Why, why, why do you insidious developers persist in cloning the chunder curdling brick venereal and concrete montrosities?

A new estate is being developed on the outskirts of Darwin, large green painted colour-bond fencing at its frontier. Precious few solar PV panels, and scattered solar hot water systems are to be seen. Yet more bloody palm trees are being 'landscaped' in to make it look like Hollywood... maybe....?

Multiple air conditioning condenser units bolted to their walls, postage stamp sized yards - shake hands with your neighbour from the comfort of your kitchen window (if it in fact opens).

Welcome to another suburban nightmare! Misery Dot Com brought to you by the banks, robber baron real estate agents , and our narrow minded members of parliament.

Only ourselves to blame I am afraid!

Elida,

Here is the problem: whilst I do not agree with John Howard on many things, given the situation of where you live, we do live in an economy, not a society, in some narrow ways.

You talk about a shortage of rental accomodation in your area: the reason for this is that no-one considers that they will get a valuable return for their investment in building and renting accomodation. The reason being simple, if someone was to spend, say,$1M buying land, building and renting it they would get less for it, given what people who would either want to pay, or be able to pay, then if they invested that $1M elsewhere.

So, it doesn't matter what jobs may be available in your area, if no one wants to invest in building the local businesses will close down due to lack of labour. The solution is not to force people to invest, or to compromise basic standards of building or accomodation, but to accept the fact that some industries in some areas are not economically viable for one reason or another.

This is the reason why we don't make clothing and footwear in Australia anymore. If your area could support viable industry and accomodation, then it would attract the investments for this to occur.

You have to accept that your town, for economic reasons, is failing and dying, and you shouldn't expect taxpayers from other areas to subsidise it.

Or are you proposing to force others to subsidise where you want to live?

Hamlet, you say in your reply,
“You have to accept that your town, for economic reasons, is failing and dying, and you shouldn't expect taxpayers from other areas to subsidise it.”
The town where I live is not dying, nor slipping backward, just the opposite, having a growth spurt, buildings are mostly
Dormitories for mine workers, as you will see if you look at the following, under general interest. http://www.myspace.com/pamea

Why is it that I am the only one who realises what is the cause of the high cost of housing ?

As usual you are all waffling on about everything but the real cause.

It is the market stupid (To paraphrase a certain polly)

From the time that the equal rights people forced the government to force the lending institutions to lend on two incomes twice as much money was dumpted into the housing market !

What happens in any market when the money on offer in that market doubles ? First prize to whoever gets it right !
Whether the market is copper on the LME or Pork bellies on the Chicago
commodoties market the result is the same, up go the prices until the funds are used up !
And women wonder why they HAVE TO work !