This week a more policy oriented podcast as I’m joined by Adam Ozimek, chiefe economic of the Economic Innovation Group, to take about the housing affordability crisis.
I can confirm what he's saying about Atlanta being an outlier. Atlanta is particularly bad about large corporate investors buying single family houses and turning them into Section 8 rentals. It's the same with the "built to rent" subdivisions.
When I was looking for houses in McDonough, way down the I-75, we'd be driving through those typical acre-lot neighborhoods with well-kept lawns and freshly painted exteriors, turn a corner, and suddenly be in a subdivision where you could stand between the houses and touch both with your hands outstretched. You'd see all the typical signs of rentals, too: trash everywhere, superficial damage on the buildings, dented-in garage doors, junkers parked on the street. I remember riding in the realtor's car through one of them and just saying, "Skip this one, I'm not even interested in looking." I'm not dropping half a million dollars to live in that kind of neighborhood.
So yes, Atlanta is an extreme case, the furor over Blackrock, Vanguard, and the other investment firms is a little overwrought. Most communities aren't suffering from huge Section 8 rental subdivisions being plopped in the middle of a lower-middle class community like a hyperactive 8-year-old playing SimCity. But Atlanta is evidence that it's possible and should be taken into account when cities and communities start talking about zoning regulation. It's not something to be dismissed but a serious threat to the quality of life for decent people trying to do what previous generations took for granted.
One point: Your guest wants ever-increasing population growth and ever-increasing housing supply. There is a phrase for this approach: A pyramid scheme. Those who advocate it don't want to call it that, but it is. The problem is that there has to be a limit. When you reach that limit, you have to slow down. If slowing down is really as big of a problem as he claims, then you are merely postponing the day of reckoning, forcing some future generation to suffer the consequences. That position is indefensible.
I can confirm what he's saying about Atlanta being an outlier. Atlanta is particularly bad about large corporate investors buying single family houses and turning them into Section 8 rentals. It's the same with the "built to rent" subdivisions.
When I was looking for houses in McDonough, way down the I-75, we'd be driving through those typical acre-lot neighborhoods with well-kept lawns and freshly painted exteriors, turn a corner, and suddenly be in a subdivision where you could stand between the houses and touch both with your hands outstretched. You'd see all the typical signs of rentals, too: trash everywhere, superficial damage on the buildings, dented-in garage doors, junkers parked on the street. I remember riding in the realtor's car through one of them and just saying, "Skip this one, I'm not even interested in looking." I'm not dropping half a million dollars to live in that kind of neighborhood.
So yes, Atlanta is an extreme case, the furor over Blackrock, Vanguard, and the other investment firms is a little overwrought. Most communities aren't suffering from huge Section 8 rental subdivisions being plopped in the middle of a lower-middle class community like a hyperactive 8-year-old playing SimCity. But Atlanta is evidence that it's possible and should be taken into account when cities and communities start talking about zoning regulation. It's not something to be dismissed but a serious threat to the quality of life for decent people trying to do what previous generations took for granted.
Excellent look at a multi-faceted issue.
One point: Your guest wants ever-increasing population growth and ever-increasing housing supply. There is a phrase for this approach: A pyramid scheme. Those who advocate it don't want to call it that, but it is. The problem is that there has to be a limit. When you reach that limit, you have to slow down. If slowing down is really as big of a problem as he claims, then you are merely postponing the day of reckoning, forcing some future generation to suffer the consequences. That position is indefensible.