Housing

Thanks to the National Vacant Properties Campaign for another important conference on vacant properties - this time in Louisville.  I was duly impressed with the first conference on the subject a year and a half ago but what struck me this time was the growing diversity of voices concerned with the issue.

At the last conference, I (and I assume many others) had the feeling that it was a therapy session of sorts for like-minded spirits.  "Older industrial" cities were sharing information and ideas because, while all cities are unique, we share a lot of the same challenges.  

It was the collapse of the housing bubble that triggered the current economic crisis.  As is the case in the aftermath of many calamities finger pointing abounds. There are an ample number of would be culprits. Take your pick; The Federal Reserve for keeping interest rates too low, mortgage brokers for pushing inappropriate loans, ratings agencies for blessing dubious securities, the list goes on.  A common criticism aimed at all of these culprits is that they lacked the foresight to see the inevitable housing bust. It was the housing bubble that camouflaged all of the bad decisions.

As James Howard Kunstler points out in Home From Nowhere, one of the tragedies of single-use zoning is that it branded shopping as an “obnoxious industrial activity that must be kept separate from houses”.  Ironically, the places where most Americans shop today come pretty close to “obnoxious” and “industrial”.