https://twitter.com/eean/status/926892649096740866?lang=en

  • HarryLime [any]
    ·
    9 months ago

    We have more vacant units than homeless residents in virtually every metropolis and rural backwater in the country. I'll spot you its oversimplified, as there's more to housing than just the physical structure.

    It's oversimplified because there are a number of reasons why a unit might be vacant at any one time. A lot of units counted as vacant are simply between occupants, many more are derelict and not suitable for human habitation. You might be able to get homeless people into those units faster under socialism, but the talking point also the housing crisis is limited to solving homelessness, when it's much larger than that. You need a solution that solves the whole problem, not just one facet of it.

    But the YIMBY plan to just "build more build more build more" completely neglects this core truth. We build units to incentivize new consumption and new financial investment, not to shelter an existing homeless population.

    That's why I specifically mentioned PUBLIC housing. If the subject of this thread is about what policies leftists should support and what kind of housing policy socialism should deliver, then I'm saying a policy of building lots and lots of PUBLIC, i.e. NOT commodified, NOT for profit, housing is the proper solution to the housing crisis. And there's dozens of more reasons why densifying American cities and suburbs is good policy- the SFH home suburban development model America has chosen is an environmental, economic, and social disaster, and ought to be remedied at all costs.

    • zifnab25 [he/him, any]
      ·
      9 months ago

      A lot of units counted as vacant are simply between occupants, many more are derelict and not suitable for human habitation.

      This is routinely overstated. Vacant rental units are abundant, particularly in higher income buildings. The vacancy rate in Houston, for instance is one unit in ten. High income units were twice as likely to bee vacant as their low cost peers, with 30k brand new units on schedule for delivery in 2024 concentrated inside 610.

      This, in a city with around 3500 homeless people in a given year.

      To claim we just don't have the unit space is denialist.

      then I'm saying a policy of building lots and lots of PUBLIC, i.e. NOT commodified, NOT for profit, housing is the proper solution to the housing crisis.

      And I'm saying there's no need to build new units. They already exist in abundance. The city just needs to take them rather than enriching landlords for their use.

      • HarryLime [any]
        ·
        9 months ago

        This is routinely overstated. Vacant rental units are abundant, particularly in higher income buildings. The vacancy rate in Houston, for instance is one unit in ten. High income units were twice as likely to bee vacant as their low cost peers, with 30k brand new units on schedule for delivery in 2024 concentrated inside 610.

        This, in a city with around 3500 homeless people in a given year.

        To claim we just don't have the unit space is denialist.

        It's actually denialist to claim that the only facet of the housing crisis is homelessness. There are a myriad of other problems with housing that can only be solved by building public housing, especially around public transit, which we also need to build a shitload of.

        • zifnab25 [he/him, any]
          ·
          9 months ago

          the only facet of the housing crisis is homelessness

          Who made this claim?

          There are a myriad of other problems with housing that can only be solved by building public housing, especially around public transit, which we also need to build a shitload of.

          A great deal of the new Houston units have been built up around our nascent rail system.

          • HarryLime [any]
            ·
            9 months ago

            Who made this claim?

            YOU MOTHERFUCKER

            A great deal of the new Houston units have been built up around our nascent rail system.

            dont care build more