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This issue spans across the standard Anglo-American political spectrum. There are people who are pro/anti urban-development on both sides of the aisle and frami
by blululu 6y ago
This issue spans across the standard Anglo-American political spectrum. There are people who are pro/anti urban-development on both sides of the aisle and framing the issue as Right/Left or Liberal/Conservative is probably not helpful in understanding the various factions and their interests.
Zoning Laws typically match the textbook definition of conservative (literally trying to conserve and maintain an old system and prevent anyone from changing it with new developments). This aspect of conservatism is shared by both right wing and left wing interests.
- zip1234 6y agoI mean, a political conservative is generally thought to be fiscally conservative and for free markets and private ownership while also being socially conservative. Zoning would definitely be against free markets and private ownership. That said, zoning seems to be embraced by conservatives!
- sokoloff 6y agoI think zoning is against anarchy, but it seems to be supportive of a functioning market. No one wants to build a house next to what could become an aluminum smelting operation or a pig farm. Zoning supports functioning real estate markets.
- zip1234 6y agoZoning does not prevent either of those things. In my town, massive subdivisions went in next to a garbage dump. Now people are complaining about the garbage dump. It was all 'zoned.' Look at industrial areas on a google map. They will often have housing near/around them. Without zoning, the people that don't want to be near those things will not be near them, just as now. Anarchy means an absence of order. Did humans live in anarchy before the early to mid 20th century when zoning was adopted en masse?
- sokoloff 6y agoWell sure, if you build or buy in a spot where the neighboring plot is zoned to allow aluminum smelting, pig farming, or a landfill, or where those features already exist, you shouldn’t be surprised that you one day wake up next to that.
- SpicyLemonZest 6y agoWhen people in the US say they think zoning is bad, they're generally focused on R1/single family zoning, which is overwhelmingly common here but rare to nonexistent in other countries. If the minimum zoning restrictions included small apartment buildings and perhaps small shops, as they typically do in other places (and are starting to in some US cities), that'd satisfy most people who raise the issue.
- sokoloff 6y agoUnderstood. The person to whom I was responding seemed to seek an explanation for the contradiction in their mind between people who support markets and private ownership and why those same people would support zoning restrictions.
- SpicyLemonZest 6y agoFair.