Category Archives: Housing

Performative Politics Matters

Posted on January 8, 2026 by mikethemadbiologist

No, this post isn’t about Venezuela, though, given the title, it could have been! No, this post is about this initiative by shiny, new Mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, who yesterday announced the following (boldface mine): New York … Continue reading →

Posted in Democrats, Housing | 3 Comments

What Does “The Builder’s Remedy” Mean for “Abundance?”

Posted on November 25, 2025 by mikethemadbiologist

A few months back, Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson released a book in which they described the Abundance Agenda, which Klein summarizes as: Abundance is the argument that a lot of what is wrong in our society is that we … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing | 2 Comments

Rent Controls Won’t Limit New Housing Construction

Posted on September 23, 2024 by mikethemadbiologist

But what would the one of the largest residential landlords in the world know, amirite? Rent controls need not stop big investors from funding new homes, one of the world’s largest landlords has said, a stance that goes against the … Continue reading →

Posted in Bidness, Housing | Comments Off on Rent Controls Won’t Limit New Housing Construction

Whose Backyard Is It?

Posted on February 22, 2024 by mikethemadbiologist

The Washington Post has a story about the possible plans for replacing a parking garage and a fire station with housing at 1617 U Street NW. Here’s what the site looks like: The two ugly square things in the foreground … Continue reading →

Posted in DC, Housing | Comments Off on Whose Backyard Is It?

The Rent Is Too Damn High: The D.C. Rent Stabilization Edition

Posted on December 4, 2023 by mikethemadbiologist

A few weeks ago, some asshole with a blog discussed how landlords in D.C. are engaged in algorithmic collusion to jack up rental prices. While that’s a new trick those gonifs have learned, the old ones–which target lower income people–are … Continue reading →

Posted in DC, Housing | 3 Comments

The Rents Are Too Damn High–And Democrats Should Do Something About It

Posted on November 29, 2023 by mikethemadbiologist

But why do people think the economy is not good? (boldface mine) It now requires $119.27 to buy the same goods and services a family could afford with $100 before the pandemic. Since early 2020, prices have risen about as … Continue reading →

Posted in Democrats, Economics, Housing | 3 Comments

BuT wHy Do PeOpLe ThInK tHe EcOnOmY sUcKs? A Personal Angle on Some Justice for D.C. Renters

Posted on November 2, 2023 by mikethemadbiologist

D.C.’s Attorney General Schwalb is bringing a lawsuit against fourteen D.C. landlords and the ‘tech’ company Real Page, who are accused of price fixing (boldface mine): The rent is too damn high in D.C., and Attorney General Brian Schwalb claims … Continue reading →

Posted in DC, Housing | 6 Comments

The Problem with D.C.’s Downtown Is the Private, Not Federal, Sector

Posted on October 10, 2023 by mikethemadbiologist

Because D.C.’s current leadership, despite years of high rates of office vacancies downtown, did nothing to address the problem, they have been calling for federal workers to return to the office in a desperate attempt to jump start downtown businesses, … Continue reading →

Posted in Bidness, Boston, DC, Housing | 1 Comment

The Weirdest (and Freakiest) NIMBY Argument Yet

Posted on October 9, 2023 by mikethemadbiologist

Recently, the Boston Globe described the reality of trying to build denser housing in Boston suburbs with access to mass transit*. The typical arguments against increasing density are made by the opponents, and there are the usual local officials who … Continue reading →

Posted in Fucking Morons, Housing | 3 Comments

Housing and Economic Anxiety

Posted on September 19, 2023 by mikethemadbiologist

Ned Resnikoff makes a very important point about the Hollywood strikes (boldface mine): But one of the most important background conditions for these two strikes is the housing crisis. As labor historian Nelson Lichtenstein recently noted, dizzying housing costs in … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing, Music | 1 Comment