Category Archives: Housing

Too Many Offices And Too Little Housing: The Market Is Responding Poorly

Posted on April 26, 2018 by mikethemadbiologist

A while ago, some asshole with a blog noted this about the D.C. real estate market: But what’s really ridiculous is that, even as the need for office space is declining, we’re building about the equivalent of 1,800 two-bedroom apartments … Continue reading →

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Boston, “The Future Of Inflation”, And Housing

Posted on April 20, 2018 by mikethemadbiologist

We come across this statement by the chairman of the Boston Federal Reserve (boldface mine): At a Friday breakfast meeting of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, Boston’s Federal Reserve president Eric Rosengren laid out some of the unique challenges … Continue reading →

Posted in Boston, Energy, Housing, Taxes | Comments Off on Boston, “The Future Of Inflation”, And Housing

When Real Estate Needs Change Faster Than Building Cycles

Posted on January 19, 2018 by mikethemadbiologist

A while ago, some asshole with a blog observed that there is a mismatch between what is being built in D.C. and what is actually needed: But what’s really ridiculous is that, even as the need for office space is … Continue reading →

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Books For The Rich

Posted on January 17, 2018 by mikethemadbiologist

No, this isn’t a new political slogan. A common theme of apartment advertisements, especially those in glass box buildings (which are many of the new buildings on the market in D.C.), is a couple, who is usually too young to … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Housing | 5 Comments

Asset Inflation

Posted on November 19, 2017 by mikethemadbiologist

One of the points I’ve made repeatedly is that we can’t understand the urban housing crisis (why housing is expensive in many urban areas) without accounting for income inequality: you can’t have gentrification without a gentry class. Ian Welsh makes … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing | 1 Comment

We Can’t Understand The Urban Housing Shortage Without Recognizing The Office Surplus

Posted on October 20, 2017 by mikethemadbiologist

This is something cities are going to have to grapple with (boldface mine): DC has around 14.1 million square feet of vacant office space, and 8.2 million square feet of it is in the downtown area. That’s equivalent to more … Continue reading →

Posted in DC, Housing, Urban Planning | 1 Comment

When Public Housing Wasn’t Charity

Posted on October 9, 2017 by mikethemadbiologist

In an article about public housing in Alexandra, VA, there’s a very important, but forgotten, point about why it was built (boldface mine): Public housing was originally built not as a social safety net program, but rather because the government … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing | 3 Comments

So This Is The Guy Who Is Going To Bring Peace To The Middle East?

Posted on September 3, 2017 by mikethemadbiologist

So Jared Kushner’s family real estate business is on the rocks, in large part, because they bought a Manhattan office building at a ridiculously high price, and now they’re having difficulty making the loan calls (which is to say, in … Continue reading →

Posted in Fucking Morons, Housing, Resistance Rebellion And Death | 2 Comments

The Weird Thing About Housing ‘Markets’

Posted on May 30, 2017 by mikethemadbiologist

They don’t really compete based on price. Here’s what I mean by that. Consider D.C.’s Shaw/U Street neighborhood, a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood. There are still new buildings going up in Shaw, as well as available parcels for new buildings. These … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing, Urban Planning | Comments Off on The Weird Thing About Housing ‘Markets’

Republicans To Hide Housing Discrimination–GOP Is A White Nationalist Party

Posted on January 25, 2017 by mikethemadbiologist

Republicans are pushing the “Local Zoning Decisions Protection Act of 2017” (pdf), which among other things has this provision: Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no Federal funds may be used to design, build, maintain, utilize, or provide access to … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservatives, Housing, Racism | Comments Off on Republicans To Hide Housing Discrimination–GOP Is A White Nationalist Party