re: #139 Teukka

Deriding NIMBY’s is probably not productive, if one wants to change people’s minds.

Here in the San Diego area, a non-trivial portion of the central region does allow for 4-plexes. And there is a real change to denser townhome arrangements on land that was once single family.

But again I want to stress that allowing higher density housing does not mean more affordable housing. As I’ve often shown here, there are plenty of examples where replacing a old single family structure with say a duplex or triplex doesn’t lower the price of each unit. Indeed, the newer (and denser) structures cost more than the old single family housing.

And not all NIMBYism is racism. And I doubt that most NIMBYism today is racism. It’s just adopted cultural habit from the parents/grandparents who raised today’s house buyers.

For example: lawns. People expect lawns, even out here in the desert part of the country where such grasses are not natural and if you want a healthy lawn then water is the real problem. The need for a lawn is just programming from childhood.

There is no easy answer to living on a crowded planet.

For the US, changing our work culture alone may be the best answer. It has been shown that remote working is possible for many people. And even labor intensive businesses like manufacturing do not have to be all put into one locale in a county and houses in another thus requiring long commutes. A more distributed US economy is necessary to combat rising cost of housing.

Another problem with Americans is that even if they live in a city and decide to buy a townhome in say a redeveloped area, Americans still want an automobile. So parking becomes a real issue. This is the problem that is getting worse in San Diego as the older parts of city see properties changed from single family units to 4-plexes or townhomes.