WHY DO YOU THINK THEY KEEP ELECTING REPUBLICAN MAYORS?:

New York Politics Could Feel Impact of Home Owners (DAVID LOMBINO, October 3, 2006, NY Sun)

Data to be released today by the U.S. Census Bureau will show that the number of owner-occupied units in the five boroughs increased by about 100,000, or roughly 10%, between 2000 and 2005, to more than 1 million units. Rental occupied units dropped about 4% in that period, to just more than 2 million units.

Despite the jump, the percentage of home-ownership is the lowest of any major city in the country and roughly half of the national average, which shows more than two-thirds of homes are owner-occupied. Traditionally, home-ownership is associated with increased care for the surrounding neighborhood, higher levels of community involvement, and better opportunities for children, housing experts say.

A senior fellow with the Manhattan Institute, Steven Malanga, said a continuing shift toward owning versus renting in New York would catalyze political change.

"Occasionally it has been said that one of the reasons that New York City is so liberal is because it has such a low percentage of home-ownership and a higher percentage of renters," Mr. Malanga said. "Homeowners tend to have more of a stake in the future of the city, and tend to be more conservative in their politics."

Mr. Malanga said those policies would include opposition to property taxes, more support for educational reform, and stricter policing to keep neighborhoods safe. [...]

"The good news is that we think homeownership is a good thing, it is something to strive for, it is part of the ideology of the American dream," [professor of urban planning at New York University, Ingrid Gould Ellen] said.

That conservatizing effect is why Democrats are forced to oppose George W. Bush and his American ideology of an Ownership Socety.

Posted by Orrin Judd at October 3, 2006 8:47 AM