The demands of gentrification in some neighbourhoods are proving deadly for some independent businesses, including local bookstores, often forcing them to close.
New York City’s municipal budget relies heavily on the property taxes of extremely high-value real estate. That drives gentrification and distorts local policy in other ways that hurt residents.
Google, Amazon and other powerful groups are renaming American cities and neighborhoods. That may make the area more appealing to newcomers – but, in many cases, residents aren’t happy.
The Conversation played host to really important new ideas in 2018. Some will take years to develop. Others will never come to fruition. But they’re important.
Most renters are happy with their landlords and happy with the quality of their accommodation, but they would like better security of tenure and cheaper rent.
It’s not fair to evict people against their will. On the other hand, one holdout shouldn’t be able to derail the sale of an entire strata-titled apartment block. Now an international team has come up with an ingenious solution.
It is thought that it doesn’t help much to cut official interest rates toward or beyond zero, and maybe it doesn’t, but new research suggests the answer has a lot to do with the housing market.
It’s still mostly a case of ‘buyer beware’ when it comes to finding out about a property. But many buyers feel they should be told if, for example, it was the scene of a violent murder.