Much of that appreciation should be taxed away as the landowner unfairly benefits from public spending elsewhere. If a government decides to invest public money in building a good new school in an area, it is not right that the landowners benefit from free appreciation while the renters are forced to pay more.
Much of it is. Property taxes never end and in my experience only go up. Land owners are also bound to the area and assume all the risks associated with that. Renters can just get up and leave with no financial risk.
True, but I imagine that at some point that won't be true any more. And in many cases that has already happened. In the end it just comes to betting on right location... See Detroit vs SF.
