I feel really bad for the families that lost everything but how should we feel about paying Billions of tax dollars to rebuild this Houston infrastructure? Much of which was improperly zoned, not built to proper code, and part of a horrible growth strategy pushed by irresponsible (probably crooked) politicians?
Even as a die hard libertarian, I’ll pretty much always side with spending on infrastructure.
I’m generally ok with the concept, since the spending is generally pretty non discriminatory. If they build a new road, everyone in the area benefits. Maybe there are some issues with how the funds are allocated - I’m not sure how efficient that process is.
While Texas’ relative lack of building codes might have contributed to higher damages, they also mean it’s cheaper to rebuild and develop the area in the first place. It’s probably more efficient overall, actually.
What do you tell a family that bought a home on a flood plain that should have never been developed in the first place? FEMA writes them a big check and the irresponsible developers get to continue business as usual? Building reform needs to be part of the deal. Isn’t Trump against these types of building permit regulation hoops that are supposed to prevent disasters of this kind in the first place?
Why blame Trump? Texas zoning regulations have nothing to do with the current administration.
Anyway, let’s say Texas receives $15 billion in aid for Houston rebuilding. This kind of event happens once in a hundred years. Did Texas, in the past 100 years, already save $15 billion in housing costs due to looser regulations? The housing costs in Houston vs LA or New York might support this argument. Many people there can afford to live in what people in other cities would consider to be mansions.
There is an optimal point in the level of housing regulation. It’s unclear what that level is. Maybe expensive, highly regulated areas are being too restrictive. If San Francisco is destroyed by an earthquake that is out of anyone’s control, they will need much more money from FEMA to rebuild the same quantity of homes compared to Houston. We should not just label Texas as being irresponsible without a full quantitative analysis of their housing costs, including disaster damages.
its a rare occurence. i wouldnt mind taxpayer money to help fund the rebuild. better to get them back to productivity mode.
It appears that the flooding events that used to be infrequent have become more frequent in recent years (see fake news article). Global warming debate aside I think rational minds can agree that redevelopment plans should take this into account.