(Or understanding commercial rents for that matter)
Like, I really think the onus is on urbanists to confront the fact that Strong Towns was founded and is lead by a guy who opposes marriage equality and no-fault divorce. As well as consider how this reactionary worldview shapes his perspective on cities, development, and political economy generally.
Like, to be honest here, you should understand that Strong Towns is blaming (((Financial Elites))) for urban policy problems.
Is it pure antisemitism? No, but also it’s coming from the same right wing paranoia about like debt and financial instruments being predatory towards the Noble Smallholder
Since we’re on the topic of Strong Town’s wackiness (and I can’t help myself) I also want to point out that Marohn’s political party also opposes the existence of sperm banks and surrogacy.
Zoning is part of the issue (storefronts are often required to be too large or even mandated regardless of market conditions) building codes are also an issue.
Banks are rational actors. The fact these buildings are capitalized by large financial institutions isn’t The Problem.
People should approach this with a healthy dose of skepticism. Though the description of the loan term problem here is real, their diagnoses of “financialization” is well into crank-territory. Strong Towns has a bizarre, reactionary conception of “””Financial Capital””” and blame it for everything.
It should be kept in mind Chuck Marohn is a part of a right wing Catholic political party in Minnesota and blames, like, QE and low interest rates for homes being so expensive.
This is not a serious person to go to understand housing affordability.
It doesn’t take a genius to understand why a guy who is a member of a far right theocratic political party may oppose “””Financial Elites””” and, like, land use reform to truly urbanize cities.
It’s really crazy to see socialist electeds across the country adopt the YIMBY platform, with the exception of San Franciscan socialists who have tied themselves to the mast of left-NIMBYism and Dean Preston’s failed BoS tenure.
Urban Land Rent 🇸🇴🚰
Urban Land Rent 🇸🇴🚰
Urban Land Rent 🇸🇴🚰
Urban Land Rent 🇸🇴🚰
Urban Land Rent 🇸🇴🚰
Urban Land Rent 🇸🇴🚰
Urban Land Rent 🇸🇴🚰
I was trying to figure out why some presumably desirable urban commercial properties (specifically retail/service) sit vacant for so long and I found this a very interesting read. If there are any experts out there who can provide a solution or even a different perspective I'd love to hear that
Urban Land Rent 🇸🇴🚰
Urban Land Rent 🇸🇴🚰
Instead of letting their commercial buildings sit empty, surely it would be better for landlords to lower the rent and got some use out of the building, right? Wrong. Here’s why.
archive.strongtowns.org
Like they oppose abortion, marriage equality and even no fault divorce. It’s pretty extreme.
