Victoria FierceI almost have socialist.city up, probably. Need to fix mail.
I hope it can be a place for discussion about socialism in cities, to better develop and understand socialist alternatives to problems like rent, land use, transit, access to services, the city's relation to the suburban and countryside, segregation, etc.
I reject the notion that waves of gentrification and displacement are properties inherent to urban places. They're the effect of capital struggling for a monopoly on use of land against the commons. It waxes and wanes, but the cycle can be broken.
We can have really nice things like trains and pedestrian malls and parks and bikeshare and huge buildings, and complete total housing security forever without displacement, without homelessness, without slums, without segregation, without strife
Housing is infrastructure, not an investment. Our cities are for living, not owning.
rrmutt@tdfischer in Hong Kong the transit authority has rights to the land around tracks and stations. When they build a new station they capture the increased value it brings to real estate and put it back into the transit system, to build more. Virtuous circle!
@rrmutt Bart has that too but appeals, lawsuits, and city planning processes leave us with the beautiful parking lots we have today