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How are you supposed to gain representation within an area that you literally cannot live within (even though you work / receive education there) due to a lack

How are you supposed to gain representation within an area that you literally cannot live within (even though you work / receive education there) due to a lack of (affordable) housing?

ThrustVectoring 9y ago
Take a look at drivers license address requirements [1], and figure out how to game it. Or some other form of identification. The system generally assumes that if you can reliably receive mail address to you at a particular residential address and you tell institutions that you live there, then you live there - at least until more detailed probing happens. [1] https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/dl/residency_requirement https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/dl/residency_requir...
- mjevans 9y ago
  My point was more that in the modern world people's interests likely cover a span or several spans of regions. Not just one single locality. Sometimes (near state lines in the US) not even /state/ level laws would provide adequate representational coverage. A more accurate way of providing representation might be to identify areas of major expenditure. Employment, Education, Living, etc. Aside from residency should be either by some absolute threshold of transaction value or possibly by percentage of income. A significant economic interest in an area should be related to representation in that area (as you are being taxed for your activity there). Corridors that connect those areas should also apply (you do have to traverse them for your interests); transit and transit related laws should thus probably be at a major metro or higher level.
yonran 9y ago
You can get involved in regional planning (such as Plan Bay Area and the RHNA) and support state bills (such as Scott Wiener’s SB-35) that put more power in regional commissions that have more equal representation. Some Berkeley NIMBYs actually have the gall to claim that cities’ rights over zoning is pro-democratic (such as Zelda Bronstein (https://48hills.org/2016/11/28/17209/ https://48hills.org/2016/11/28/17209/) and Thomas Lord (http://48hills.org/2017/05/19/why-housing-quotas-lead-to-displacement/) http://48hills.org/2017/05/19/why-housing-quotas-lead-to-dis...), whereas as you point out it, hyper-local zoning disenfranchises commuters (https://pedestrianobservations.com/2016/06/18/a-theory-of-zoning-and-local-decisionmaking/ https://pedestrianobservations.com/2016/06/18/a-theory-of-zo...). When people say that cities’ rights are pro-democracy, call them out on it. Edit: Also add public comment on zoning decisions that affect you even if you cannot vote.

How are you supposed to gain representation within an area that you literally cannot live within (even though you work / receive education there) due to a lack of (affordable) housing?

ThrustVectoring 9y ago

Take a look at drivers license address requirements [1], and figure out how to game it. Or some other form of identification. The system generally assumes that if you can reliably receive mail address to you at a particular residential address and you tell institutions that you live there, then you live there - at least until more detailed probing happens. [1] https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/dl/residency_requirement https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/dl/residency_requir...

mjevans 9y ago
My point was more that in the modern world people's interests likely cover a span or several spans of regions. Not just one single locality. Sometimes (near state lines in the US) not even /state/ level laws would provide adequate representational coverage. A more accurate way of providing representation might be to identify areas of major expenditure. Employment, Education, Living, etc. Aside from residency should be either by some absolute threshold of transaction value or possibly by percentage of income. A significant economic interest in an area should be related to representation in that area (as you are being taxed for your activity there). Corridors that connect those areas should also apply (you do have to traverse them for your interests); transit and transit related laws should thus probably be at a major metro or higher level.

yonran 9y ago

You can get involved in regional planning (such as Plan Bay Area and the RHNA) and support state bills (such as Scott Wiener’s SB-35) that put more power in regional commissions that have more equal representation. Some Berkeley NIMBYs actually have the gall to claim that cities’ rights over zoning is pro-democratic (such as Zelda Bronstein (https://48hills.org/2016/11/28/17209/ https://48hills.org/2016/11/28/17209/) and Thomas Lord (http://48hills.org/2017/05/19/why-housing-quotas-lead-to-displacement/) http://48hills.org/2017/05/19/why-housing-quotas-lead-to-dis...), whereas as you point out it, hyper-local zoning disenfranchises commuters (https://pedestrianobservations.com/2016/06/18/a-theory-of-zoning-and-local-decisionmaking/ https://pedestrianobservations.com/2016/06/18/a-theory-of-zo...). When people say that cities’ rights are pro-democracy, call them out on it. Edit: Also add public comment on zoning decisions that affect you even if you cannot vote.