The prostitution “crackdown” in the Netherlands

Read this for a public choice interpretation, and here are some real Dutch facts.  Here goes:

The real point is real estate. The red light district is in the
oldest, most beautiful area of Amsterdam. In the last 20 years, it has
changed from a mixed neighborhood to one almost exclusively peopled by
the very well to do. They pay a fortune for those apartments and homes.
The talk of cleaning up the neighborhood for the sake of the
prostitutes and to lessen criminal behavior is simply a smokescreen.
What they wish to do is to create a more up-scale neighborhood – it is
gentrification pure and simple.

What is offensive in all this is that anyone who bought a home in
that area knew what they were getting into – large crowds every night
and all night long. It is to lessen this that the district is being
“shrunk”. Less windows for the prostitutes – a more compact area for
the tourists – less annoyance for the wealthy.

It is not about anything more than that.

Jim is also right on the mark.  Nick talks about Australia.  HP cites Nevada.