Salt Lake City New Liberals 🌐 🇺🇸

For our September gathering, we will hear from local architect Jarod Hall (@divelept) on cost-effecting housing and infill projects. eventbrite.com/e/slc-new-libe…

To be honest, YIMBY + rent subsidies (both of which promote supply increase) is a far preferable solution to rent control and inclusionary zoning (both of which constrain supply increase). Over-regulation is bad. Capitalism + a better welfare state is the winning combination!

Woah woah woah let's not call IZ "neoliberal" thank you very much The neoliberal position is solve supply problems to bring prices down; i.e. let builders build

@JeremiahDJohns Are you implying capitalism sometimes gives producers bad incentives?

Sometimes I wish I could be one of those writers who churn out "Want to know why so many homes are boring and beige? Blame CAPITALISM" articles and get a million clicks, because it's honestly a cheat code to going viral.

RT if you disagree with this and are glad not to be ruled by the Communist Party of China. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

@AleRigolon My joke is not permitted in SFH-only zoning

...for every steel-worker job saved by those tariffs—at a cost of $650,000 per job—more than eight were destroyed in the downstream industries that use steel and aluminum. So much for the “common good.” wsj.com/politics/no-tr…

(No there aren't because price controls are always market distortions; only question is "how bad?")

Many such cases Perhaps the core flaw in public choice

@JakeThompsonUO @cafreiman Now do the workers who were never in the workforce to begin with because min wage was already in place (Spoiler: there's a reason we have to have specific laws to allow lower wages for mentally handicapped people; range restriction matters)

There’s a lot wrong with this article, starting with the claim that “a giant mountain of empirical evidence” indicates that the minimum wage doesn’t have a negative effect on employment. On the contrary:

When costs are high enough SFHs become MFHs, inefficient land use and the legality of it be damned

@wanderingdave The joy I get from "giant apartment buildings near public transit" far exceeds any issue with ground-floor activation Commercial real estate is in a weird spot right now but the demand for housing is still strong

Ugh even more giant apartment buildings planned near the front runner station planned but still no actual businesses on the ground floor. What the hell are we doing? lol #slc

Uh, yes it is? Markets work if we let them

@mikefifeslc 1. A lot of the cost is all the various services that get provided, not the literal cost of the tents and such 2. Hotels that get used for this kind of purpose often tend to end up needing significant remodeling, so the true cost would be a lot higher than the nightly rental

Top 5 incredibly stupid lies about the American economy that people still believe: 1. The pay-productivity gap 2. The middle class squeeze 3. Capitalism caused the housing crisis 4. Free trade killed manufacturing 5. The Biden economy is horrible (A thread)

Sentiment behind throttled housing production: Homeowners: “Preserve my view” “This will hurt my property value” Conservatives: “Preserve neighborhood character” Unions: “Can’t build it unless it’s with prevailing wage” Progressives: “Build it everywhere, but not at market rate” Housing departments: “Rent control!” Health departments: “Shelter in place, ban evictions” Environmentalists: “Any new project is one too many, Submit an environmental study.” Coastal commissions: “We must defend our sacred coastline, consider moving inland” Insurance companies: “We won’t insure you inland, too much fire risk” Socialists: “Housing is a human right, so the government must provide it” Government: “We’ll provide it, but slowly and at a cost of $1mm per unit. Please approve this bond measure to pay for it” Local government: “We have to make everyone happy. We will pass laws to spur housing production, but we will pass laws to stop housing production.” City Planners: “Please hold while we interpret these laws, there seem to be conflicts” Lawyers: “A law has been violated, I’m filing an appeal!” Society: why is the rent so damn high! Well, I might have a few ideas. In the meantime, will keep my head down and build.

@RepWhyte So, are we going to see significant zoning reform and removal of barriers to density?

Speaking today about housing affordability at the Annual Convention of the Utah League of Cities and Towns was an honor. I greatly appreciate all the mayors, members of the city councils, and city administrative staff throughout the state discussing housing solutions.

@mnolangray Hilarious that "deregulation" = "martial law"

The ACLU and Sierra Club, among others, are suing to stop Hawaii's governor from taking emergency measures in response to the states housing crisis—tone deaf six months ago, spectacularly tone deaf now that 4,500 have been displaced by the Maui fires.

"Most of the people who oppose making it easier to build housing are long-time homeowners" is a true statement. So is that homeowners are the largest constituency that benefits from housing scarcity. Neither implies that homeowners as a group are to blame for the housing crisis.

This is @mucha_carlos's point I'm stealing, but back in 1996 congress passed a sweeping federal preemption of state/local zoning authority that completely gutted local control in favor of extreme YIMBYism — but only for satellite dishes & TV antennas. fcc.gov/media/over-air…

@NateForUtah Voting for the most reasonable candidate with a real chance of winning is a great strategy. Having more than one chance to do so is better than a single chance. You're not presenting a workable alternative that would have been better somehow.

Losing by 4500 votes in a three way race where the two conservative candidates split the vote is the nail in the coffin for this strategy. If not now, never. So much wasted energy to elect a candidate who would have been a rubber stamp for McCarthy.