Thread by @htown_Joe

@CathyYoung63 That’s fair, esp. if (as in your case) folks who call themselves libs blocked low-income housing. But plenty of what people derisively call NIMBY-ism is skepticism about what I’d call blind YIMBY-ism. IMHO YIMBY-ism often represents blind faith in—and giveaways to—developers. /1

@CathyYoung63 Eg, I’m deeply skeptical #Minneapolis2040 will just lead to more condos for Laptop Class millennials, not low-income housing, unless property values drop substantially—which would destroy the nest eggs of suburb-raised libs who helped revitalized cities by back in in the 90s. /2

@CathyYoung63 Also, I’ve both rented and owned, & IHMO rental units often are poorly tended—which again hurts nest eggs. So while I support actual low-income housing, I’d prefer to see it dispersed fairly throughout neighborhoods, not concentrated. So maybe I’m a Sometimes NIMBY…SNIMBY?! /3

@CathyYoung63 PS — Marin County is IMHO one of the most beautiful places in the US—one of my favorites places to visit. I live in Houston, which I am fond of but I is mostly a terribly ugly place to live. So I am deeply sympathetic to people who live in Marin and want to keep in beautiful. /3

@CathyYoung63 And I have little sympathy for those who cannot afford to live in the city of their choice. I moved here from places I could not afford. IMHO the way forward through the housing crisis is not to make it affordable for everyone, but for people who cannot afford it to leave. /4

@CathyYoung63 Obviously, for actual homeless or impoverished people, that will require serious subsidies—which I’d support. But massively increasing density in the most desirable cities won’t make them better. It will make them less desirable—and we’ll all be worse off as a result. My $.02! /5

@CathyYoung63 Coda: Perhaps ironically, all my NIMBY-ism relates to areas (Marin, Minneapolis, etc.) I visit often but where I don’t actually own property. I live just outside of the #HoustonHeights historic district, so there are no limits on building around my house. In the past decade… 6

@CathyYoung63 over 50 single-family houses have been built in a three block area on my own street, often tearing down historic bungalows (but also factories—no zoning here!). Directly across the street, a house went up last year, another is going up now, and two more are about to start. So…/7

@CathyYoung63 I guess maybe my feelings stem a little from the fact that I LIVE amongst INSANE rapid building (and have for a decade) and—while I’ve done nothing to stop it—perhaps I’m just sick of it! Built baby build is noisy and dusty for the neighbors, let me tell you!! :) /8

@CathyYoung63 Finally, I value connection to a place, so while I have zero sympathy for mobile elites who cannot find homes at the hip cities to which they swarm (or to migrant homeless folks), I absolutely believe in building more housing for WC locals who are priced out by gentrification. /9