Who's obligation is it to provide affordable housing and how cheap does it have to be?

[DDPickles86]

You're right...no one is entitled to anything. No one is also entitled to have grocery stores, convenience stores, restaurants or coffee shops near their homes or work. If places with high costs of living want service in areas that don't offer a high wage they need to be prepared to either not have those services or make sure the people providing them can afford to do so.

Why do you think people who work these jobs deserve or entitled to live in a high cost area? I'm really curious.

I don't think they deserve to live in a high cost area. But if people who live in high cost of living areas want these services then they need to be prepared to make sure they have places for those providing the services to live. Maybe it's different in the States but in my city the cheapest house a person can purchase at the moment is 200'000 and rent for a one bedroom apartment starts at $1000. A person making minumum wage isn't going to be able to afford either oprion which is why there is affordable housing run by the government. I'm not saying a person making 20'000 a year deserves to live in a $500'000.00 home but even the cheapest open market home is beyond their reach. The options society has are to provide affordable housing or deal with the fact that we may have a labour shortage in the service industry.

I do think it's pretty shitty to expect someone to commute 1-2 hours in order to serve someone coffee. Which is what it sounds like many people seem to feel should happen.

My mom was a server for years. She lived in the ghetto and worked in the suburbs to feed me and my brother. The only place she could afford was in one of the most dangerous places in our city, and that was when her and my dad were together and had a two income household. This was in the 80s.

My mom knew that she wouldn't be able to take care of us if she continued being a server so she went to school and became a lawyer in another state that she knew she could afford to live in. We moved to a rural town where our house was the only house with indoor plumbing on our street. She would drive an hour and a half everyday, even being a lawyer to take care of us. She didnt make a lot of money at first because she was working for legal aid. But she still somehow did it. This was in the late 90s. We had food, we had clothes, we had a roof over our heads. She didnt complain. She didnt ask someone to build a three bedroom apartment for only $750 a month. She knew where she could afford to live and made adjustments and sacrifices. Millions of Americans do it every single day.

I dont want to hear that crap about shortage in the service industry. That's absolute shit. If one person will not do it the next person will. It's called work ethic and living in your means. It's a foreign concept to many people.

[Guest]

I keep seeing the call for affordable housing, but who's supposed to provide it? If you think it's the tax payers, how much extra would you be okay with coming out of your own paycheck to provide this affordable housing? $1? $10? $50? And what do you believe is an affordable price for rental housing? Give me an exact rental amount.

Most taxpayers have to work hard to pay for their own housing and associated costs - they shouldn't be bled even more than they already are to provide "affordable" housing. People need to get off their keisters, and find work to pay for their own housing. People in my generation and my parents' often worked two, three jobs at a time to be able to buy a house - no reason why current generations can't do the same.

What is your generation? Your parents generation?

[Guest]

Why do you think people who work these jobs deserve or entitled to live in a high cost area? I'm really curious.

I don't think they deserve to live in a high cost area. But if people who live in high cost of living areas want these services then they need to be prepared to make sure they have places for those providing the services to live. Maybe it's different in the States but in my city the cheapest house a person can purchase at the moment is 200'000 and rent for a one bedroom apartment starts at $1000. A person making minumum wage isn't going to be able to afford either oprion which is why there is affordable housing run by the government. I'm not saying a person making 20'000 a year deserves to live in a $500'000.00 home but even the cheapest open market home is beyond their reach. The options society has are to provide affordable housing or deal with the fact that we may have a labour shortage in the service industry.

I do think it's pretty shitty to expect someone to commute 1-2 hours in order to serve someone coffee. Which is what it sounds like many people seem to feel should happen.

My mom was a server for years. She lived in the ghetto and worked in the suburbs to feed me and my brother. The only place she could afford was in one of the most dangerous places in our city, and that was when her and my dad were together and had a two income household. This was in the 80s.

My mom knew that she wouldn't be able to take care of us if she continued being a server so she went to school and became a lawyer in another state that she knew she could afford to live in. We moved to a rural town where our house was the only house with indoor plumbing on our street. She would drive an hour and a half everyday, even being a lawyer to take care of us. She didnt make a lot of money at first because she was working for legal aid. But she still somehow did it. This was in the late 90s. We had food, we had clothes, we had a roof over our heads. She didnt complain. She didnt ask someone to build a three bedroom apartment for only $750 a month. She knew where she could afford to live and made adjustments and sacrifices. Millions of Americans do it every single day.

I dont want to hear that crap about shortage in the service industry. That's absolute shit. If one person will not do it the next person will. It's called work ethic and living in your means. It's a foreign concept to many people.

How old was she mom when she was affirmed to the bar? How did she afford law school? Did she have a degree while she was a server?

[DDPickles86]

I don't think they deserve to live in a high cost area. But if people who live in high cost of living areas want these services then they need to be prepared to make sure they have places for those providing the services to live. Maybe it's different in the States but in my city the cheapest house a person can purchase at the moment is 200'000 and rent for a one bedroom apartment starts at $1000. A person making minumum wage isn't going to be able to afford either oprion which is why there is affordable housing run by the government. I'm not saying a person making 20'000 a year deserves to live in a $500'000.00 home but even the cheapest open market home is beyond their reach. The options society has are to provide affordable housing or deal with the fact that we may have a labour shortage in the service industry.

I do think it's pretty shitty to expect someone to commute 1-2 hours in order to serve someone coffee. Which is what it sounds like many people seem to feel should happen.

My mom was a server for years. She lived in the ghetto and worked in the suburbs to feed me and my brother. The only place she could afford was in one of the most dangerous places in our city, and that was when her and my dad were together and had a two income household. This was in the 80s.

My mom knew that she wouldn't be able to take care of us if she continued being a server so she went to school and became a lawyer in another state that she knew she could afford to live in. We moved to a rural town where our house was the only house with indoor plumbing on our street. She would drive an hour and a half everyday, even being a lawyer to take care of us. She didnt make a lot of money at first because she was working for legal aid. But she still somehow did it. This was in the late 90s. We had food, we had clothes, we had a roof over our heads. She didnt complain. She didnt ask someone to build a three bedroom apartment for only $750 a month. She knew where she could afford to live and made adjustments and sacrifices. Millions of Americans do it every single day.

I dont want to hear that crap about shortage in the service industry. That's absolute shit. If one person will not do it the next person will. It's called work ethic and living in your means. It's a foreign concept to many people.

How old was she mom when she was affirmed to the bar? How did she afford law school? Did she have a degree while she was a server?

My mom was 32 when she was admitted to the bar association. She went for her undergrad and law school while working and taking care of three kids she had my sister while she was in law school. She would go to school at night and paid someone to watch my sister while she worked and I took care of my sister while she went to school. She got grants and took out loans to afford college. She worked 4 days a week and went to school on her days off. She would budget and save and somehow managed to feed three kids on $60 a month at Aldis.

My mom did it though. She did the best she could with what she had and tried to better her situation. And she did it on her own no one helped her.

I dont want to hear snowflake make everything fair to me bullshit. Life isn't fair. Get over it.

[Valentina327]

I don't think every apartment building needs to be state of the art and huge and fancy so that the rent is $1500 a month. They can make some smaller less fancy ones. They will still have tenants.

Same with houses. Not every house has to be a McMansion. Some can be 2 or 3 bedrooms instead of 6 bedrooms. They will still sale the house no problem

Starter homes here start at $400,000+ and are on the market for under a week, some sell 24 hours after hitting the market
That is a good chunk of change for many and unaffordable for some. But it is what the market allows. Do you want to make developers sell for less? They simply cannot do it as it is the land that costs the money. How do you want to regulate this? Do you want to regulate the amount a reseller can make on a house?

And here we have the foundation for socialism, which certain groups are pushing for.

This is actually what I believe the government is aiming at. Tax people out of their homes, the government will have to come in and "save" everyone by taking back the homes and renting them out, then everyone is in government assisted housing.

[hotspice58]

If the private developer is getting any kind of tax break or financial incentive - which means, taxpayers are contributing, then yes, we get a say. Like another poster said: not every building or house has to be high end.

I don't think every apartment building needs to be state of the art and huge and fancy so that the rent is $1500 a month. They can make some smaller less fancy ones. They will still have tenants.

Same with houses. Not every house has to be a McMansion. Some can be 2 or 3 bedrooms instead of 6 bedrooms. They will still sale the house no problem

Who is "they"? If a private developer wants to create a certain type of housing, why do you think you should have a say in that? Also, for a private developer, low income housing can be a liability and turn people with higher incomes away from their property. Nobody owes anyone affordable housing. Now, if tax breaks are involved, etc. that is a whole other story.