Poor people lose again
The Brandon city council has decided that poor people have no right to live in their town. (Rankin Ledger, June 20 ) Somehow the cities in the Jackson Metro area have managed to lose sight of the fact that Mississippi is one of the poorest states in the union. The average income for a married couple around here is around 45k. The average new home around here starts at $100 per sq ft. What they have done is set a new minimum for construction at around 180k. They make a point of saying R-3 can be built at 1200 sq. ft., but good luck getting the permits or zoning variances. The best part is the city council woman who says about the law: “In no way is this intended to keep people out”. If its not, why pass it?
posted by Thomas @ 9:24 AM
4 Comments:
How precisely has the city decided that poor cannot live in their town. This does not affect apartments, it does not affect houses on smaller lots, and despite the negative attitude of the author about permits for R3 or zoning variances that is precisely what the review board if for and if the review board acts unfairly then they can be sued accordingly.
I grant you that MS is poor but without further proof that there is no other option in Brandon (no apartments, R3, other sites) and your lack of citation for your housing prices (100 sound's high to me)I can't get on this bandwagon.
I do indeed have a negative attitude about this whole situation. The ordinance Brandon passed is a symptom of a growing problem in this area. A whole generation is being deprived of the ability to make a life for themselves so the people who already have can protect what they have. I used to be a big believer in the free market. But the real property market has failed. The average person who works here cannot buy a home here. At first I was content to say it was shifting demographics, but now I will say it is primarily speculation, short sightedness, and greed driving the market. The father quoted in the article from the first post actually worries his kids will be bothered by low cost housing. I am more concerned that his kids will never be able to buy a house since the cost of housing has outstripped wage growth, and protectionists are blocking the building of affordable housing. Please see my next post for the proofs.
I found your site by accident while looking for Mississippi's stance on knives on campuses (a cook was harassed at Ole Miss last weekend for carrying a knife under his arm, heading to his car after work during the Presidential debate.
However this post on greed/free market and housing struck me... as it is 2 years old and now the market is finally crashing due to exactly the reasons you said - speculation and short sightedness. Least now you can go back and say "I told you so".
PUH-lease!! More bashing of the free market. Thomas Sowell wrote about this probem in his Economics book and made it so clear that anyone with half a brain could understand that the free market DOES work when government stays out of it. The current problem now is due to government regulating ie. Interfering with the lending practices of banks.
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