I don't get it. I heard several times this morning on news radio an odd thing that sparked my interest. Since I can't find any website that is updated fast enough to carry the story I will say that it went something like this, "Is Springfield over-run with new Apartment complexes? That's what city council will be voting on this week. A recent boom in new apartment complex construction has possibly contributed to an exodus of center-city apartments. City council intends to consider and vote on new proposals that will help to slow down new construction of these apartments. Proposals include the changing of city zoning laws."
I heard this and couldn't believe it. It sounds like people are moving out of center-city apartments and into new apartments built elsewhere in the city and City Council is upset about it. First of all, don't they realize that purposely slowing down construction opportunities is a bad thing. It sounds like the landlords of all these slums in center-city are using their political connections to keep tenants from finding better places to live. That's so wrong! I agree with those that say that if companies (landlords included) want to make money then they have to do what every other company does. They have to make their product or service attractive to the buying public. If these center-city landlords want people to continue to live in their rentals then they need to be pushed to fix up their rentals. It seems to me that they liked it a lot more when there was a shortage of places to live and they could collect rent every month without ever having to put anything into their properties. This is clearly an issue of City Council trying to drive out competition. But what they are driving out is nicer, affordable housing. They are driving out new construction jobs. They are catering to current lazy slumlords who ruin Springfield with their rotting properties.
I say let the current apartment construction continue. The slumlords will be forced to renovate or sell. When old dilapidated places like that sell, the most common buyers are investors who buy to fix up and sell. Sometimes it's families that buy these properties and fix them up because they are proud homeowners. Either way, Springfield wins. It gets fixed up and people take pride in their neighborhoods again. But, one of the biggest reasons for center-city decay in Springfield is that the homes aren't owned by individual families. They're mostly owned by investors that rent out their properties and don't take care of them. As long as there are those who will rent out these properties the investors will continue to let them rot and collect their rent. This news report mentioned a "center-city exodus". City Council is intending to stop the very thing that will only help center-city rejuvenation. Be aware of what is going on in our city.
Too Much Competition?
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