3 ms·

So why would they change it so recently? Since it's so recent, maybe some of the discussion around it is available/recallable? I mean, I could remark snarkily

So why would they change it so recently? Since it's so recent, maybe some of the discussion around it is available/recallable? I mean, I could remark snarkily about the polarization of America and urban vs exurban divides etc, but that probably doesn't relate here. Probably.

SwellJoe 9y ago
I was just talking to my mom about this; she lives in the suburbs of Atlanta, in a neighborhood with those kinds of rules. She suspects, and I agree, that it is to do with the growth of the area itself, due to the growth of the major city nearby. Dallas/Fort Worth is growing pretty fast, Red Oak is nearby, and has seen a lot of new development. All those folks who've bought houses there don't want their housing prices reduced because of very small or manufactured houses nearby. Since house prices are kinda set based on "comparables" anything that makes a neighborhood look cheaper reduces the price of everything in the area. It's sort of rent-seeking by the folks who already own homes in the city, from anyone who might move in in the future. I don't think it is specifically racist or classist, that's just a side effect (that is probably also considered good by many of the homeowners). Basically, home pricing is the recurring theme when it comes to all of these kinds of regulations. Current owners who show up to city council meetings want their house prices to go up; poor folks don't show up to city council meetings (they're busy working their second job), so wealthier folks get their way. It makes me far less interested in living there. I grew up in the homogeneous suburbs, and never want to live there again. I want a corner store in walking distance, I want weird neighbors with a massively overgrown jungle of a yard, I want old houses and new houses...suburban zoning makes all of that illegal.

3 ms·

So why would they change it so recently? Since it's so recent, maybe some of the discussion around it is available/recallable? I mean, I could remark snarkily

by pnathan 9y ago

SwellJoe 9y ago
I was just talking to my mom about this; she lives in the suburbs of Atlanta, in a neighborhood with those kinds of rules. She suspects, and I agree, that it is to do with the growth of the area itself, due to the growth of the major city nearby. Dallas/Fort Worth is growing pretty fast, Red Oak is nearby, and has seen a lot of new development. All those folks who've bought houses there don't want their housing prices reduced because of very small or manufactured houses nearby. Since house prices are kinda set based on "comparables" anything that makes a neighborhood look cheaper reduces the price of everything in the area. It's sort of rent-seeking by the folks who already own homes in the city, from anyone who might move in in the future. I don't think it is specifically racist or classist, that's just a side effect (that is probably also considered good by many of the homeowners). Basically, home pricing is the recurring theme when it comes to all of these kinds of regulations. Current owners who show up to city council meetings want their house prices to go up; poor folks don't show up to city council meetings (they're busy working their second job), so wealthier folks get their way. It makes me far less interested in living there. I grew up in the homogeneous suburbs, and never want to live there again. I want a corner store in walking distance, I want weird neighbors with a massively overgrown jungle of a yard, I want old houses and new houses...suburban zoning makes all of that illegal.