There is an old saying that “In politics reality is irrelevant; it is only the voters’ perception of reality that matters.” And, regretfully, I believe that this is true. So when we have a housing shortage and people are homeless, many voters naturally look to the government for a resolution. And, since politicians live and die on voter approval, they hasten to enact programs that have the governments paying vast amounts of money to build new housing units. You have seen these programs that are going to spend $500 million on housing, and it ends up costing upwards of $1 million per unit. No! The answer is more to get the governments out of the way by curbing many of their regulations, and allowing modular units to be constructed by the Free Market and brought to vacant lands. This can be done for as little as $40,000 per unit. Then the homeless people who would be the temporary residents would be transported away from their panicked and survival lifestyle and in the process regain some hope for the future. At that point, once equilibrium was regained, those people would be much more inclined to accept needed services and job skills training to get them back to a more normal life.
Can this be done? Actually yes, it is right now being done in San Jose and San Francisco! First, non-profit organizations in those cities are able to borrow some vacant land, either from private or public entities, so land costs are almost zero. Second, the cities declare an emergency, which negates many of the building codes which, in turn, vastly reduces the costs of installing underground foundations or of trenching the utilities. And, third, the non-profits then purchase pre-made modular units from various companies who compete for the business. Truth be told: If these approaches can work in places like San Jose and San Francisco, they can work anywhere. So get the governments out of the way, and let the Free Market do the job!
Question for the week (which came from one of my prison correspondents): What do you call two crows that are stuck together? Answer: Vel-Crows.
Started in 2016, the Jack News provides a pragmatic look at political discussion with some satire. An independent journalistic endeavor, we have no ties to other media outlets or services. We write our own commentary and form our own opinions.
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2 Responses
It’s important to consider a balanced approach that includes both affordable, efficiently-built housing and comprehensive support services for the homeless.
This could be a game changer