averagejoe
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San Diego Politics
A few comments: 1) If you live next to the Ivy Hotel, I'm assuming you live in the Gaslamp Quarter. Um, were you unaware when you moved in that there are night clubs near there that play loud music Th-Sat? I can't imagine you've lived there since before all the clubs moved in. I used to live in the Gaslamp, and when I decided I no longer wanted to live in that environment, I moved. It's like the people who moved into condos near the train tracks and then made a stink about the train whistle. C'mon, be logical. 2) Yes, there was a huge surge in development of condos in Downtown because, for a time, that's what the market demanded (i.e. people were buying). Now that demand has dried up; condos that won't sell will be rented, projects that weren't finished will be bought for a deal and completed by another developer. This will take time, though. Be patient. 3) If people really are moving out of the Gaslamp area because of high rents, the rents will come down. It's economics 101: supply & demand. So again, be patient. With all due respect, your friend probably doesn't know what he's talking about. Think about it: no business-savvy landlord would choose to have vacant apartments earning zero income than an occupied unit making some income. And the practice of requiring a tenant to have a monthly income of three times as much as the rent (i.e. a third of their montly income is spent on housing) is a nationwide standard - even the Department of Housing and Urban Development uses that rule of thumb when managing Section 8 programs. It is what was determined a person could spend on housing and still have enough money to pay other expenses. Granted, in San Diego, housing has been more expensive than other areas, and so people realistically are spending more than a third of their income on housing. Again, I go back to the issue of supply and demand: high demand + limited supply = higher prices. So, be thankful for all those new units - the increased supply means increased competition for housing and prices will come down accordingly. If you just can't wait for the market to sort itself out, then stop bitching and move.— October 10, 2008 8:27 a.m.