AFS Cinema
Here's What We Do …
RECEIVED Mon., Oct. 2, 2017
Dear Editor,
Reading the debate between CMs Casar and Tovo, I was glad to hear CM Tovo mention the East Riverside fiasco ["Which Way to CodeNEXT?" News, Sept. 15]. It broke my heart to see all the cheap housing that area offered torn down in order to make room for more expensive housing. The problem is that the market will not produce housing people can afford. This is proved by the fact “affordable housing” and “market rate housing” are not the same. We must do whatever possible to restrict the right of people to cash in on their property. We must unabashedly declare owning land is not the same as owning a nice boat. What people do with land affects everyone, and real property ownership cannot be an unbridled right but an agreement between owner and community. This of course raises all the problems with people who believe housing is not a right but making a profit is. A great idea I heard years ago, back when it really would have made a difference, was to cap property taxes for the long term (15 years? 20?) with a balloon payment (difference between market rate taxable value and frozen value) due if someone sells. I am not sure what happened to that idea. In a state which private property rights are up there with Friday night football as foundations of a civic religion this is difficult, but we must find a way to make it more expensive to tear down old, reasonably priced housing, and cheaper to repair and hold on to same. I am an East Austin landlord and have given my tenants a rent decrease. (Every landlord should try it!) I do not want to hear nonsense about envy and ponies and the Real World. I have watched gentrification since its beginnings in 1980s Manhattan. Housing and “The Market” are not a good match and it is the job of government to ameliorate the destruction caused by our present housing/price insanity. Bravo to the Chronicle and CMs Tovo and Casar for bringing this debate public.
Reading the debate between CMs Casar and Tovo, I was glad to hear CM Tovo mention the East Riverside fiasco ["Which Way to CodeNEXT?" News, Sept. 15]. It broke my heart to see all the cheap housing that area offered torn down in order to make room for more expensive housing. The problem is that the market will not produce housing people can afford. This is proved by the fact “affordable housing” and “market rate housing” are not the same. We must do whatever possible to restrict the right of people to cash in on their property. We must unabashedly declare owning land is not the same as owning a nice boat. What people do with land affects everyone, and real property ownership cannot be an unbridled right but an agreement between owner and community. This of course raises all the problems with people who believe housing is not a right but making a profit is. A great idea I heard years ago, back when it really would have made a difference, was to cap property taxes for the long term (15 years? 20?) with a balloon payment (difference between market rate taxable value and frozen value) due if someone sells. I am not sure what happened to that idea. In a state which private property rights are up there with Friday night football as foundations of a civic religion this is difficult, but we must find a way to make it more expensive to tear down old, reasonably priced housing, and cheaper to repair and hold on to same. I am an East Austin landlord and have given my tenants a rent decrease. (Every landlord should try it!) I do not want to hear nonsense about envy and ponies and the Real World. I have watched gentrification since its beginnings in 1980s Manhattan. Housing and “The Market” are not a good match and it is the job of government to ameliorate the destruction caused by our present housing/price insanity. Bravo to the Chronicle and CMs Tovo and Casar for bringing this debate public.
Tom Cuddy
