There was another thought provoking segment on Fareed Zakaria's show today. In a few days the transcript will appear here,
https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/fzgps
He interviewed an architect who worked on the renovation of the Penn Station Amtrak/Subway station in NYC and an expert on affordable housing in New York.
The part about Penn Station was interesting. The Trump administration took control of renovation from the state government, which was blowing up the budget and failing to get anything done, ostensibly to save money for the federal government. Will the federal government do a better job than the state and city would have? Hell if I know. But infrastructure costs in blue states are on average much higher than red states and Europe.
The part about affordable housing was more interesting. The expert had located sites close to the subway and other mass transit in NYC with room to house 1.3 million people. However, it's impossible for mid sized developers to construct housing at the locations because the red tape and "not in my background" mentality prevents it. He or Zakaria contrasted the situation to the greater Houston area, where the absence of zoning helps make housing much more affordable.
Any thoughts from esteemed board members?
Why Can't Blue States Build Nice Things?
