Category Archives: Housing

This Isn’t Helping Lower Housing Prices In D.C.

Posted on July 16, 2016 by mikethemadbiologist

D.C. meet Mr. Market Failure (boldface mine): The co-working segment is the bright spot in D.C.’s commercial real estate market right now, but there are concerns. JLL said the office vacancy rate in D.C. is currently over 12 percent, and … Continue reading →

Posted in DC, Housing | 1 Comment

The Exburb Implosion And The Hidden Cost of Transportation

Posted on May 12, 2016 by mikethemadbiologist

While people often focus on the cost of housing, it’s important to realize that the costs of transportation also need to be considered. As I noted a few years ago, when you include transportation costs into the ‘cost of housing’, … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing, Transportation | Comments Off on The Exburb Implosion And The Hidden Cost of Transportation

The Depressing Thing About Housing Porn

Posted on April 23, 2016 by mikethemadbiologist

And, no, I’m not talking about porn that takes place in houses (I’ll leave that to the state government of Utah). I mean the genre, both in its online and print incarnations, that shows beautiful houses or apartments. What’s weird … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Housing | 3 Comments

I Believe In Providing Shelter But Mayor Bowser Seems To Have Turned This Into Graft

Posted on March 21, 2016 by mikethemadbiologist

Despite my many criticisms of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, I thought one of her redeeming qualities is her commitment to housing the homeless. And when she recently unveiled her plan, I thought it was pretty good. While the housing would … Continue reading →

Posted in Bidness, DC, Homelessness, Housing | 1 Comment

Gentrification Is Not the Same As Bidding Up

Posted on March 1, 2016 by mikethemadbiologist

When election season isn’t on us, one of the things the chattering class likes to discuss is urban gentrification–in no small part because it affects a good number of them. While that ignores the far larger and far more difficult … Continue reading →

Posted in Boston, DC, Housing | Comments Off on Gentrification Is Not the Same As Bidding Up

One More Reason Why Housing Shouldn’t Be an Investment

Posted on February 15, 2016 by mikethemadbiologist

A major de facto government-supported investment vehicle for U.S. households has been buying a home. Unfortunately, sinking your earnings into an investment that’s leveraged, at best, 4-to-1, localized in exposure, and highly illiquid doesn’t always work out (boldface mine): Yet … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing | 1 Comment

The Idiocy of Urban Tiny Houses

Posted on February 14, 2016 by mikethemadbiologist

When we last visited D.C. Councilman and former Pepco executive (which should be a disqualification for high office), he was attempting to use zoning regulations to prevent young or poor people from moving into neighborhoods–because what cities need is unresponsive … Continue reading →

Posted in DC, Housing, Urban Planning | 3 Comments

D.C. Makes Some Good Parking Policy

Posted on January 22, 2016 by mikethemadbiologist

Since I highlight the myriad and diverse ways in which the local D.C. government screws things up, I should be fair and note when it does something right: Currently, developers constructing new residential buildings in DC must build a certain … Continue reading →

Posted in DC, Housing, Transportation, Urban Planning | 1 Comment

Our Long-Term Crisis Isn’t the Gentrified City But the Unsustainable Suburb

Posted on December 2, 2015 by mikethemadbiologist

Something that’s lurking in the background of the U.S. economy, and which will erupt with a fury in ten years or so is the need to replace suburban infrastructure: underground wires, pipes, and so on. This is something new that … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing, Transportation, We're Really Fucked | 1 Comment

Tracking, Criminality, and Homelessness

Posted on November 15, 2015 by mikethemadbiologist

In response to the charge that drug arrests for pot possession don’t lead to incarceration, I argued that those arrests can be thought of as ‘pre-criminal tracking’ (as in academic tracking, not surveillance): The good news is that ten percent … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Liberties, Housing, Racism | Comments Off on Tracking, Criminality, and Homelessness