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    ZukkaHamilton Nolan
    4/22/16 2:19pm

    “is getting ludicrous”? It’s been ridic for years now. What is the next level beyond ludicrous?

    I live in a niceish apt in Astoria and pay $850/month rent, and I know that sooner rather than later that apt is gonna be up to $1300 and I am going to have to move even further out in Queens. And this is just assuming I remain bachelor for the next 5-10 years and never have to think about getting a BIGGER place for a lady-companion and a child. Which, to be fair, may not be the biggest stretch of an assumption, but even so!

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      Violent FellowkneesZukka
      4/22/16 2:21pm

      The next level beyond ludicrous is plaid.

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      crucifictorious916Zukka
      4/22/16 2:22pm

      the rents in Queens have gone nuts. I had an apartment in Astoria 10+ years ago and I paid 1100/mo for a 2 BR. That same apartment was just listed - I saw it on Trulia. It is now $2400/month. :/

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    Sean BrodyHamilton Nolan
    4/22/16 2:24pm

    Besides “build more housing” and “tax the rich,” anyone got any great ideas here?

    I love the tax the non-primary residence idea.
    Also, move to Jersey City? That’s where I’m living if I move there.

    If too many people leave New York City, New York City doesn’t work.

    What if a million people left and brought you back to 1996 population levels?

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      smoofsmoofSean Brody
      4/22/16 2:25pm

      Jersey City isn’t cheap anymore either.

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      Doofenschmirtz, Inc.Sean Brody
      4/22/16 2:30pm

      A far likelier scenario is that President Hillary will manage to piss off the Canadians and they’ll strike NYC, making housing affordable again, like after 9/11.

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    BurnedAtTheSteakHamilton Nolan
    4/22/16 2:28pm

    Make rent control/stabilization income or wealth qualified. Not looking to kick out old people holding on with social security, but if Charlie Rangel doesn’t want to pay market rate on his 4 apartments, fuck him. A small step, but you told us not to say build more housing.

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      ARP2BurnedAtTheSteak
      4/22/16 2:39pm

      I live in a rent controlled building and the couple across from us literally makes double what we do, put pays almost 1/2 as much in rent.

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      lewis55number2BurnedAtTheSteak
      4/22/16 2:43pm

      Rent control just makes the problem worse in the long run, though, because it actively incentivizes against developers/investors building more housing, and building more housing is what we really need. The answer is still build more housing.

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    ARP2Hamilton Nolan
    4/22/16 2:37pm

    1. Tax property that is not primary residence at a higher rate (I think they already do this). Use this money to build public housing
    2. Require more housing with a set aside for lower cost housing. This isn’t nearly enough to satisfy demand.
    3. Kick persons above a certain income threshold out of public housing. I’m sure its an exception, but there are persons who are making $100k+ per year, who still live in public housing, because they qualified a few years ago. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/federal-e…
    5. Require a certain amount of housing concentration when building new housing (e.g. 20 1500 sq ft units instead of 10 3000 sq. ft. units and above X number of units)
    6. Let the market work. It will be painful, but maybe people do need to leave NY and prices might have a chance of stabilizing.

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      iseedeaddaleksARP2
      4/22/16 2:43pm

      You do realize #6 is in direct conflict with 1, 2, and 5...

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      ARP2iseedeaddaleks
      4/22/16 2:49pm

      You’re right, I wasn’t very clear. I mean that you can take actions encourage more affordable housing to be made available, but you probably can’t fully solve this problem via regulation and/or the costs to resolve are insurmountable. At a certain point, the market needs to help resolve this issue.

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    OddsVonDabsHamilton Nolan
    4/22/16 2:19pm

    This is why I left New York. Love the place, but its simply stupid to waste that much money on rent. (Spoken as someone who had the means to move and who was not a native New Yorker in the first place, I realize its not that simple for others)

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      Sean BrodyOddsVonDabs
      4/22/16 2:36pm

      Seriously.
      There are houses for sale in Memphis for $20k, just one example. There are other places to live authentic lives, without feeling like you’re having the financial breath squeezed out of you by an anaconda.

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      lorem ipsumSean Brody
      4/22/16 2:50pm

      What are salaries like in Memphis? Can you get abortions/birth control there? Are the schools decent? Science-based curriculum, and all that? How well do black and Latino people do in Memphis? Other people of color? Jews? Muslims?

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    MockingbirdHillHamilton Nolan
    4/22/16 2:21pm

    Can’t we start eating the rich? I mean, one, they’re very lean. Two, they won’t need their apartments anymore. Three most of their hidden money is tied up in a shell corp so even after their deaths, the shit job you have cleaning the floors at American Dragon Import/Export (Panama City HQ) will likely continue.

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      bourbon.p.millerMockingbirdHill
      4/22/16 2:39pm

      Not the skinny rich, they’re not politically the issue. The issue are the overweight Middle Americans with no understanding of urban issues, climate change, or social strife. They live in a carb-loaded bubble like veal.

      I never felt that way til I had to travel with my coworker from South Dakota. She was racist against American Indians, thought there was no proof of climate change, pro-coal, and thought you still tip 10% in restaurants. I about lost it on her over the tipping.

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      torchbearer2MockingbirdHill
      4/22/16 2:52pm

      The food stock is kind of poor, if you eat the poor they eat tons of GMOs and corn rather than leafy greens, so their fat content is higher. The wealthy can be fed on better quality food but then they also are likely to have access to health care which means the meat is tainted with antibiotics and other drugs... vegan yuppies are a good choice if they also into alternative medicine, that way you can get clean stock.

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    MWarnerMHamilton Nolan
    4/22/16 2:44pm

    GROSS INCOME OR NET INCOME?

    Jesus fucking Christ. How many of these articles can you people write without making this absolutely critical distinction? These are entirely different concepts that completely change the conversation about housing prices. Would it kill you to just add the word “net” or “gross” when you talk about this so that it’s clear?

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      BurnedAtTheSteakMWarnerM
      4/22/16 2:59pm

      When rent is 60-65%, is it really going to matter if we are talking gross or net? If that’s 65% of gross income, it’s an even higher percentage of net so the situation is even worse.

      Also, I found a comment in the link from the author of the study saying they use gross income.

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      Giovanni McFarlane FitzpatrickBurnedAtTheSteak
      4/22/16 3:12pm

      Yes.

      If your rent is taking that much of your gross income, it means one of two things. Either you’re living behind your means, or the prices of where you lived have moved up faster than your income has grown, or faster than you can find comparable housing. The first is entirely within your control, the second is market forces at work

      60-65% of net income is different, because that measurement should already take rent and taxes into account. If you’re paying that much of your net income, then it’s almost squarely an issue of choice overspending on rent while under spending in other areas to make up for it.

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    butcherbakertoiletrymakerHamilton Nolan
    4/22/16 2:28pm

    Well, it’s an island, right? Finite land resources means scarcity, which means high prices. So, let’s just fill in the Hudson and East Rivers—maybe even the Upper Bay for good measure—and build a shitload of houses. Who’s with me?

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      Veronykahbutcherbakertoiletrymaker
      4/22/16 2:56pm

      Yeah, see Los Angeles to prove that idea wrong.

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      butcherbakertoiletrymakerVeronykah
      4/22/16 3:00pm

      What did they do in LA?

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    GlitterbombFartsHamilton Nolan
    4/22/16 2:20pm

    Is there any city that isn’t Chester or Camden in the mid-Atlantic where this isn’t a problem? I’m in the Philly burbs and it’s outrageous trying to find something affordable.

    Slower Lower is about the only exception this rule, but they don’t count.

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      boaboaboatengtengtengGlitterbombFarts
      4/22/16 2:30pm

      Does Pittsburgh count? Even though you have to share a city with Yinzers.

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      Roll with the SquanchesGlitterbombFarts
      4/22/16 2:54pm

      Richmond? That’s probably about it, in my mind. New England’s really just as bad. Anywhere in NY too, not just downstate. It’s pretty bad upstate when you factor in the COLA doesn’t go down that far.

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    zombiepandaHamilton Nolan
    4/22/16 3:14pm

    If you told 20 year-old me I’d be about to marry a guy from Flushing and move to Staten Island I would have laughed in your face and told you to fuck right the fuck off. But here I am, 33 and about to close on a house in Stapleton. His grandma passed recently leaving her house behind and my in-laws are essentially bribing us to buy it and stay in NYC by giving us the down payment. You know what? We’ll fucking take it! 998 SF+basement, 4br, and a super well maintained craftsmen interior. For less per month then we pay in rent now for our rent stabilized “jr. 1br” in Inwood. But the best part? It has a mother. fucking. yard. GREEN SPACE. THAT I OWN. IN NEW YORK CITY. It’s literally the only way we can afford to stay in the city, let alone have kids, or even a dog. I’m so, so grateful and really excited for some real stability and the chance to actually start to build some semblance of equity.

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      Cheshire Moonzombiepanda
      4/22/16 4:16pm

      Congratulations to you! You got lucky and that is WONDERFUL!

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      CurlyErinzombiepanda
      4/22/16 4:46pm

      I’ve heard Stapleton is due for a renaissance, which is actually kind of bonkers.

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