With so few opportunities nationally – suburb-ification destroyed almost every other American City, as in, there are no real cities left (see: Donut Shaped Development), aside from NYC and SF, and check those prices – NY will always have high rent. You said so yourself in the post, econ prof: A bazillion people want to move there, so even if they build (temporarily) 'affordable housing' the demand will drive up those prices right back to normal, since there's nowhere else to go. It's like the US's East Coast Bathtub drain, or gravity attractor, or some other metaphor. They would have to restrict immigration to NYC severely to control the costs.
You know what killed much much urban housing, and about which we're almost officially prohibited from talking: cars. (I know, I'm an unbeliever). To build highways from the suburbs into the cities they had to destroy much family housing, and to build parking lots in these cities, for these cars, they had to do much the same city-center housing. In aerial photographs, American cities look like they've been flooded (H20) because of the parking lots. There's nowhere for people to live in most American "cities." (Again: donuts (which >>>necessitate<<< cars)). Artists need cities, not suburbs. Read the lyrics to Rush's 1982 song "Subdivisions" sometime.
When NY activists finally defeated Robert Moses, after much destruction, Penn Station, he came out here to Portland and did the same. (Don't worry: highways typically only go through "black" (poor) neighborhoods). And wealthy suburbanites campaign and vote for highways into these cities (so they can, ya know, get there). We're like the germanic barbarians in the decline of Rome: we ride our horses (cars) into the cities and take the loot (salaries) back out to our camps in the 'burbs (all while complaining about the cities decline).
I'd also suggest, as I have in the past, you take a look at a graph of the US historic CPI. You'll see something with respect to prices that I think you could make a blog post about. (maybe even just post the graph for your acolytes to comment upon – your blog, tho).
One more note: Ned Flanders would shoot you if he thought you were going to increase the supply of housing anywhere. This is because Ned has a mortgage, and if demand didn't far outstrip supply, his house would lose value, and he'd be upside down on his mortgage. This is basically the middle class nest egg. You cannot break it. They will kill you first.
With so few opportunities nationally – suburb-ification destroyed almost every other American City, as in, there are no real cities left (see: Donut Shaped Development), aside from NYC and SF, and check those prices – NY will always have high rent. You said so yourself in the post, econ prof: A bazillion people want to move there, so even if they build (temporarily) 'affordable housing' the demand will drive up those prices right back to normal, since there's nowhere else to go. It's like the US's East Coast Bathtub drain, or gravity attractor, or some other metaphor. They would have to restrict immigration to NYC severely to control the costs.
You know what killed much much urban housing, and about which we're almost officially prohibited from talking: cars. (I know, I'm an unbeliever). To build highways from the suburbs into the cities they had to destroy much family housing, and to build parking lots in these cities, for these cars, they had to do much the same city-center housing. In aerial photographs, American cities look like they've been flooded (H20) because of the parking lots. There's nowhere for people to live in most American "cities." (Again: donuts (which >>>necessitate<<< cars)). Artists need cities, not suburbs. Read the lyrics to Rush's 1982 song "Subdivisions" sometime.
When NY activists finally defeated Robert Moses, after much destruction, Penn Station, he came out here to Portland and did the same. (Don't worry: highways typically only go through "black" (poor) neighborhoods). And wealthy suburbanites campaign and vote for highways into these cities (so they can, ya know, get there). We're like the germanic barbarians in the decline of Rome: we ride our horses (cars) into the cities and take the loot (salaries) back out to our camps in the 'burbs (all while complaining about the cities decline).
I'd also suggest, as I have in the past, you take a look at a graph of the US historic CPI. You'll see something with respect to prices that I think you could make a blog post about. (maybe even just post the graph for your acolytes to comment upon – your blog, tho).
One more note: Ned Flanders would shoot you if he thought you were going to increase the supply of housing anywhere. This is because Ned has a mortgage, and if demand didn't far outstrip supply, his house would lose value, and he'd be upside down on his mortgage. This is basically the middle class nest egg. You cannot break it. They will kill you first.