Great first article! I like how you commented on a wide range of causes of the housing crisis, and ended with actionable steps.
I’m up in Burlington VT, and attend my local council meetings often. Whenever housing-related topics come up for discussion it is stark how 100% of the NIMBYs are grey/white-haired, and the YIMBYs are all young progressives.
Though it does feel a little bigoted to just blame “old people”. Really, it feels like it’s more about who has lived in the area for a while (which makes them entrenched and resistant to change) and who is retired so they have more time to be politically engaged.
In particular i think mixed use zoning could offer a lot of bang for the buck. Why don't Walmarts and Costco's and other big box stores all have massive apartment complexes over them?
Combine that with some restaurants and a gym and you've got most of your needs met without having to drive anywhere.
side note, development is always going to occur where the less resourced are. You are never going to see the new highway go right through the rich neighborhood. That's just not how life will ever work.
I like the mentioning of the 1960s/70s laws and the role they played in cleaning up the industrial expansion of the post-war period and subsequent damage to the environment. Whenever I speak in classes or in groups and say we need to reform these laws, the common perception is that I do not care about the environment— these laws are not being used to address environmental concerns.NEPA & CEQA have become barriers to progress—weaponized in adversarial legalism against building.
My other favorite unrelated issue is the story of an Australian economist, who asks the crowd who wants affordable housing, and everyone raises their hand. He then says who wants their home price to go down and value, and everyone lowers their hand. The joke encapsulates the hardest part of the housing issue—wealthy, older homeowners do not want new construction of homes since wealth in America is tied so closely to homeownership. Ideally, we could move to a Singaporean model and move wealth generation away from homeownership to other avenues.
Great first article! I like how you commented on a wide range of causes of the housing crisis, and ended with actionable steps.
I’m up in Burlington VT, and attend my local council meetings often. Whenever housing-related topics come up for discussion it is stark how 100% of the NIMBYs are grey/white-haired, and the YIMBYs are all young progressives.
Though it does feel a little bigoted to just blame “old people”. Really, it feels like it’s more about who has lived in the area for a while (which makes them entrenched and resistant to change) and who is retired so they have more time to be politically engaged.
In particular i think mixed use zoning could offer a lot of bang for the buck. Why don't Walmarts and Costco's and other big box stores all have massive apartment complexes over them?
Combine that with some restaurants and a gym and you've got most of your needs met without having to drive anywhere.
side note, development is always going to occur where the less resourced are. You are never going to see the new highway go right through the rich neighborhood. That's just not how life will ever work.
Looks like the rebuild is off to a strong start!
I like the mentioning of the 1960s/70s laws and the role they played in cleaning up the industrial expansion of the post-war period and subsequent damage to the environment. Whenever I speak in classes or in groups and say we need to reform these laws, the common perception is that I do not care about the environment— these laws are not being used to address environmental concerns.NEPA & CEQA have become barriers to progress—weaponized in adversarial legalism against building.
My other favorite unrelated issue is the story of an Australian economist, who asks the crowd who wants affordable housing, and everyone raises their hand. He then says who wants their home price to go down and value, and everyone lowers their hand. The joke encapsulates the hardest part of the housing issue—wealthy, older homeowners do not want new construction of homes since wealth in America is tied so closely to homeownership. Ideally, we could move to a Singaporean model and move wealth generation away from homeownership to other avenues.