<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class="">I’m going to say a few things nobody else will.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">We like our neighborhood the way it is. </div><div class="">If they could build apartments on top of Apsara and Hope Street pizza without disrupting our daily routine, we’d all be for it. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Also, if every neighborhood has low income housing, then there aren’t any upper income neighborhoods. Right?</div><div class="">I know, it’s not a real PC thing to point out.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Also, the basic purpose of government (our government. Most governments) is to preserve property rights. This means that property owners tend to make the rules.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Next</div><div class="">Current real estate practices focus on maximizing revenue for landlords. Land “value” is based on resale or rental income. If you have low rental income, then the value of the land is low. Which is why there are empty office buildings. Because if the landlord rents them at a lower value, their property loses value.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">The “solution” for landlords/property owners is to get tax breaks and incentives. The whole University Heights project was a result of something like this. But 20 years later, all the units have timed out of the low income requirement are now being rented at “market value.”</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Developers will always try to get the maximum benefit for themselves. Which we pay. Feh.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">I’ve always thought that empty, unused, or abandoned property should have its taxes raised over time. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Think this through with me. Empty property year one. Tax rate remains the same, or maybe even drops a little. But year two, it goes up. And every six months after.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Because we need low income housing, and at some point there will be an equilibrium where landlords will rent.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Yes to intensive development on North Main Street. It could be more like Commonwealth Ave… </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">That’s it for now.</div><br class=""><br class=""><div class="">
<meta charset="UTF-8" class=""><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div>---------------------------<br class=""><br class="">Mark Binder • author • storyteller • nice guy<br class="">Original and traditional folk tales<br class="">Stories from Izzy Abrahmson’s Village Life<br class="">and Autobiographical Lies<br class=""><br class=""><a href="http://markbinderbooks.com" class="">markbinderbooks.com</a><br class=""><br class="">Mark Binder | P.O. Box 2462 | Providence, RI 02906 | USA | +1.401.272-8707<br class=""><br class=""></div></div></div>
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