Jeremiah

Their daughter, my mother-in-law, lives a few blocks away.

When I last visited, they could show me their son's old bedroom, their daughter's old bedroom and the bedroom where their granddaughter, my wife, used to stay with them.

Until recently, my grandfather-in-law was cognitively about 70% there, to the point where he could live on his own, but only through having a very predictable routine, knowing where everything was and being in an ultra-friendly and familiar environment.

Their area has now skyrocketed in cost.

I can see your side of the argument, but I also can't blame them for being against some hypothetical policy that would force them to move to a strange apartment in the nearest affordable town 50 miles away, far away from their only family or caretakers, so that some striver-dink couple could turn their spare bedroom into a gym.

James answered, quote, And it should hit everyone equally.

It's just about measuring productive use of houses.

But it would end up falling hardest on boomers, fortunately or unfortunately, depending on one's perspective.

But this is maybe more reasonable as a policy idea than Lynch the boomers, which is perhaps the Bailey you're arguing against.

I don't want to be the Mott, just this is, I think, an actually good policy.

End quote.

Scott writes, I responded that yeah, I understand it's just higher property taxes.

I'm saying there's no way my retired and slightly demented grandfather-in-law could afford normal property taxes on his house he bought in what was basically farmland in 1970 but has now grown into a desirable California college town.

He's been coasting off whichever California proposition it was that says old people's property taxes don't go up while they own the home.

although age has taken its toll and he now lives in a nursing home, so this is more of a hypothetical example drawing inspiration from a real situation.

James answered, quote, Of course, with housing policy, the core issue is that bad outcomes for those already there are salient, and for those not already there, they are much less so.

I mean, my grandparents have had similar issues.

I agree there would be pain.

It's just about finding the right balance on the margin.

But individual stories shouldn't necessarily guide policymaking.