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The case against homeownership
Let's hear it for rootless cosmopolitanism, says the Economist. Owning property is boring and economically harmful.
Andrew Leonard [2007-12-04]

  • Home ownership

    I'm sure I'm not the first one to say it, but this looks like nothing more or less than a bit to limit home ownership to the lesure classes.

    I've lived in neighborhoods where most people owned their own homes and in others where most people were renting. There is no comparison. High ownership areas have lower crime rates, better schools and more community involvement. Even in those "suburbian bedroom communities" that I'm sure someone has complained about.

    Those tax credits that the author wants to do away with are about the only way that many young people can afford to buy a home and as such they have a direct effect on the quality of life in communities all over the country that would otherwise be slowly sliding into high crime, mostly rental neighborhoods.

    Rootless cosmopolitans, my ass. Buy a home, put down some roots and build up your community. That's how civilizations get created. Rootlessness is for outlaw bikers, professional soldiers and traveling salesmen. Even hunter-gatherering cultures are territorial.

    -- IaintBacchus
    [Read IaintBacchus's other letters]
    Tuesday, December 4, 2007 02:24 PM
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