u/AndyInTheFort

https://preview.redd.it/n0xmsaq845jh1.png?width=653&format=png&auto=webp&s=cea86ab8665bf48da1ef019687128ec15927b01c

I'm thinking of American cities like Balboa Island, Nantucket, Manhattan, Key West, Miami Beach, etc.

These places are tremendously expensive because their ability to sprawl has been diminished by natural constraints, and so the working class is pushed out.

But land-locked cities have their own natural constraints, too, they're just geographically bigger. But when land-locked cities reach their own limits of expansion (perhaps they already have, vehicle-miles-traveled per capita peaked shortly before the great recession), will we begin the islandification of American cities? Is the current housing crisis a sign that we are already in the islandification process?

And what will the consequences be of the islandification without the presence of a land value tax? Will cities have to develop "worker housing" similar to what is done in The Villages in Florida? And would that be similar to feudalism?

https://preview.redd.it/u1vijsxws98h1.png?width=1204&format=png&auto=webp&s=c74594dadea29e10b77fe5d7e133709910e37d0f

In shopping malls, lifestyle centers ("fake downtowns'), airports, and other privately-owned city-like places, the landlord is essentially acting like a city government.

Utilities, security, street maintenance, even things like construction are usually handled by the landlord.

Even though it is entirely within the private sector, landlords charge or "rebill" for these services through rent, and that rent is always based on the desirability of each unit's location.

Tenants are not charged on what sorts of equipment they keep in their unit, which would be the private equivalent of a property tax. For example, a restaurant that upgrades its ventilation system is not charged higher rent for doing so.

There are some contra-examples. Tenants are sometimes charged for a share of their revenues ("percentage rent"), which is the private equivalent of sales tax and is not Georgist.

Are there any articles about this concept? Has anyone thought about it? I have been an accountant for private city-like places for about 14 years and it seems the industry has some similarities to Georgism. I have all the numbers to see it firsthand.