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> I doubt the YIMBY movement is going to solve the problem, because they have alienated many lower-income voters. I think you're right and part of the problem

> I doubt the YIMBY movement is going to solve the problem, because they have alienated many lower-income voters. I think you're right and part of the problem is reflected in your comment. YIMBYs are supremely confident in its diagnosis of the complex housing problem: it's rent control and other impediments to the free market. They are so confident that it's literally at the level of flipping the bozo bit[1] on low-income and minority housing activists and attempting to speak on their behalf. They think the answer is so obvious that to think otherwise means you're being manipulated by rich white NIMBY homeowners. That's understandably a bit insulting. It's led longtime housing activists to note that YIMBY has a "white privilege problem... They don't understand poverty."[2] Meanwhile housing activists are saying things like, hey, maybe it has something to do with, I dunno, massively defunding the major force in constructing affordable housing for the poor and working class (HUD)?[3] Perhaps the income disparity is so great between low-income renters and tech workers that there is a wee bit of understandable skepticism that market-rate development alone will bring down the market price to something the working poor can afford? YIMBYs need to do a better job of listening to and understanding the legitimate concerns from these communities if they want to be successful -- not attempt to talk over them (literally[4]) or rush through legislation that gets patched up later after protest. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bozo_bit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bozo_bit [2] http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-housing-bill-failure-equity-groups-20180502-story.html http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-housing-bill-failu... [3] http://www.sfweekly.com/news/the-great-eliminator-how-ronald-reagan-made-homelessness-permanent/ http://www.sfweekly.com/news/the-great-eliminator-how-ronald... [4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WrVEYKVtfU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WrVEYKVtfU

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
epistasis 8y ago
> YIMBYs are supremely confident in its diagnosis of the complex housing problem: it's rent control and other impediments to the free market YIMBYs do not have a position on rent control, because both sides are advocated for and debated. The biggest problem with the YIMBY movement is people blindly accepting criticisms of YIMBY without bothering to investigate what YIMBY movements actually believe. When there was a big panel discussion in my small Bay Area town last year, without a YIMBY member on the panel, the panel all concluded that YIMBYs oppose affordable housing. However, in this small town, the ONLY PEOPLE WHO SHOWED UP to advocate for recent affordable housing projects were YIMBY members. And it turns out that SB 35, the only YIMBY legislation I know about, is actually about building affordable housing. So please stop reinforcing false beliefs. YIMBYs do a great job of listening. They have changed their engagement in response to this. They are politically naive in that they believe they can advocate for ideas and trust that people will listen to them, instead of seeking out engagement of current power brokers first. And for example they didn't expect SB 827 to get the momentum that it got, perhaps not realizing that including transportation and basic good urban planning they will wake up a lot more people than with they did with the SB 35 affordable housing bill. California politics is all about optics, unfortunately. At least, it is, until we stop letting that happen.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

epistasis 8y ago

> YIMBYs are supremely confident in its diagnosis of the complex housing problem: it's rent control and other impediments to the free market YIMBYs do not have a position on rent control, because both sides are advocated for and debated. The biggest problem with the YIMBY movement is people blindly accepting criticisms of YIMBY without bothering to investigate what YIMBY movements actually believe. When there was a big panel discussion in my small Bay Area town last year, without a YIMBY member on the panel, the panel all concluded that YIMBYs oppose affordable housing. However, in this small town, the ONLY PEOPLE WHO SHOWED UP to advocate for recent affordable housing projects were YIMBY members. And it turns out that SB 35, the only YIMBY legislation I know about, is actually about building affordable housing. So please stop reinforcing false beliefs. YIMBYs do a great job of listening. They have changed their engagement in response to this. They are politically naive in that they believe they can advocate for ideas and trust that people will listen to them, instead of seeking out engagement of current power brokers first. And for example they didn't expect SB 827 to get the momentum that it got, perhaps not realizing that including transportation and basic good urban planning they will wake up a lot more people than with they did with the SB 35 affordable housing bill. California politics is all about optics, unfortunately. At least, it is, until we stop letting that happen.