Category: Real estate taxes

Too many houses: Part 2, the un-building government

13 May, 2008 (10:44) | Demand, Demographics, Local issues, Real estate taxes, Slums | No comments

Yesterday we saw that Youngstown, Ohio, whose population now is half what it was forty years ago, has made an enormous break with its past.

More than 1,000 structures have been demolished so far.
 

It’s for the greater good
 
Choosing to cull wasn’t easy.  First, Youngstown tried everything else:
 
For a while, Youngstown, with its population at just […]

Too many houses: Part 1, the un-growing city

12 May, 2008 (08:37) | Demand, Demographics, Local issues, Real estate taxes, Slums | No comments

 
A town is a business that sells quality of life and competes with other towns to attract real estate tax payers.  It spends its revenue on infrastructure that enhances quality of life and enables it to attract more workers and real estate tax payers.  Some towns are so attractive, relative to their rural competition, that […]