Are house flippers exactly what the Rust Belt needs to recover from decades of systemic disinvestment, or a dangerous speculative game that fragile places shouldn’t be playing?
That’s what Kea and Chuck are talking about on this week’s Upzoned, and it’s a lively debate. Chuck, who lives in small-town Minnesota, is excited by the idea that ordinary people with a few basic home-repair skills can turn their sweat equity into a decent living while gently helping neighborhoods recover from decline. Kea, who grew up in Cleveland and Michigan and now owns and manages a handful of apartments in her new hometown of St. Louis, MO, is a little more cautious: she’s seen developers like the kind Chuck’s describing, but she’s seen far more flippers buy buildings en masse, do shoddy renovations, and transform neighborhoods in a way that’s far from gentle. And when cities give tax increment financing to help these speculative flippers do it even bigger, things can get even uglier.
Listen in to hear them hash it out, and dig into the arguments from Reuters's recent article, How Tech Jobs Helped Rust Belt Become House Flipping Hot Spot. And then in the Downzone, Chuck and Kea talk about Extant, a sci-fi TV show that Chuck’s been bingeing, Chuck’s most recent read (The Value of Everything: Making and Taking in the Global Economy by Maria Mazzucato), and Florida by Lauren Groff, a collection of place-based short stories that Kea loved.
Why Is It So Expensive To Build Public Transit in the U.S.?
This Man Overcame Homelessness by Building His Own Tiny Home…on Hollywood Boulevard!
What Does the ”Airbnbust” Mean for the Housing Market?
This Seattle Highway Is Facing a $29 Million Financial Crisis
We Need More Housing—But Also More People Who Can Build More Housing
Yes, Getting Rid of Parking Minimums Is Good for the Climate—But That’s Just the Tip of the Iceberg
We Have Plenty of Land in the United States. But Can All of It Support Housing?
The Paris of the Plains Can’t Afford Its Fountains Anymore
E-Bikes: The Frankenstein’s Monster of Transportation?
Professional Engineers: Speak Up. The Stakes Are Life and Death.
New York’s New Experiment in Fighting Gridlock
The ”Other Story” of Buffalo
Water Wars in the Modern Wild West
TxDOT Proposes to Dig a $1 Billion Infrastructure Grave in Downtown Dallas
State Preemption: A Means To Reform Zoning, or a Threat to Localism?
Looking for an Affordable Starter Home? HUD Suggests Trying a Manufactured Home.
NIMBY: Hero, Villain, or None of the Above?
Inflation or Lower Housing Values: Pick Your Cleanest Dirty Shirt?
Uber’s Bull Run Is Over, Says CEO
Corporate Investors Own Nearly Half of This City’s Residential Property
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The emPOWERed Half Hour
Social Dallas Podcast
Change Church Podcast
Delivering Solidarity
Nonprofits Are Messy: Lessons in Leadership | Fundraising | Board Development | Communications
Six Degrees with Kevin Bacon