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What world do you live in. Teen age kids, are not going to be available to work in restaurants for breakfast and lunch. They are not there to clean motel/hotel rooms as they are in school. They won't be there during the day to work in retail stores.
And on top of that, the middle and upper class kids, don't do minimum wage jobs anymore, as their parents feel their neighbors would look down on them if they did.
And the list goes on and on. You want to shut the city down and bring life as you know it to a standstill. Your post is the most self centered post based on not thinking about the total problem of any I have ever seen. You want to drive all those lower income people out of the city, and make it just for people like you and wealthier people. But in doing so, you will cut all services out of the city so people have to leave town to find a restaurant, grocery store, gas station, and this list goes on and on.
The reason that the city fathers are trying to discuss this problem, is they know what the problem is and are looking for ways that the lower income people can remain in the area to take care of the needs of the rest of the people.
Your idea, would drive a lot more people into poverty and onto welfare, and your taxes would go through the roof to keep them able to live as you take their jobs away from them. Are you willing to pay your share to make that happen?
When did this happen? When I was a kid, I had relatives and kid friends in an upper middle class town. Those kids worked in high school as did I.
Not many teenagers looking for work... at least around here... with the exception of some young ladies that do ok babysitting...
I've been paying into Social Security since age 12 and working before.
Last year I had a co-worker approach me about hiring her 22 year old son... I asked what can he do?
She said he needs to learn and is willing... then I mentioned I had a rental home that would need cleaning and painting coming up this weekend... she said OK.
That night she calls and said they talked about it and decided it would be bad for him to be around cleaning chemicals and paint???
I've come to belief there is a reason some young adults have no work experience...
My brother is in the county and has projects around the farm from time to time... I have been very impressed by kids that work for him... all seniors in high school or going to school at the community college... all have trucks, know how to work and bring tools...
It is like night and day from the city kids... reminds of the song A Country Boy Can Survive
One of the positives of going to a state university was getting to know people raised in diverse environments. Country girls are SO COMPETENT and I admire and adore them.
........I'm talking about the same houses that were built in Levittown: 900 sq ft, two bedrooms, one bathroom, no dining room and one living room. And none of the fancy granite on the kitchen counters, stainless steel appliances, central air, etc, etc, etc. Houses should be able to be built for under $30,000 if they are built to code and without all the fancy crap in them, .........
There you go. You've got a brilliant business idea. You can build 900 square foot houses for $30,000 and sell as many as you can build. You'll be doing good for your community.
It doesn't work for me. The cheapest I can get an 843 square foot house built is $68,900. That's just the house, not the land and not the systems development fees, lot preparation, or utility hook up. $81 a square foot and that is a very plain house with no upgrades at all.
At $81 a square foot, you can build a house that is 370 sq ft for your $30,000. No wait, better budget $10,000 for the land, site preparation, and utilities. If you happen to live where you can buy a lot for $5,000. Where I am, the cheapest lots are almost $100,000, and I could only find two of them under $100,000. So, for your $30,000 you can build 246 square feet. Only not really, because the smaller the house gets, the more expensive it is by the square foot, because the kitchen and bath are the most expensive part. As the house shrinks, you still need a kitchen and a bath.
You think it can be done, so go for it. You build them and show us how it is done.
In part the only way to recoup all the fixed cost is to go bigger...
Many things are estimated as cost per square foot... so the larger the home the less per square foot towards fixed costs.
Several of my friends are successful spec home builders... they offer more space for the dollar and that is why they are successful.
They buy their lots years in advance... often from owners that had dreams of building and gave up... it is just that difficult in parts of the Bay Area.
If I did build the 800 square foot house, it would cost me $213,900 all done, house, land, systems development fees, lot development and utilities, permits. Mortgage would be $1083.80 a month. Add a couple hundred more per month for taxes and insurance.
If I could keep it rented for $1300 a month, I would just break even if there was never any damage or repairs. Low income tenants in my area are looking for $300 a month, all utilities and internet included. The two income families are looking for $500 a month.
I can't build anything to rent for $300 a month with $200 worth of utilities included at no extra charge. But Rodentraiser, you come around and get it done and you will be a local hero. heck, not a hero, a local legend. They'd name a bridge or a park after you.
The reason low income housing is not built is because there is no way to do it unless the government is subsidizing at a substantial rate.
The vast majority of people who purchased a house in 1955 are either dead or sold that house decades ago.
That was my point. Making a killing in real estate takes both a lot of luck and a long time. Only someone who is consumed by the politics of envy seriously thinks that lots of San Franciscans have become millionaires by holding onto a $10,000 house.
When did this happen? When I was a kid, I had relatives and kid friends in an upper middle class town. Those kids worked in high school as did I.
Around 1980-1990. I hate generalizations, but *most* successful baby boomers (I am one) don't like to think that their kids might get their hands dirty or, God forbid, hurt themselves.
I can't build anything to rent for $300 a month with $200 worth of utilities included at no extra charge. But Rodentraiser, you come around and get it done and you will be a local hero. heck, not a hero, a local legend. They'd name a bridge or a park after you.
If Rodentraiser can show how to do that, he would not be a local legend, he would be king of the builders all over the nation.
We live in a small town, in Montana. Even here a lot in a decent area in a newer area of town (only places there are any) start at $70,000 or more. At the present time, I only know of one for sale at this time and it is over $70,000. As a retired Realtor that has developed lots, I can tell you what Rodentraiser says can be done is impossible. It may cost what could rent at $300 a month just to pay the building permits and hook ups not counting any construction or buying the lot.
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