Recent comments in /f/rva

ttd_76 t1_jdxvtt5 wrote

Reply to RVA vs. Evernest by harpervn

Evernest is Dodson, right? Yeah, I can imagine there are a lot of people with complaints.

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mordenumero1 t1_jdxvpwq wrote

Reply to comment by I_Love_Booty_Pics_ in RVA vs. Evernest by harpervn

Any of the major realty companies in Richmond will screw you as a renter. Poor/no maintenance, ridiculous surprise fees, can never get a hold of an actual person at the company, etc.

They can provide terrible service because there is almost no alternative to them.

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lobbyhero OP t1_jdxuq7f wrote

Reply to I fixed the new sign outside the Fox Elementary playground by lobbyhero

Wow! So, this is a really bad Photoshop.

Fwiw, even I don't particularly like how dogs go in there, but I've kicked a soccer ball a couple times at that little cinder block wall and have never had a problem with poop.

I really thought the joke was apparent. My apologies.

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the_faded_memories t1_jdxu0d4 wrote

Reply to Surprise! It’s a Nightly Post! by saehildth

Anyone got a set of “chassis ears” I might borrow?

Just discovered these exist. Have some obnoxious squeaks on my truck wheels somewhere at low speeds and I think such a device would really help narrow down the exact culprit.

Possibly willing to trade wrenching labor on another project.

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Lamidala6 t1_jdxteff wrote

Reply to comment by DefaultSubsAreTerrib in RVA YIMBY kick-off meeting, Saturday at Ardent Brewing. "Yes in my backyard" pro-housing meetup. by DefaultSubsAreTerrib

The article you linked is informative, though I still think it fails to address the major pitfalls of the YIMBY model. If the YIMBY model is to work for poor and working class communities, developers must be incentivized to build affordable housing for low-income people. There is little reason for them to do that when they can build high-end housing for the wealthy and make more money.

The YIMBY model is built upon the idea of trickle-down housing (when better housing is built, the rich will leave their nice homes for them, and then low-income people can move into their previous housing). But, just like trickle-down economics, this doesn’t usually work in the real world. Instead the rich take multiple homes, rent out their old home at a high rent price, or they simply remain in their homes and these new high-end developments go empty. Even if certain instances of trickle-down housing do work, it is highly inefficient. On top of construction time (which all models have) you also have to wait for the rich to make their moves, which can add years to the process.

The article you linked is based on the idea that public housing will be the same as it’s been in the past, but this doesn’t need to be the case. The Vienna model in particular holds great promise with their idea of social housing—government owned land is sold to private companies which then own and operate housing with public oversight. Social housing is also placed in desirable areas and meets health and safety standards. It is available to people of all incomes. Higher-income people pay market prices which subsidize the cheaper rents of low-income people.

Low-income people cannot rely on the flaky goodwill of the rich in order for their lives to improve. Instead of tax dollars being given to developers who build housing inaccessible to most of us, we need to realize that housing is a human right and shouldn’t be left up to the free market. The free market rarely helps those that need it the most. If we are, first and foremost, trying to help low-income people, then social housing is the better model.

There was a comment above that you are a realtor. If this is so, it seems suspect to me as a low-income person that you would promote a model on the idea of its morals when more free market housing would allow you to make more money. Are you honestly trying to help low-income people? Or are you trying to live in a world that doesn’t exist where you can say you’ve helped low-income people while increasing your net-worth? I hope it’s the former, and I hope you change your mind on the best model to do so. All the best.

(Edited: twice for clarity)

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