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PaperclipPerfector  3mo ago (text post)   35137 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of June 16, 2025

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I'm not a fan of rent control, and I fully understand and agree how shitty of a policy it is.

I vote for the most economically literate politicians in every election (which is about as effective as spoiling my ballot, which I have also done). So I've done my part.

However, the clusterfuck that is housing policy carries on with or without me, so you fucking bet I am going to work what I can to my advantage.

Also, I find anti-rent control people (read: the entirety of /r/neoliberal) somewhat obnoxious in their "just get rid of rent control bro it's that easy it'll fix the market" prescription. They are right, in a vacuum. However, when NIMBYs get to block everything forever for any reason, getting rid of rent control is marginal at best.

4plex houses are being denied in Toronto neighborhoods because they "change neighborhood character" despite them being literally the most gentle form of density possible. They're also legal "as of right" but it turns out that was a total bait and switch because other zoning laws prevent them despite being "as right". Less than 400 4plex homes have been approved in 2 years, so it's safe to say this was an absolute fucking scam of a policy "win".

If any politician ran on a platform of "I'll get rid of rent control, making zoning identical to Japan, and cut development charges dramatically" I'd be out there knocking on doors for them every day, and I'd probably suck their dick too.

Unfortunately, the median voter is fucking retarded and this is an "instant lose" platform. So I'll keep abusing rent control until a better option presents itself.

The highest TFR economically 'normal' metroplex in the continental USA is Houston, which famously has no official zoning(although in practice there's lots of unofficial zoning, it's still far less than most everywhere else).

I'd never fault someone for behaving rationally in the imperfect system. I just found it funny that you cheered on rent control then listed like the most central downsides. I see the cheering was sarcastic.

I viscerally hate "/s" but it does lead to these situations

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