Speaking of thoughts (on some one of your older stories, but also the bike thing this week) I don't know why you are always bashing Friedrichstraße, it was great as previously laid out as a bike road. It really facilitated getting through Mitte N-S, and it made my workplace (Hertie School) a lot quieter. If you take German from the Goethe Centre in Berlin they offer you history tours about how cool Friedrichstraße used to be. But the new obstacle course they've laid reminded me that I've often thought that some of the few bike roads they do lay out seem to coincide with security concerns. And there's a lot more security around the Russian Embassy than there is Russia Haus...which is right there in the middle of the pedestrianised bit.
The pedestrianisation/bike lanes were handled pretty poorly the first time around. The whole thing felt amateurish and cheap. The yellow lines were ugly and gave off temporary vibes. Berlin is often so half-assed (and under-funded) when is comes to urban planning projects. Where is the ambition?
I wish the media wouldn't be so willing to go along with this... It's pretty obvious this Vonovia company is just greedy. I'm pretty sure they still could build new apartments at €12/qm, they just don't want to, because they won't be able to make as much money as they want anymore at this rate. It's greed, it's always greed, simple as that. "Economic sense" is usually some BS jargon for "making big profits for execs." In actual reality, "economic sense" should mean fair and equal for all citizens, not just for the wealthy. Hopefully one day this will change and people still stop falling for it.
Willing to go along with a company saying that building apartments at 5k per qm doesn't make economic sense for them? Their one and only motive is profit. And they can't make any profit at current prices. That's all the media is saying. They're not a charity. If we want cheap apartments, then we need to push the government to build them. Cheap gocapartments would lead to new construction always not making economic sense for for-profit companies and would put more in the hands of the government, helping keep them low for the long-run.
Actually, I was surprised you and they didn't mention the new law whereby if they own too many rentals they get confiscated anyway. Totally agree we need to facilitate building this housing ourselves through our taxes and government, but we should also look for ways to diversify the ownership.
But I think this "they're not a charity" comment is utter nonsense. More often than not profit = greed nowadays and that's what the world is afraid to admit or begin to deal with. Greed IS bad. And wanting to make so much profit is greedy which is bad. The world will only get better if we learn to focus on PEOPLE not PROFITS (it's already a protest slogan to say "people over profits"). That's the change the world so desperately needs, that's what everyone does not want to think about because it's a disruption to the inequality status quo, even though it's absolutely necessary for long term sustainability on planet Earth.
Speaking of thoughts (on some one of your older stories, but also the bike thing this week) I don't know why you are always bashing Friedrichstraße, it was great as previously laid out as a bike road. It really facilitated getting through Mitte N-S, and it made my workplace (Hertie School) a lot quieter. If you take German from the Goethe Centre in Berlin they offer you history tours about how cool Friedrichstraße used to be. But the new obstacle course they've laid reminded me that I've often thought that some of the few bike roads they do lay out seem to coincide with security concerns. And there's a lot more security around the Russian Embassy than there is Russia Haus...which is right there in the middle of the pedestrianised bit.
The pedestrianisation/bike lanes were handled pretty poorly the first time around. The whole thing felt amateurish and cheap. The yellow lines were ugly and gave off temporary vibes. Berlin is often so half-assed (and under-funded) when is comes to urban planning projects. Where is the ambition?
I wish the media wouldn't be so willing to go along with this... It's pretty obvious this Vonovia company is just greedy. I'm pretty sure they still could build new apartments at €12/qm, they just don't want to, because they won't be able to make as much money as they want anymore at this rate. It's greed, it's always greed, simple as that. "Economic sense" is usually some BS jargon for "making big profits for execs." In actual reality, "economic sense" should mean fair and equal for all citizens, not just for the wealthy. Hopefully one day this will change and people still stop falling for it.
Willing to go along with a company saying that building apartments at 5k per qm doesn't make economic sense for them? Their one and only motive is profit. And they can't make any profit at current prices. That's all the media is saying. They're not a charity. If we want cheap apartments, then we need to push the government to build them. Cheap gocapartments would lead to new construction always not making economic sense for for-profit companies and would put more in the hands of the government, helping keep them low for the long-run.
Actually, I was surprised you and they didn't mention the new law whereby if they own too many rentals they get confiscated anyway. Totally agree we need to facilitate building this housing ourselves through our taxes and government, but we should also look for ways to diversify the ownership.
It's not a law yet. There's a commission looking at if it's even feasible.
yes, but the chance it could become law alters the risk and value of property ownership.
But I think this "they're not a charity" comment is utter nonsense. More often than not profit = greed nowadays and that's what the world is afraid to admit or begin to deal with. Greed IS bad. And wanting to make so much profit is greedy which is bad. The world will only get better if we learn to focus on PEOPLE not PROFITS (it's already a protest slogan to say "people over profits"). That's the change the world so desperately needs, that's what everyone does not want to think about because it's a disruption to the inequality status quo, even though it's absolutely necessary for long term sustainability on planet Earth.
Sure, greed is bad. But shaming a company has no effect at all. Only robust policy does.