#suburbia — Public Fediverse posts

The housing shortage and wealth accumulation in Australia.
Houses/ 'homes' as commercial enterprises

" In Australia, the origin of the idea that housing is to be valued primarily as a commodity for producing private wealth is colonisation. It is part of our creation story. " Former Victorian Supreme Court justice Kevin Bell.
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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-02/need-for-housing-inspires-artist/105939626

Plan to apply commercial council rates for short-stay rentals
"These properties operate as a commercial enterprise...They generate income and place higher demand on infrastructure and social services, similar to any hotel or motel."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-02/mount-gambier-council-short-stay-rates-airbnb-changes/105943950
#housing #homes #IndigenousDisplacement #unhoused #inequality #insecurity #Airbnb #shortterm #accommodation #speculation #traffic #TourismImpacts #MultipleProperties #BellingenShire #commercialisation #suburbia #BAU #MeInc #SettlerSociety #narrative #landlordism #rentierisation

Halloween trick-or-treating - a drive-through neighbourhood:

Spoiler: Driving and idling (fossil fuel combustion), plastic decoration, sugar 'treats' and traps for native wildlife.

Haunted by the spectre of climate disruption and the prospect of an uninhabitable biosphere they drive to event spaces turning neighbourhoods into drive-through (commercial) amusement parks for Halloween and Christmas.

* "People drive from miles and miles to participate in destination neighborhood festivities. The same kind of dynamic has long happened with Christmas.Halloween has gone from a primarily walking holiday to a driving holiday."
Where Have All the Trick-or-Treaters Gone on Halloween? Destination Neighborhoods >>
https://www.collegetowns.org/p/where-have-all-the-trick-or-treaters

* "Research suggests about 30 percent of birds' nests may include human-made materials, posing a risk to nestlings. Halloween in Australia coincides with bird nesting season and birds are often looking for nesting material at this time of year, so there is the potential for these types of decorations to have a bigger impact here than in North America and Europe." >>
https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2025/10/21/halloween-in-australia-how-an-irish-tradition-became-a-uniquely-local-celebration.html

* Halloween on one Sydney street has grown so big it’s now sponsored
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/oct/30/halloween-renwick-street-sydney-trick-or-treat-sponsored

* Australians will spend a record $500 million on Halloween this year despite the so called cost-of-living crisis
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-31/halloween-australia-growth-displays-community-connection/105954120

#Halloween #plastic #decorations #pollution #sugar #cars #driving #CarBrain #DriveThrough #traffic #suburbia #neighbourhoods #BigBoxStores #walking #SocialMedia #commercialisation #festivities #Christmas #NativeWildlife #birds #entanglements #pollution #spectacle #culture #ClimateDisruption #NSW

#OmahaSprawl project. May 2022. More in this project: https://sbiessel.com/omaha-sprawl/

#Omaha #UrbanSprawl #LandUse #NewTopographics #NewTopographicMovement #Photography #Suburbia