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JPenniman t1_j8olw8o wrote

If you add enough market rate housing, prices will drop quite significantly across the board. I think many fear requirements for affordability will just dissuade the introduction of new supply. Additionally, the middle class gains very little from affordability requirements because the new units they would be eligible for are those that need to subsidize the affordable units which likely makes them still unaffordable.

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tjrileywisc t1_j8p7qyv wrote

To add to this, parking requirements and lot size restrictions frequently add extra costs to apartment buildings such that parking has to be built in a separate building at great expense, or even worse underground at an even greater expense.

My city's inclusive housing ordinance only requires that the development not affect traffic too much, but there's no density bonus to allow the developer to make up losses on the affordable units and the parking requirements remain.

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SuckMyAssmar t1_j8oun9p wrote

I am not sure of this. There are management companies and landlords that will keep (expensive) units vacant. I will have to look into the prevalence of this in Boston and the surrounding areas.

To your second point, can government subsidize the units that middle-class renters would be in? Do you think it is plausible or possible? Any other ideas on how to make affordable units affordable?

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Opposite_Match5303 t1_j8oxv36 wrote

The vacancy rate in greater Boston is exceptionally low.

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tjrileywisc t1_j8p70lm wrote

Here's a recent paper about this process (housing chains) working in Helsinki:

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3929243

While this is frequently derided as 'trickle down housing', it's not like the supply side economic theory about always lowering taxes on rich people. Housing chains are more like the used car market- someone paid to have a new car and eat the cost of depreciation while selling their previous car at at a much lower price than they bought it.

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SuckMyAssmar t1_j8p7qqo wrote

Hmm ok. Inflation right now is insane, obviously, but I will read this paper in a bit. Initial thought is that the older (relative term) being sold still isn’t affordable to the ‘average’ person, aka someone that isn’t a software engineer or works in biotech.

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tjrileywisc t1_j8p8qhv wrote

That's fair, but I would say what you are looking for is for any price gradient to not go up as steeply and hopefully wages rise to meet it in a more sane place (that paper suggests in two years you can see a clear impact).

As an example of where this is going well, Tokyo builds enough housing supply that a recent college graduate can rent without roommates to my understanding.

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SuckMyAssmar t1_j8p95qg wrote

Yes and thank you - I was not aware of that in Tokyo!

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