In all honesty, every one of these cities has driven off middle-class families by the lack of reasonable residential real estate. Conversion of such properties would be expensive (anyone interested in becoming a plumber?) but minor compared to their overall value. Imagine Americans once again living downtown!
The value is the price you could sell converted units for in a free market less the cost of conversion. That value could be zero, it could be negative or it could be substantial. Whether it is above the cost that present owners/investors have sunk into it is a different issue and will probably drive how many otherwise insolvent banks will need to be bailed out by the taxpayer. The solution is hyperinflation so that everyone wins.
Will it be called "new urbanism", "fifteen minutes cities" or a new name this time?
If I had more money I would buy a dozen or more rural acres and move out of the suburbs.
“Imagine Americans once again living downtown!”
Gracias, pero no esta mierda otra vez-at least not in this area...
That has already been “imagined” by SA a couple of times over the past few decades-every time it ended up worse with sellers and buyers losing major money until now it is really hell, from what I hear from locals who moved back to the downtown area at the urging of friends there-supposedly it was safer than the country, doctor right around the corner, walk to the store, etc. All but one person moved back out here in less than 3 years and had only bad things to say-from trash and smells, the homeless wandering to pedestrian-unfriendly traffic, crime risk, high rent/mortgage payment, light pollution, sirens and noise 24/7 etc. Sounds like a dystopian nightmare-the only way that is going to make money is to convert it into homeless housing and ask fed to pay the homeless to go there...