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Slightly off-topic, but to me these kinds of articles always offer an amazing insight into how the average (okay, if they're literally average or not is debatable) American thinks cities and urban planning.

If you read a bit through the comment box, about half of the comments are from people scandalized and terrified that Portland will immediately turn into a huge dumpster rife with crime because of the new legislation. The gist of it is that having 3 or 4 apartments per lot (in a few select lots, mind you) will turn your city into a crack den.

That is a really quaint mindset. I can only imagine what those people commenting on the news would think about Paris, London or basically any major city outside the US where having dozens of apartments per lot is the norm and has been for decades or centuries.




An example from the RNC on Monday night:

> They’re not satisfied with spreading the chaos and violence into our communities. They want to abolish the suburbs altogether by ending single family home zoning. This forestry zoning would bring crime, lawlessness and low quality apartments into now thriving suburban neighborhoods. President Trump smartly ended this government overreach, but Joe Biden wants to bring it back. These are the policies that are coming to a neighborhood near you. So make no mistake, no matter where you live, your family will not be safe in the radical Democrats America.

https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/2020-republican-nationa...


Honestly, the way this is framed sounds to me as if we were still living in the 15th century where "aristocrats" are trying to live as far away from the "plebeians" as possible.


Parts of London and Paris now do resemble crack dens -- but its less about the density and more about the people living there, notably the changing demographics taking place in those cities in the last decade.




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