Housing

A water drop and ripples

Progressive policies only seek to manage increasing hostilities and problems.

By Justin Katz | April 24, 2024 |

The headline of a Alexa Gagosz’s recent Boston Globe article asks, “Will tenants unions make a difference in Rhode Island’s housing crisis?”  The answer, we can be confident, is “yes,” although it will make a difference by making it worse. The state’s problem is insufficient housing, and the only durable, healthy way to give tenants,…

A healthcare panel gives thumbs down.

Politics This Week: Under Their Thumb

By Justin Katz | April 1, 2024 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz warn of growing government control and corruption.

Fictional movie poster for Day of Reckoning

Politics This Week: Day of Reckoning!

By Justin Katz | March 18, 2024 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz explore who can expect days of reckoning in Rhode Island.

A homeless mother pushes a baby carriage in Providence, RI

The details are the important part in the “housing crisis.”

By Justin Katz | March 13, 2024 |

By its nature, advocacy journalism glosses over the details that many would consider crucial.  Headlines from a pair of such articles by Katie Mulvaney in the Providence Journal illustrate the point: Six months pregnant with nowhere to go – an unhoused woman’s plight on RI’s streets After months of sleeping on the street, pregnant woman finally…

Suburban house with a slot machine on the side

We react to increases in housing prices in exactly the wrong way.

By Justin Katz | February 28, 2024 |

Lance Lambert, who appears to be a reporter on the housing beat, shared a table of increases in housing prices in the 50 largest metro areas.  As the following snip from the table shows, Providence experienced the third-largest increase over the past year: Various contextual points are important to remember.  Metros can vary in size,…

A water drop and ripples

Are there any homeless caves in Rhode Island?

By Justin Katz | February 7, 2024 |

Yeah, officials will complain about the danger of uninspected residences, but as somebody who grew up in an era when fiction was filled with secret communities in society’s hidden corners, I have to admit these homeless caves are cool:* I wonder if there’s anything comparable around here. * I should specify that the coolness of…

A water drop and ripples

We’re in desperate need of basic economic lessons around here.

By Justin Katz | February 5, 2024 |

Economically illiterate activists are laying the groundwork to make housing harder to find, and make life worse, in Rhode Island: This is how economics works.  The rent goes up to reflect the real value of the property.  Other property owners see the value of their space and reconsider their usage. For example, instead of renovating…

A dense conformist neighborhood on the water

A word on housing.

By Justin Katz | January 24, 2024 |

Amidst all the other happenings in Rhode Islanders’ lives, it’s worth a moment to consider that we’ve reached the point that the General Assembly is delving into such levels of micromanagement as housing setbacks and in-law apartments in local zoning.  That’s a sign that we’re doing things wrong. In the mania of the day (or…

Sketch of Disaster Dan Sitcom

Politics This Week: RI’s Undeclared Disaster

By Justin Katz | January 15, 2024 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz go over the slow-rolling perpetual disaster of RI politics and government.

A water drop and ripples

Any analysis that forgets housing is a store of value is worse than useless.

By Justin Katz | December 11, 2023 |

Progressive state representative Enrique Sanchez is entirely wrong, here: Housing is a store of value.  People will put up their own money for their own homes and for investment properties.  If they’re not doing so — especially as the demonstrable value climbs and climbs — then government is doing something wrong to prevent it.  This…