KVNUFTP

http://kvnuforthepeople.com/?p=1535#comment-18893 

OK… My last post was a bit sarcastic so I want to apologize. I simply want to point out that rarely will you find anyone who is 100% against any restrictions on property use. Most of the individuals that seem to be against some of the proposals put forward by the city of Logan seem to be either renters or landlords. The renters don’t want their rent to go up and the landlords don’t want the expense of having to improve their properties. What we don’t hear a lot about is the fact that property owners in the area are by far the most invested. Not only do they live in the area and have to deal with some of the downfalls of a high density rental district, they unlike the renters are financially invested in the area.

For most people, buying a home is the largest investment they will make in their life time. You will likely find that most of the landlords do not live in these areas but far up on the side of the mountain where I’m sure both them and their neighbors would be disturbed if someone moved in and started parking cars in their front yard.

I have personally seen the effects of city officials having a similar stand off approach in a community. In less than a 5 year period of time, I watched the near south part of Lincoln NE go from a collection of quaint turn of the century homes to a den of violence, drugs and even street corner prostitution. This occurred as slumlords bought up older homes and convert them into individual apartments with no regard for parking availability and without any restriction on the number of people that could be housed therein. Lincoln quickly went from a place where you always felt safe walking around at night to a city with dangerous corrupt areas that are still growing like a cancer. This ultimately leads to more and more people moving to the suburbs. Without concerned homeowners to keep the necrosis in check these areas have spread to epidemic proportions, causing many families like my own to abandon the city altogether. This along with inflated property taxes, designed to deal with the problems led to a complete crash in the housing market there. Now days many families are left owing more on their homes then they can sell them for. Additionally, areas that used to be rented by primarily college students, much like the high density rental around USU, are now almost completely devoid of students. In fact the University of Nebraska in Lincoln regularly warns incoming students about the dangers of these areas. Students that live off campus now have to pay much higher rents to live in outlying, safer areas and commute daily adding to ever worsening traffic congestion.

Are renters willing to take the kind of financial risk that homeowners are? Perhaps we could use a law that allowed owners to sue renters and landlords for causing their property to drop in value or at least not keep pace with the surrounding area. Could most renters take the hit of a $20,000 plus judgment? Why then should homeowners be required to bear such a heavy burden? We need a city council that can see beyond the profits of the land lords and the 4 year term of a college education.

I hope this wasn’t too long…

-Richard Okelberry