Cohousing-L Mailing List: Renting vs Buying

[Tobia,Blaise (tobiabj]

If this has previously been posted, I apologize, but there was an excellent, 
well-researched and sweeping piece on affordable housing in the NYT Magazine. 
(Apologies for linking to something behind a pay wall, but it can also be found 
in the May 28 print edition.)

The piece is mostly about affordable rental policies of Vienna, which go back 
almost a century and make Vienna a "renter's paradise," with a majority of 
Viennese choosing to rent rather than have an ownership interest. It goes into 
great detail comparing Vienna to various U.S. cities - and to the U.S. overall. 
One of the key points it raises is that U.S. housing policies at all levels, 
for almost a century, have strongly favored ownership models - and that many of 
todays unaffordability and inequity problems arise from that bias. Further, it 
cites research that shows that homeowners are typically far more conservative 
on issues that could in any way impact their property interests (and this 
includes relatively progressive people). Many Viennese renters can count on 
locked-in lifetime tenancy and rent ceilings, and the mixed-income model keeps 
Vienna's rental stock, both public and private, well maintained and desirable. 
Hence, they would prefer to spend the money they're not paying into mortgages 
for travel, enjoyment of other types, studies and hobbies, and community 
building.

-- Blaise Tobia

Co-Gardener in Philadelphia