> Housing sounds like a tough political problem at first, but few people will say no to a policy of "everyone -- rich or poor -- gets a free condo." Even existing homeowners would take a second home in a big city, even if all they do is use it for storage or weekend visits.
The problem is almost always local opposition. Looking at California, we see huge moneyed sue-happy NIMBYism that fights rabidly against any new building, even going as far as having dilapidated buildings and their parking lots declared “historical” to avoid redevelopment. The most progressive state in the nation with a Democratic supermajority trifecta is currently fighting tooth and nail to allow single family homes to be split into duplexes. How do you think this fight is going to go in red states?
Cities are built out. We can’t build condos without bulldozing something else, and that requires someone else to be displaced. Those someones vote for a city council members which ban apartments, condos, and anything that isn’t a SFH with at least three parking spaces.
We’ve under-built 5.6 million housing units since 2008, and as a result, housing prices are now unaffordable even in southern cities like Dallas. The housing crisis is exactly as tough of a political problem as it sounds.
That's why I advocate for running the NIMBYs out of town. I meant it literally.
NIMBYs are not only pro-homelessness and pro-urban-decay, but also pro-climate-apocalypse and anti-growth. In my mind, the only difference between NIMBYs and Big Oil executives is the scale of impact, and the only difference between NIMBYs and terrorists is the means of violence. We should act accordingly.
The problem is almost always local opposition. Looking at California, we see huge moneyed sue-happy NIMBYism that fights rabidly against any new building, even going as far as having dilapidated buildings and their parking lots declared “historical” to avoid redevelopment. The most progressive state in the nation with a Democratic supermajority trifecta is currently fighting tooth and nail to allow single family homes to be split into duplexes. How do you think this fight is going to go in red states?
Cities are built out. We can’t build condos without bulldozing something else, and that requires someone else to be displaced. Those someones vote for a city council members which ban apartments, condos, and anything that isn’t a SFH with at least three parking spaces.
We’ve under-built 5.6 million housing units since 2008, and as a result, housing prices are now unaffordable even in southern cities like Dallas. The housing crisis is exactly as tough of a political problem as it sounds.