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Also a homeowner, and I'm a YIMBY (or PHIMBY) for selfish reasons as well. My neighborhood is mostly old white people, because they bought their houses years ag

by notJim 7y ago

Also a homeowner, and I'm a YIMBY (or PHIMBY) for selfish reasons as well. My neighborhood is mostly old white people, because they bought their houses years ago and stayed put. Not that I have anything against them, but I'd love to have a more diverse, younger neighborhood. More neighbors also means more customers for local businesses, which means more shops and restaurants in walking distance. More neighbors would eventually also mean better public transit, because the ridership would demand it. I think the selfish benefits of more housing are often overlooked due to fear of change.

Swizec 7y ago
> More neighbors also means more customers for local businesses, which means more shops and restaurants in walking distance Big reason I moved from Ljubljana, Slovenia to San Francisco. There’s just more stuff here and it’s amazing. The economies of scale are insane. I have more good restaurants within walking distance now than I used to have in the whole city.
- YarickR2 7y ago
  FWIW I'm seriously considering doing the reverse. I don't care about restaurants, but cleanness and neatness and uniqueness in Slovenia is something I miss dearly in Cali
  - Swizec 7y ago
    You know I feel that all the time and then I go back to visit and after two days I’m like “Oh that’s why I left, there’s nothing to do here” What I miss most is real nature. Trees that are properly green, the changing of seasons, the mountains in the distance. That’s what I miss most. And good european food. Super hard to find in SF
SlowRobotAhead 7y ago
>Also a homeowner, and I'm a YIMBY (or PHIMBY) for selfish reasons as well. My neighborhood is mostly old white people, because they bought their houses years ago and stayed put. Hmm, here I am thinking I don't really care about the skin color of my neighbors. It's none of my business. But, I try and not judge people on immutable characteristics like color and age.
- davidw 7y ago
  > I don't really care about the skin color of my neighbors. That's a nice sentiment, but if you dig a bit, there are probably reasons why his neighborhood is full of "older white people", and there's a good chance that it wasn't a natural process of sorting. Recommended reading: https://amzn.to/2St6rOM https://amzn.to/2St6rOM
  - brobinson 7y ago
    ^ undisclosed affiliate link
    - davidw 7y ago
      Also a link to a site whose owner makes utter gobs of money if that's of concern to people. I usually get $10 a month or so if I occasionally post a link that I think is highly relevant to a discussion, that I turn around and spend on more books. Happy to buy anyone a beer with the massive amounts of cash I'm raking in.
- not_literally 7y ago
  You seem to be misinterpreting what they meant by "old white people" to show this forum (and yourself?) how virtuous you are.
  - SlowRobotAhead 7y ago
    No, I just think an educated forum of people that should know better should not engage in willful casual racism just because it's OK to hate on white people. But I know this is an extreme position I have! I personally have the hope that someday old people will be judged not on the color of their skin, but the content of their character. Perhaps if you didn't post your defense from a throwaway I'd think you weren't just trying to justify virtue - that someone of a specific color and age caused all of California's housing problems. Do you want to play the "is it racist if we change the color" game?
- sadproton 7y ago
jelliclesfarm 7y ago
You want to displace retired people on fixed income because you like to have young and diverse neighbours? It is more than selfish. This is bigotry against the elderly.
- jdc 7y ago
  If this is a good-faith reply I suggest you reread the parent.
  - tathougies 7y ago
    I mean, when people move in to a majority black or brown neighborhood they're accused of gentrification. I don't see why this is any different. Elderly people are also vulnerable populations.
  - jelliclesfarm 7y ago
    May I request you to please cut and paste the part of the parent which I might have misunderstood? This is the parent, afaict: [..] notJim 2 hours ago | undown | parent | flag | favorite | on: California’s housing crisis: how a bureaucrat push... Also a homeowner, and I'm a YIMBY (or PHIMBY) for selfish reasons as well. My neighborhood is mostly old white people, because they bought their houses years ago and stayed put. Not that I have anything against them, but I'd love to have a more diverse, younger neighborhood. More neighbors also means more customers for local businesses, which means more shops and restaurants in walking distance. More neighbors would eventually also mean better public transit, because the ridership would demand it. I think the selfish benefits of more housing are often overlooked due to fear of change.[..]
    - davidw 7y ago
      You could absolutely have more diversity by simply adding people, rather than displacing or removing anyone, which is precisely what the comment suggested.
      - jelliclesfarm 7y ago

by notJim 7y ago

Swizec 7y ago

> More neighbors also means more customers for local businesses, which means more shops and restaurants in walking distance Big reason I moved from Ljubljana, Slovenia to San Francisco. There’s just more stuff here and it’s amazing. The economies of scale are insane. I have more good restaurants within walking distance now than I used to have in the whole city.

YarickR2 7y ago
FWIW I'm seriously considering doing the reverse. I don't care about restaurants, but cleanness and neatness and uniqueness in Slovenia is something I miss dearly in Cali
- Swizec 7y ago
  You know I feel that all the time and then I go back to visit and after two days I’m like “Oh that’s why I left, there’s nothing to do here” What I miss most is real nature. Trees that are properly green, the changing of seasons, the mountains in the distance. That’s what I miss most. And good european food. Super hard to find in SF

SlowRobotAhead 7y ago

>Also a homeowner, and I'm a YIMBY (or PHIMBY) for selfish reasons as well. My neighborhood is mostly old white people, because they bought their houses years ago and stayed put. Hmm, here I am thinking I don't really care about the skin color of my neighbors. It's none of my business. But, I try and not judge people on immutable characteristics like color and age.

davidw 7y ago
> I don't really care about the skin color of my neighbors. That's a nice sentiment, but if you dig a bit, there are probably reasons why his neighborhood is full of "older white people", and there's a good chance that it wasn't a natural process of sorting. Recommended reading: https://amzn.to/2St6rOM https://amzn.to/2St6rOM
- brobinson 7y ago
  ^ undisclosed affiliate link
  - davidw 7y ago
    Also a link to a site whose owner makes utter gobs of money if that's of concern to people. I usually get $10 a month or so if I occasionally post a link that I think is highly relevant to a discussion, that I turn around and spend on more books. Happy to buy anyone a beer with the massive amounts of cash I'm raking in.
not_literally 7y ago
You seem to be misinterpreting what they meant by "old white people" to show this forum (and yourself?) how virtuous you are.
- SlowRobotAhead 7y ago
  No, I just think an educated forum of people that should know better should not engage in willful casual racism just because it's OK to hate on white people. But I know this is an extreme position I have! I personally have the hope that someday old people will be judged not on the color of their skin, but the content of their character. Perhaps if you didn't post your defense from a throwaway I'd think you weren't just trying to justify virtue - that someone of a specific color and age caused all of California's housing problems. Do you want to play the "is it racist if we change the color" game?
sadproton 7y ago

jelliclesfarm 7y ago

You want to displace retired people on fixed income because you like to have young and diverse neighbours? It is more than selfish. This is bigotry against the elderly.

jdc 7y ago
If this is a good-faith reply I suggest you reread the parent.
- tathougies 7y ago
  I mean, when people move in to a majority black or brown neighborhood they're accused of gentrification. I don't see why this is any different. Elderly people are also vulnerable populations.
- jelliclesfarm 7y ago
  May I request you to please cut and paste the part of the parent which I might have misunderstood? This is the parent, afaict: [..] notJim 2 hours ago | undown | parent | flag | favorite | on: California’s housing crisis: how a bureaucrat push... Also a homeowner, and I'm a YIMBY (or PHIMBY) for selfish reasons as well. My neighborhood is mostly old white people, because they bought their houses years ago and stayed put. Not that I have anything against them, but I'd love to have a more diverse, younger neighborhood. More neighbors also means more customers for local businesses, which means more shops and restaurants in walking distance. More neighbors would eventually also mean better public transit, because the ridership would demand it. I think the selfish benefits of more housing are often overlooked due to fear of change.[..]
  - davidw 7y ago
    You could absolutely have more diversity by simply adding people, rather than displacing or removing anyone, which is precisely what the comment suggested.
    - jelliclesfarm 7y ago