On: Empty storefronts are killing neighbourhoods

[throwaway2048]

this is visibly happening with retail and commercial properties, but people here swear up and down it absolutely is not happening with residential properties.

The incentives are nearly identical.

[sudosysgen → throwaway2048]

It would be insanely ideologically inconvenient, yet it's a known reality.

The only possible solution is to make housing a bad invenstment, but that's too unpopular.

[ethbr0 → sudosysgen]

You don't have to make it a bad investment. You can differentiate vacant and non-vacant investments.

I.e. Vancouver's Vacant Homes Tax (11674) http://bylaws.vancouver.ca/11674c.PDF

[harambae → ethbr0]

This document is dated only 8 months ago. Is there any evidence it has worked so far? (There's a long history of intelligent people gaming laws, where the original intentions of the law were noble enough.)