) "socialism." The two pillars of so-called socialism are government control and redistribution of wealth. Well, hello, government employees. I finished my career as a schoolteacher--I was well aware from whence the money came and felt no heartburn. I think it is about time for a reprinting of C. Wright Mills's THE POWER ELITE, arising from what was already obvious in the 1950's.
IMHO, there is nothing wrong with gentrification, which, by the way, can be viewed as taking modest housing and giving them a total body lift, or taking run down buildings and making them more livable and eye appealing. However, that being said, I fully understand the sad problem of unaffordable housing. Certainly the increasing of minimum wages should have an eventual positive impact. More
municipalities must join in providing [ not ‘ project- like] housing on a sliding scale basis: housing which is durable, low maintenance and well designed. Furthermore, why not follow the Habitat the Humanity blue print and have house- raising events? There are also government owed properties( city, state, federal) which are abandoned or simply in disuse. Remodeling/ renovating these into decent apartments is a no brainer. Yes, it costs money, but what are the alternatives?
This should have been addressed 40 years ago,we seen it coming,along with climate change ,over population ,along with the economic inequalities,no one to blame but our greedy selfish selves! I’m one of those people who screamed bloody murder back in the 60s protesting against the war,racism,sexism I genuinely thought I was a working class hero! My youth and idealism was a reflection of my naïveté! Standing up for the things I believed in was a cop out ,because once I had to provide for a woman and child along with the brutal reality of my father’s cancer my mother’s cancer and 2 grand parents in the hospital ,my bravado was gone ! I was faced with the hard reality of I must take responsibility for my being a part of the society that was not going to wait for me to change it’s make up! Being a working tradesman was the only thing I knew,the idealism was put on hold while I became another part of the existence that I did not wish to be part of,or to accept! Not being wealthy was the death of my hopes to help change the system that I was born into.Over the years I did what I could to make any difference I could,helped folks to form Unions,be a good boss when I had the chance,teach kids how to be good people and help others! Now pushing 70 I still have a nagging sense of responsibility to help fix this screwed up country, and I’m trying to make amends for not being able to do it when I should have found a way when it was my turn at bat ! Know what ? The games still being played, and I’m on deck! Never say never! Peace to everyone!
We have kissed Democracy goodbye a long time ago. Unchecked campaign financing buys all of our representatives in government. By the people, for the people, of the people, I believed that so many years ago. Joan Ragan
Thank you Jim .. keep up the good work👍
Don't be disillusioned ,be an activist for those without an affordable place to live.
It amazes me that teachers, the people who willingly sign up for teaching the next generations of Americans, are supposed to settle for district provided affordable housing. Five years of college, student loans, and continuing educational requirements while teaching are all expensive and time consuming. Just pay teachers a professional wage and more people will take up teaching. As it is now, hardly any college students want to become teachers. Is it any wonder? Sign me off as a teacher who taught 30 years.
What a beautiful snow and l saw 2 pairs of cardinals at the bird feeder! My Letter to the Editor is on the news stand in this week's Hinton News of 1/17/24. I doubt all of those trucks with Texas plates will be able to get to work on the MVPipeline. I doubt many people will see my letter.. I neglected to put Utilities trunk line and it reads 'trunkline for development of remote estates" use for when the ban is put on Hydraulic Fracturing.
If we don't reign in the GREED of the wealthy, we will all be surfs in a Feudal System. We must have the courage to fight the GREED, and the first thing is to get rid of the paid off enablers in our Congress, President and Supreme Court. And the good news is we don't have to sacrifice our lives and fortunes. All we have to do is insist on voting for representatives who support our values. We all have to do this together!
Where are the representatives who support our values? To be able to run for office a candidate is required to raise a certain amount of pecuniary support (number of dollars), correct?
good and timely observation. In my work on sustainability and by that I mean figuring out what humans need to do so that human and other life has the posibility of thriving into the indefinite future, I have had to address the issue of affordable housing. Whether or not a community has adequate housing for those who live and work there is a system level (ie governance ) issue). People and their elected leaders have to decide the issue is importanta and do something about it. In practice, it does not work to subsidize developers or builders. It also does not tend to work to subsidize those who need housing. What can work is community land trusts to manage the process. People needing housing get into it at less than so called market rates, but they can't just cut and run when the property appreciates. Equity is shared but it is based only on what the person has put into it. Thereby, the town maintains their stock of affordabler housing. Jon R Schulz