Comment by jbeckmann

"Giving equity" undermines the equity given. Instead, make equity available, and make incentives that increase that equity to a reasonable level more available, and let people "buy into" their community. Perhaps the worst impact of the Great Depression was rent control, not because it supported diversity in cities, but because it undermined the opportunity to own some, more, or much equity, and reserved the real estate interest tax deduction to upper middle class residents. By making housing more important than equity, rather than equity earned by housing important to community, rent control recognized the crises of the '30's and '50's, but deferred real solutions to those crises with a palliative and transitive tool. Ownership is the best vehicle for equity, even if it is limited in its appreciation. The strength of European diversity comes from the European model of limited equity ownership, whereby long term municipal employees, working people, and young and old can be secure in their housing costs while building equity as either legacy or retirement security. "Giving equity" is not nearly as critical as giving access to equity and incentives to build it.