![]() When it was topped off in 1970, it was the world’s tallest building outside New York. is represented by only three: the Empire State Building, Seattle’s Space Needle and, here in Chicago, the John Hancock Center.ġ75 East Delaware or “Big John” is a 100-story mixed-use complex offering prime office and retail space, restaurants and observatories, a 750-space heated parking garage, a TV/radio broadcast center, and 49 floors of the most sought-after condominium residences in Chicago. If her proposal ever gets to the Legislature, it will be just another confirmation of Bernie Sanders’s insight that government does not regulate business business regulates government."The construction of the John Hancock is one of mankind's oldest dreams," so say the members of the World Federation of Great Towers, a distinguished association celebrating the most magnificent of these “international monuments.” Ranging the globe from the Eiffel Tower to the recently added Burj Khalifa in Dubai, 32 structures have been deemed worthy to grace their list. Wu’s effort is admirable precisely because she is so different from so many politicians, but I’m afraid it will fail. When private interests overcome those of the citizenry, it is incumbent on government leaders to intervene: to compel rather than cajole, to restrict rather than ransom, to provide constituents with the same protection from economic harm that they do against physical harm in their role as oversight of law enforcement. Meanwhile, luxury condos continue to metastasize, despoiling the landscape with architecture that could be best described as modern rabbit hutch revival. ![]() Already real estate and property interests are threatening, warning that rent control will dampen investment and keep them from developing more (unaffordable) housing at a time when the housing market is in crisis. She has about as much chance of getting this done as Vladimir Putin does of receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. So it is regrettable that her plan for rent control will go nowhere. Rent control should be a last resort for those who really need it. Mayor Michelle Wu should provide incentives to landlords to convert these properties to residential housing. Some of this space could be repurposed to residential housing. As reported in the Globe last month, Boston has record-high vacancy rates in commercial real estate as a result of the trend in hybrid work and the slowdown in technology. If we want to solve the underlying problem, we need to deal with the cause: The demand for housing has outstripped supply. It did not encourage new housing supply rather, it stifled it. Many of us remember notorious rent control abuses when cities experimented with this misguided policy in the 1970s. ![]() ![]() Unfortunately, virtually all economists agree that rent control only exacerbates the problem of high rents. Rent control is a well-intended policy, and we have decades of experience with it. However, we need to be careful with rent control. ![]() Residential rents have become high in Boston and cities around the country. This well-intended policy is misguided and open to abuse Until we see a policy that eschews the desperate need to placate wealthy building owners and unresponsive landlords and instead advocates for significantly more affordable rents and minimal increases, young professionals and many born-and-bred Bostonians will continue to move out of this breathtakingly expensive state. As a recent graduate of an advanced-degree program, I find it unconscionable that tuition at Boston’s higher-education institutions continues to climb while housing standards have barely improved.Įven then, is a monthly rent increase capped around $300 for a lease originating at $3,000 anywhere near manageable (or sensible) for apartments that are in deplorable condition but, because of their location, nonetheless in high demand? I think these exemptions will be more widespread than anyone in Wu’s camp might lead us to believe indeed, “small owner-occupied properties” are the backbone of Boston’s horrendous lack of subsidized student housing. 19), a rent control policy modeled on the existing versions in California and elsewhere contains exemptions for landlords and buildings that meet certain criteria. Rational rent control policies - much like smooth city streets, functional road signage and pavement markings, or a competent transportation system - are but a pipe dream in the Boston metro area, and Mayor Michelle Wu has yet to make significant headway on the many dreamlike policies she proposed as a candidate.Īs Catherine Carlock and Emma Platoff’s recent front-page story notes (“Wu floats proposal for rent control,” Jan. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |