the bone conductor

this is pretty irritating right here. it never ceases to amaze me that people who really should know better insist on turning the city’s unwillingness to really commit to affordable housing (while letting developers throw up new skyscraper lofts left right and center, of course) into some absurd us vs them dynamic, with the “them” being those rotten greedy bastards who want to actually own a home, or at least a piece of one, in one of the best places in the world to live, and maybe have the kind of security for their family that the tenant advocates demand for the renters they claim to represent. i know! we’ll outlaw condos and tics altogether! that will fix it! then no one will ever be evicted again! plus you have to love the “i know the *real* numbers” argument there. proof? evidence? who needs that (especially when what there is completely contradicts my argument) when i have an opinion! don quixote, call for you on line two…

it’s a real problem, and the real solution is for the city to make real affordable housing. sure some developers won’t get quite as rich as they would otherwise, but that seems preferable to punishing the few people who are able to scrape enough together to try to put down roots in a city they love, and not have to live with the uncertainty of some lunatic landlord or management company ready to yank the rug out first chance they get.