I think you are accurately describing a current political reality, but this is deeply disappointing and not a response that will go behind virtue signalling ("zoning is racist") to actually solving the problem, or even right a wrong: ("there is so much cheap housing the non-white proportion of SF/Berekley/etc. goes up.")
> The reason they are talking about 4-plexes is that's the reality of redeveloping a single family residence one at a time.
I wish they could at least talk about 2 lots at a time!
> If you could do it city block by city block there would be huge savings, and WAY more developer interest.
Amen.
> The problem is it's too hard and expensive to assemble that much land to make such projects actually happen.
If only we could do just one, and then for the next one give people units and free moving in the prior one. That can become a virtuous cycle.
> No one wants to move, no one wants change.
Very true, but for all those perks and a nice cache out people can be persuaded. We would need some eminent domain for the stragglers, however.
> The headlines will read "Poor Betty was forced from her home by the evil mayor and money grubbing developer".
Just gotta talk about how Better is getting $5M, a condo, and the elevator she will need anyways as she gets older.
> Some people dream of a car free utopia. Some people like their SFR. Those things may not be compatible.
They aren't! Spineless compromises as described in https://pedestrianobservations.com/2019/09/18/cars-and-train... (pork for both sides!) is spineless politics that will diffuse outrage now, but at the cost mutually-undermining investment that just makes people disrespect government more later.
> Things like the Miami tower collapse will make things worse.
:(
> A lot of people don't want their life dictated by their neighbors. HOAs are well known to be horrendous.
The irony is suburbia is full of annoying HOAs. Just like the fact that without more broad economic growth homeowners will have a hard time paying off their mortgage in their lifetimes means that it is a lot closer to paying rent than they would like to think.
> The reason they are talking about 4-plexes is that's the reality of redeveloping a single family residence one at a time.
I wish they could at least talk about 2 lots at a time!
> If you could do it city block by city block there would be huge savings, and WAY more developer interest.
Amen.
> The problem is it's too hard and expensive to assemble that much land to make such projects actually happen.
If only we could do just one, and then for the next one give people units and free moving in the prior one. That can become a virtuous cycle.
> No one wants to move, no one wants change.
Very true, but for all those perks and a nice cache out people can be persuaded. We would need some eminent domain for the stragglers, however.
> The headlines will read "Poor Betty was forced from her home by the evil mayor and money grubbing developer".
Just gotta talk about how Better is getting $5M, a condo, and the elevator she will need anyways as she gets older.
> Some people dream of a car free utopia. Some people like their SFR. Those things may not be compatible.
They aren't! Spineless compromises as described in https://pedestrianobservations.com/2019/09/18/cars-and-train... (pork for both sides!) is spineless politics that will diffuse outrage now, but at the cost mutually-undermining investment that just makes people disrespect government more later.
> Things like the Miami tower collapse will make things worse.
:(
> A lot of people don't want their life dictated by their neighbors. HOAs are well known to be horrendous.
The irony is suburbia is full of annoying HOAs. Just like the fact that without more broad economic growth homeowners will have a hard time paying off their mortgage in their lifetimes means that it is a lot closer to paying rent than they would like to think.