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Bi-Weekly Discussion - The Urban Housing Crises

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Brian B.
Bi-Weekly Discussion - The Urban Housing Crises

Details

We're currently hosting our discussions at Café Walnut, near the corner of 7th & Walnut in Olde City, just across the street from Washington Square Park. The cafe's entrance is below street level down some stairs, which can be confusing if it's your first time. Our group meets in the large room upstairs.

Since we're using the cafe's space, they ask that each person attending the meetup at least purchase a drink or snack. Please don't bring any food or drinks from outside.

The cafe is fairly easy to get to if you're using public transit. With SEPTA, take the Market-Frankford Line & get off at the 5th Street Station (corner of 5th & Market), and walk 2 blocks south on 5th and then turn right on Walnut Street and walk 2 blocks west. With PATCO, just get off at the 9th-10th & Locust stop and walk 3 blocks east & 1 block north. For those who are driving, I'd suggest parking in the Washington Square parking deck at 249 S 6th Street which is just a half block away.

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THE URBAN HOUSING CRISES:

HOW SHOULD WE ALLEVIATE HOMELESSNESS, LOW-INCOME SEGREGATION/ DISPLACEMENT & THE MIDDLE-INCOME AFFORDABLE HOUSING CRISIS WITHOUT REINFLATING THE BUBBLE?

INTRODUCTION:

In our last meetup, entitled "Environmental Justice & Healthier Cities", we discussed how local policies affect air & water quality, traffic safety, and food security, and how environmental concerns have to be balanced against economic constraints & personal freedoms. To review what we covered, check out the discussion outline:
https://www.meetup.com/Philadelphia-Political-Agnostics/events/txqhxqyzkblc/

In this meetup, we'll discuss the issue of urban housing from the perspective of ethics, economics, sociology & political science. As the subtitle above suggests, we'll look at 4 interlocking issues that have all been characterized as a "housing crisis" in many of America's major cities - i.e. homelessness, the residential segregation & displacement of the urban working class through "gentrification", a shortage of affordable housing for the urban middle class - especially young professionals, and the risk of another housing bubble & market crash if we get housing policy wrong again.

URBANIST SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT:

For those new to urban planning debates, there's several schools of thought that only roughly align with the left-right political spectrum. The first 2 schools of thought are mostly defunct at this point, but their influence continues:

  1. High Modernist Urbanism: An outgrowth of early 20th-century urbanist movements like "City Beautiful" and the "Garden City", High Modernism was a post-WWII school of top-down urban planning that rezoned cities into distinct residential, commercial & industrial districts, built big urban attractions like sports stadiums, theaters & museums, accommodated suburban middle-class commuters with major highways into downtown, and "helped" the poor by demolishing slums & segregating them in high-density housing projects.

  2. New Urbanism: This was a reaction against High Modernist urbanism that began in the 1960s-70s and attained prominence by the '80s-90s which focused on giving citizens greater input into urban planning and enabling walkable, moderate-density, mixed-use neighborhoods with parks & amenities to build social capital, and favored mass transit instead of car commuting. While this was a more decentralized & democratic approach, it also enabled NIMBY-ism in the form of exclusionary zoning policies & historic preservation that limited the housing supply, driving up its cost & maintaining de facto segregation.

  3. Sustainable Urbanism & Smart Growth: This is an early 21st century combination of New Urbanism's focus on walkability & mass transit with High Modernism's top-down planning to address environmental concerns. It favors high-density, mixed-used neighborhoods with green spaces, and it aims to use 100% renewable energy. As a left-wing movement, it's suspicious of the free market and tends to have strict zoning, relies on rent control & gov't subsidies to make housing affordable, and favors publicly-owned mass transit, utilities, schools, hospitals, community centers, etc.

  4. Antiplanning & New Suburbanism: This is a conservative & libertarian reaction against Smart Growth initiatives which sees car-centric suburbs as superior to high-density cities. It aims to makes suburbs more attractive by incorporating some New Urbanist ideas, like walkable "town centers" with bars & shops and revamped office parks with gyms & other amenities.

  5. Lean/Market Urbanism & YIMBY: This is a new centrist movement of moderate libertarians & center-left liberals that sees the lack of affordable housing due to NIMBYism as a big problem. They see New Suburbanism as unsustainable & favor high-density cities with mass transit like Sustainable Urbanism, but they also think free market principles need to be applied to make the city gov't more efficient & the local economy more dynamic (e.g. privatized mass transit & utilities, school vouchers & charter schools, looser business licensing & zoning to allow innovation like Uber, Zipcar, AirBnB, dockless bikes, food trucks, pop-up events, etc.).

RELEVANT MATERIAL FROM PAST MEETUPS:

Way back in August of 2017, we had a meetup entitled "Classical Liberalism & Property Rights" where we discussed some basic ethical issues like how a person can come to legitimately own property, how we should handle cases of property accrued through theft or exploitation, when we're justified in excluding people from our property, and how taxation interacts with property rights. These issues all relate to the ethics of housing we'll discuss in the 1st section of this meetup:
https://www.meetup.com/Philadelphia-Political-Agnostics/events/242037334/

Back in April, we had a meetup on taxes that included a discussion of the land value tax and Pigouvian taxes on negative externalities. This relates to the economics of housing we'll discuss in the 2nd section of this meetup:
https://www.meetup.com/Philadelphia-Political-Agnostics/events/259946508/

Back in May of 2018, we had a meetup.entitled "Does America Offer Equal Opportunity?" and in the 1st section we looked at the economist Raj Chetty's work on the Clinton-era "Moving to Opportunity" program. It turns out that moving to a middle class neighborhood improves the educational outcomes & lifetime income of underprivileged children, suggesting this occurs through being socialized into middle class norms. We'll explore this more in the 3rd section of this discussion.
https://www.meetup.com/Philadelphia-Political-Agnostics/events/xvbrznyxgbtb/

Earlier in June, we had a meetup entitled "Are Coastal Elites Living in a 'Bubble'?" where we talked about how residential segregation in cities can prevent the upper class from understanding & empathizing with both the people in rural areas and the lower class in their own cities. This relates to the 3rd section of this discussion.
https://www.meetup.com/Philadelphia-Political-Agnostics/events/chrnnqyzhbjc/

Back in June, we had a meetup entitled "Coastal Cities & Climate Change" where we discussed how both urban design & economic reforms are needed to address the challenges that coastal cities faces from sea level rise & hurricanes. We also discussed how the fights over disaster relief funds & political corruption that sometimes follows in the wake of a hurricane poses problems for idealized policy models, and this dilemma relates to the political wrangling we'll cover in the 4th section of this discussion.
https://www.meetup.com/Philadelphia-Political-Agnostics/events/txqhxqyzjbnc/

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DIRECTIONS ON HOW TO PREPARE FOR OUR DISCUSSION:

The videos & articles you see linked below are intended to give you a basic overview of some of the major debates over problems plaguing the housing market in major US cities. As usual, I certainly don't expect you to read all the articles & watch all the videos prior to attending our discussion.

The easiest way to prepare for our discussion is to just watch the numbered videos linked under each section - the videos come to about about 54 minutes total. The articles marked with asterisks are just there to supply additional details. You can browse and look at whichever ones you want, but don't worry - we'll cover the stuff you missed in our discussion.

In terms of the discussion format, my general idea is that we'll address the topics in the order presented here. As you can see, I've listed several questions under each section heading to stimulate discussion. We'll do our best to address most of them. I figure we'll spend about 30 minutes on each section.

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I. PROPERTY RIGHTS, FAIR HOUSING LAWS & THE RIGHT TO HOUSING:

  • DO WE ALL HAVE A NATURAL RIGHT TO USE THE LAND IN THE "STATE OF NATURE", AS JOHN LOCKE THOUGHT? IF SO, DOES THE "LOCKEAN PROVISO" SUGGEST THAT PEOPLE HAVE A RIGHT TO SOME COMPENSATION IF NO FREE LAND EXISTS?

  • IS THERE A POSITIVE RIGHT TO BASIC HOUSING? IF SO, DOES A TENANT IN SUBSIDIZED HOUSING HAVE ANY CORRESPONDING MORAL DUTIES, E.G. HELPING TO MAINTAIN THE HOUSING, WORKING & PAYING SOME MINIMAL AMOUNT OF RENT, ETC.?

  • ARE LANDLORDS EXPLOITING THEIR TENANTS, OR DO THEY FULFILL A USEFUL SERVICE BY OFFERING SHORT-TERM HOUSING & MAINTAINING IT? WHAT ARE "ABSENTEE LANDLORDS" & "SLUMLORDS" & ARE THEY UNETHICAL?

  • ARE LAND VALUE TAXES AN IDEAL WAY TO PREVENT UNPRODUCTIVE RENT-SEEKING & LAND SPECULATION, AS HENRY GEORGE ARGUED? OR ARE THEY UNJUST BECAUSE THEY CAN DRIVE PEOPLE OFF THEIR LAND IF PROPERTY VALUES RISE SO MUCH THEY CAN'T AFFORD THE TAXES?

  • WAS THE FAIR HOUSING ACT OF 1968 RIGHT TO PROHIBIT HOUSING DISCRIMINATION AGAINST PROTECTED CLASSES (RACE, RELIGION, NAT'L ORIGIN, SEX, AGE, DISABILITY, FAMILY STATUS, ETC.)?

  • DO WE HAVE A MORAL DUTY TO PURSUE RESIDENTIAL INTEGRATION BEYOND FOLLOWING THE FAIR HOUSING ACT, OR DOES "FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION" JUSTIFY EXCLUDING THE POOR BY OPPOSING LOW-INCOME HOUSING, TRANSIT STOPS, ETC.?

  • HOW MUCH CONTROL SHOULD WE HAVE OVER OUR NEIGHBOR'S PROPERTY? WHEN DOES ZONING ENFORCEMENT INFRINGE ON PROPERTY RIGHTS?

  • SHOULD THE GOV'T BE ABLE TO USE "EMINENT DOMAIN" TO FORCE PEOPLE TO VACATE THEIR PROPERTY FOR "PUBLIC USE"? IF SO, DOES "PUBLIC USE" ONLY MEAN GOV'T OWNED INFRASTRUCTURE LIKE ROADS & UTILITIES, OR CAN IT ALSO INCLUDE PRIVATE BUSINESSES THAT WOULD BE USEFUL TO THE AREA (E.G. GROCERY STORE IN A "FOOD DESERT")?

1a) Fox Business, "Ocasio-Cortez says housing needs to be a human right" (video - 3:06 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5Gxb4uBU9w

1b) CBS Sacramento, "Middle-Class Home Converted To Low-Income Housing Draws Neighbors' Ire" (video - 2:12 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITsHLlvS3y0

1c) NowThis, "Can The Government Seize Your Land?" (video - 2:57 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNlAFSKaEUg

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II. THE ECONOMICS OF THE HOUSING MARKET:

  • ARE ECONOMISTS RIGHT THAT THE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES OF RENT CONTROL EXCEED THE BENEFITS & EXACERBATE AFFORDABLE HOUSING SHORTAGES?

  • WHY DO MOST ECONOMISTS SEE THE MORTGAGE INTEREST TAX DEDUCTION AS AN INEFFICIENT TRANSFER OF WEALTH TO THE MIDDLE & UPPER CLASSES?

  • CAN CITIES ALLEVIATE HOUSING SHORTAGES BY SIMPLY BUILDING MORE HOUSING, OR DOES THE RUN INTO "JEVON'S PARADOX" WHERE TEMPORARILY LOWER PRICES LEADS TO A SURGE IN DEMAND?

  • DOES GENTRIFICATION, ON AVERAGE, HELP OR HURT THE URBAN WORKING CLASS?

  • ARE THE LOW-INCOME HOUSING TAX CREDIT, HOUSING VOUCHERS & INCLUSIONARY ZONING GOOD WAYS TO MAKE HOUSING MORE AFFORDABLE, AS AARON CARROLL ARGUES?

2a) Tyler Cowen & Matt Yglesias, "Why Is the Rent So Damn High?" (video - 9:53 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcWZ8wHQIHM

2b) Nicole Gelinas, "Why Rent Control Hurts Renters" (video - 5:12 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJvTTGOHFkU

2c) Aaron Carroll, "[Exclusionary] Zoning Rules Can Keep People in Bad Neighborhoods" (video - 5:40 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jIlvz2e4Mc

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III. THE SOCIOLOGY OF NEIGHBORHOODS & THE FORCES BEHIND SEGREGATION:

  • IS SEGREGATION DRIVEN BY IRRATIONALITY OR A RATIONAL DESIRE TO PRESERVE PROPERTY VALUES, SOCIAL CAPITAL & LOW CRIME RATES?

  • WHY DOES ECONOMIC & RACIAL SEGREGATION LEAD TO INTERGENERATIONAL POVERTY & CRIME?

  • HOW DO "MOVING TO OPPORTUNITY" PROGRAMS HELP AT-RISK YOUTH - I.E. IS IT BETTER JOBS FOR PARENTS, BETTER SCHOOLS, BETTER PEER GROUPS, ETC.?

  • DOES RACIAL INTEGRATION USUALLY RUN INTO A TIPPING POINT THAT CAUSES "WHITE FLIGHT", OR IS MORE OF A CLASS-BASED PHENOMENON?

3a) Tim Harford, "The Logic of Life: Racial segregation" (video - 2:04 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjfihtGefxk

3b) 13WMAZ, "VERIFY: Does affordable housing bring more crime?" (video - 2:24 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6-CfCALanA

3c) Nathan Hendren & Ed Glaeser, "Moving to Opportunity" (video - 4:29 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7DfTl9iMOc

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IV. THE POLITICAL FORCES PUSHING FOR MORE & LESS HOUSING:

  • DOES CLASS & RACIAL SEGREGATION AFFECT NATIONAL POLITICS?

  • IS GRASS-ROOTS NIMBY-ISM POLITICALLY STRONGER THAN THE CLOUT OF BIG DEVELOPERS?

  • CAN THE FEDERAL GOV'T REFORM HOUSING POLICY, OR IS THIS INEVITABLE A LOCAL ISSUE?

  • HOW MUCH OF THE MID-2000s HOUSING BUBBLE & 2008 FINANCIAL CRISIS WAS DUE TO THE FEDERAL GOV'T PUSHING HOME OWNERSHIP?

  • WOULD PRIVATIZING FANNIE MAE & FREDDIE MAC HELP AVOID ANOTHER HOUSING BUBBLE?

4a) BNN w/ Katherine Levine Einstein, "Study Examines Politics of NIMBY" (video - 9:57 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6Rcuxo3ZTI

4b) WSJ, "How Fannie and Freddie Prop Up America's Favorite Mortgage" (video - 4:29 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1V7H5pJY4U

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