I would also think that this makes neighborhoods less financially diverse. I can’t see someone with a higher than average income moving into a neighborhood knowing that their neighbors might make 1/4th as much. It puts a target on them.
That's good it works that way in Finland, but my point was focused on the United States. I don't think making everyones' income public would suddenly make those in the US think like those in Finland. I also think the social services in Finland raise the bar for everyone - everyone has more basic services than in the United States, so it starts off more equal.
This happens with any disparity - education, income, wealth. Differences in these cause some people to act differently. I've met many people who think earning $100,000 a year qualifies you as "rich", and there are a lot of people who think they won't have anything in common with someone who is educated beyond undergrad.
I imagine it would suddenly be a metric on Zillow and Realtor - "average neighborhood income". People would self-select based on that, making neighborhoods less financially diverse. No one would want to be seen as the broke person in the neighborhood, and no one would want to way over-buy the neighborhood. Maybe you would, but people would "know" whether you could afford to live there or whether you were taking a house from someone else when you could afford to live in a nicer place. Either way, it would not be comfortable, not to mention if you lived somewhere for a while and your career took off - you'd then maybe out earn the neighborhood and be forced to move, rather than be able to remain and blend in.
On my earlier comment, I guess 1/4 wasn't the right ratio. My point was more that someone making 200k may not move into a neighborhood where the average income is 50k, when they otherwise would have, because they would be viewed very differently among neighbors and it would be hard to blend in. This would lessen tax revenue for low-income areas as people would be less willing to move in.
In general, talking about salary in the States is taboo, but not among hourly workers. If you hear a conversation about work between hourly workers, it generally comes out pretty quickly what they are making. I read an article stating it happens for price discovery - they mention it regularly so they can charge the right rates and work at the highest paying location.
Eh, I imagine this matters a lot more at the lower income levels, due to marginal utility.
If you're living in a trailer park because that's all you can afford, if you treble your income there's a good chance you'd move out right away.
On the other hand, if you own two $150,000 Lamborghinis and a guy moves in next door with only a single $100,000 Ferrari, are you going to be moving out because the neighbourhood is going down hill? Probably not.
It seems really weird not to have neighbors with different incomes. There would have to be really over-the-top HOAs and zoning to arrange such a situation.
I can pretty much guarantee that in the semi-rural town where I live, there are households that are probably down around median US income (~$50K) and households making hundreds of thousands of dollars or more.
In my rural area, I was one of the rich people in our area (combined dual income from my spouse and I of around 80-90k/year). People used to give me shit for being Richie Rich (all in good fun). The income level around here hovers around 100-150% of the standard federal poverty level. Generally, most people are lower income, with some people making 100k plus. But, everyone sort of lives the same life; we hang out in the same places, our kids go to the same schools, that sort of thing.
Then real wealth started moving in to buy property as investments. Now we have people who have gates and armed guards. They have private police to scare the locals. They harass school board members for access to school vouchers for the private schools they are starting so their kids don't have to attend the public schools.
It's different around here now. It's a lot less 'community' and all it took was about a half dozen really wealthy folks to upset the apple cart.
Nobody jokes about money anymore in any context, and people seem to be a lot less happy than they used to be just in general.
Anybody who buys in an "affordable" neighborhood - at least in CA - is making a lot more than their neighbors who've lived there for decades. If you're polite, you don't flaunt it.
Financial Different-ness? Financial Disparity? I just needed a word to talk about things that were not uniform or the same.
Also not saying that diversity in this case is a good thing or a bad thing - just that it exists and it may have interesting consequences or change with this policy. I would think making salaries public might limit gentrification. But it might also cause flight and impact the tax base. I do not think neighborhoods need to be uniformly financially diverse...
