• InternetLefty [he/him]
    ·
    10 months ago

    Zoning changed in Minneapolis and there hasn't been a boom of new construction AFAIK. It's a combination of factors but I think the current situation is maximally beneficial to the capitalist rent seekers so working backwards from that assumption maybe we can't intuit some other causes. Maybe intra class conflict? We'll give it another half decade and see what the housing situation is in places that have updated zoning laws before we can rule that out, I guess

    • Beaver [he/him]
      ·
      10 months ago

      There's some new construction in Minneapolis, but I think a big issue is that a lot of other regs haven't been updated to really enable lower cost apartments. e.g., I think the insane parking requirements still exist? From a red tape point of view it's just so much easier to build a single family home, even if the location makes more sense for a small apartment building or a quadplex.

      Anecdotally, I've seen a lot more construction happening in Minneapolis in the last few years than I did 10 years ago, so I think there's at least some movement in a positive direction. It's still an insanely sprawling metro, with miles upon miles of single occupancy detached houses right next to downtowns. I think the only thing that controls the price of housing here is just that the bad winter weather puts the breaks on the influx of new people.