> Obviously many people can't or do not wish to own their house for any number of reasons
"Those reasons" being that the price of real estate in Amsterdam has grown exponentially in recent years.
Some large but unknown number of apartments here have vanished into private investments where no one lives or AirBNB etc where no one lives for more than a few days.
If houses in Amsterdam were reserved for people _living_ in Amsterdam, there would be a significant increase in supply, and therefore a significant decrease in prices, which right now, are such that your average Amsterdam worker can't live here.
> The social housing system seemed to be abused when I was there.
Still is, but I see this as rational calculation on the part of the Gemeente (municipality, these are much more powerful here).
Those apartments aren't palatial. Most of the time, people just naturally move out, maybe a few years late, but why force people onto the street when they're just getting started?
Some number of people do go on for years, but they calculate that it's better to have a more relaxed system, not to cause grief by going after a few freeloaders, and to spend their efforts on building brand-new public housing.
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I had to get over 30 years of NYC living when I moved here. But the Gemeente is pretty smart. There's a reason for most everything, often a good reason, and they are constantly tuning.
Sure, I have complaints, but generally if I wonder why something is there or what's going to happen in terms of public works, I say, "What would a competent person do?" That almost never worked in NYC.
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Did you know they're talking about banning cruise ships from part of the river IJ, raising the river bed there by 4 meters so they can put a bike path underneath it? And by gum, they might just do that.
"Those reasons" being that the price of real estate in Amsterdam has grown exponentially in recent years.
Some large but unknown number of apartments here have vanished into private investments where no one lives or AirBNB etc where no one lives for more than a few days.
If houses in Amsterdam were reserved for people _living_ in Amsterdam, there would be a significant increase in supply, and therefore a significant decrease in prices, which right now, are such that your average Amsterdam worker can't live here.
> The social housing system seemed to be abused when I was there.
Still is, but I see this as rational calculation on the part of the Gemeente (municipality, these are much more powerful here).
Those apartments aren't palatial. Most of the time, people just naturally move out, maybe a few years late, but why force people onto the street when they're just getting started?
Some number of people do go on for years, but they calculate that it's better to have a more relaxed system, not to cause grief by going after a few freeloaders, and to spend their efforts on building brand-new public housing.
---
I had to get over 30 years of NYC living when I moved here. But the Gemeente is pretty smart. There's a reason for most everything, often a good reason, and they are constantly tuning.
Sure, I have complaints, but generally if I wonder why something is there or what's going to happen in terms of public works, I say, "What would a competent person do?" That almost never worked in NYC.
----
Did you know they're talking about banning cruise ships from part of the river IJ, raising the river bed there by 4 meters so they can put a bike path underneath it? And by gum, they might just do that.