Michael Bell
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MoCo’s Housing Programs and Associated Failure
Read more: MoCo’s Housing Programs and Associated FailureThis post, part 4 in a series on our county’s distorted housing market. You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here, and Part 3 here. At the time of this writing, the powerful and controlling County Council is considering two rent-control measures that, in the words of the less powerful but equally controlling County Executive Marc…
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Rent Control: Prejudice in the Form of Legislation
Read more: Rent Control: Prejudice in the Form of LegislationDuring the Obama and Trump administrations, the federal government inflated the currency, but you blame the landlords for rent increases. Prices of food are going up, but you put price controls only on the landlords. Prices of insurance are going up, but you put price controls only on the landlords. Prices of fuel are going…
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Zoning (or: whom to blame for expensive housing)
Read more: Zoning (or: whom to blame for expensive housing)This post, part 3 in a series on our county’s distorted housing market, is mostly descriptive of the county’s land use policy and how it contributes to high housing costs. In addition, it also gives a chance for readers to reflect on how zoning affects them individually.is You can read Part 1 here and Part…
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MoCo’s housing isn’t dirt cheap, but it’s close (Part 2)
Read more: MoCo’s housing isn’t dirt cheap, but it’s close (Part 2)This is Part 2 in a series on our county’s distorted housing market. You can read Part 1 here. When it comes to housing policy in Montgomery County (and probably other jurisdictions), the activists and policymakers ignore science and gravitate to unfounded generalizations that justify a policy they want to implement. Some County Council members…
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Follow the science? Not in Jawando’s push for rent-control. (Part 1)
Read more: Follow the science? Not in Jawando’s push for rent-control. (Part 1)Council Member Will Jawando is leading the County Council’s effort to introduce county-wide rent control. Since taking office, CM Jawando has been pursuing policies, enactments, and budgets that are void of any policy analysis, and the issue of rent control is no exception. In this post we’ll review remarks he made at a recent hearing…