Section 8 Housing

[nclib]

Positive. It helps the poor and disabled manage.

[opebo]

Very positive, though it should be vastly expanded. 

[The Duke]

Positive because the other realistic choice is rent control.  I'd take Section 8 over rent control any day.

[A18]

Horrible. It should be abolished immediately.

[Dave from Michigan]

mostly negative

[nclib]

it should be vastly expanded. 

Agreed.

[TeePee4Prez]

Neutral

[dazzleman]

Negative.

I realize the theoretical necessity for some type of housing subisidy for a segment of the population.

Unfortunately, Section 8 housing tends to destroy the neighborhoods where it is placed.  Even many liberals refuse to buy in neighborhoods where there is Section 8 housing.

Therefore, I don't want it anywhere near me.

[TeePee4Prez]

Positive because the other realistic choice is rent control.  I'd take Section 8 over rent control any day.

I'd rather have rent control.

[Sam Spade]

Section 8 in Texas was pretty much only for inner-city poor blacks (which are a small and ever-declining percentage of population). 

Hispanics run away from it like the plague, besides they actually work for a living, so there's no need.

Rent control = non-existant, but then again when housing is relatively cheap and plentiful, what's the need?

Maryland, of course, is quite different.  Natch.

I'm pretty neutral on the subject.

[The Duke]

Positive because the other realistic choice is rent control.  I'd take Section 8 over rent control any day.

I'd rather have rent control.

Rent control has caused a shortage of housing in Los Angeles.  The reason real estate has shot off the charts is party because economic incentives mitigate against new housing being built.  New renters get hosed if they are lucky enough to find someplace, old renters get subsidized by the new.

Rent control is the worst.

[dazzleman]

Positive because the other realistic choice is rent control.  I'd take Section 8 over rent control any day.

I'd rather have rent control.

Rent control has caused a shortage of housing in Los Angeles.  The reason real estate has shot off the charts is party because economic incentives mitigate against new housing being built.  New renters get hosed if they are lucky enough to find someplace, old renters get subsidized by the new.

Rent control is the worst.

Rent control is an idiotic policy that exacerbates the problem of high housing costs because it discourages the creation of new supply.

Rent control also ends up keeping rents artificially low for a number of high income people, and results in a run-down and decayed housing stock.  Rent control is a big factor in what destroyed the Bronx in New York City.

[opebo]

Positive because the other realistic choice is rent control.  I'd take Section 8 over rent control any day.

I'd rather have rent control.

But John Ford is wrong - 'rent control' does nothing to house the poor, who have no money at all.  You can't control a landlord's rent to be 0.

[The Duke]

Positive because the other realistic choice is rent control.  I'd take Section 8 over rent control any day.

I'd rather have rent control.

But John Ford is wrong - 'rent control' does nothing to house the poor, who have no money at all.  You can't control a landlord's rent to be 0.

I just said I oppose rent control!  I prefer Section 8 as a means to house the poor.

[opebo]

Positive because the other realistic choice is rent control.  I'd take Section 8 over rent control any day.

I'd rather have rent control.

But John Ford is wrong - 'rent control' does nothing to house the poor, who have no money at all.  You can't control a landlord's rent to be 0.

I just said I oppose rent control!  I prefer Section 8 as a means to house the poor.

Yes, that is wise, as rent control does nothing to house the very poor.  Sorry if I was nitpicking.

[minionofmidas]

How does it work exactly?

[opebo]

How does it work exactly?

You apply, showing that you have a very low income or no income at all, and if you are very lucky, eventually they will put you on the roster, and the government pays all or part of your rent, depending on your income.

From the perspective of the landlord, it is great, because the rent is gauranteed, and repairs are subsidized.  If the person damages the house too much she (I believe it is only available to mothers with children) is kicked out of the program and must go homeless.  The only drawback for the landlord is that there is a Sec. 8 inspector in addition to the regular city inspectors, so that could mean more repairs in order to meet the requirements of the program.  My father and I often looked at such investments in the 1990s, but he was too afraid to own anything in the ghettos.

[minionofmidas]

Ah, alright.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Dislike; there are better solutions to housing problems without the big side-effects.

[David S]

Positive because the other realistic choice is rent control.  I'd take Section 8 over rent control any day.

I'd rather have rent control.

Rent control has caused a shortage of housing in Los Angeles.  The reason real estate has shot off the charts is party because economic incentives mitigate against new housing being built.  New renters get hosed if they are lucky enough to find someplace, old renters get subsidized by the new.

Rent control is the worst.

Someone once said; " Aside from intense bombing, nothing can destroy a city faster than rent control."

[opebo]

Dislike; there are better solutions to housing problems without the big side-effects.

I would like to hear more about these.  In the US Section 8 is considered a program designed to minimize 'side effects' on neighborhoods, and publicly owned buildings of the type that seem to work reasonably well in Britain have led to some pretty disasterous situations. 

[minionofmidas]

More a question of architecture, flat size etc. ... although America's established pattern of White Flight doesn't help.

[opebo]

More a question of architecture, flat size etc. ... although America's established pattern of White Flight doesn't help.

The white flight is more highly subsidized than the housing of the poors!

[minionofmidas]

No, what I meant is, put a public housing bloc in an area with some relatively posher housing, and a couple of people leave. Do that in America, and almost everybody leaves.[/slight exaggeration]

[opebo]

No, what I meant is, put a public housing bloc in an area with some relatively posher housing, and a couple of people leave. Do that in America, and almost everybody leaves.[/slight exaggeration]

Oh yes, Americans fear a black (and a poor).  But my point was that in the US such white flight is highly subsidized by infrastructure investement - the roads, utilities, and such are subsidized by the existing customer, and in addition home loans are highly subsidized as well by quasi-governmental corporations known as 'Fannie Mae' an 'Freddie Mack', as well as the tax code, which allows deduction of interest.