11 ms·

> NIMBY is the rallying cry at zoning board hearings, where whiny people who only care about themselves make sure those Chinese people don't put their stinky la

> NIMBY is the rallying cry at zoning board hearings, where whiny people who only care about themselves make sure those Chinese people don't put their stinky laundromats near our nice rich white neighborhood. Yes some of prefer zoning to "mixed" and "diverse" neighborhoods. What's wrong with me not willing to see a laundromat or an office building next to my house? Or what's wrong with me willing to live in quiet family-oriented neighborhood, where I can let children go outside alone since age of 6-7?

djbebs 5y ago
Nothings wrong with that. Nothing is stopping you from buying up the land around you, or agreeing with you neighbors to make a HOA that has those characteristics. The problem with zoning, is that it isn't voluntary.
- pessimizer 5y ago
  It's certainly as voluntary as a HOA, which were originally called White Homeowners Associations. Zoning is assigned by democratically elected administrations. HOAs are restrictive covenants that are required for the purchase of a house. Every single thing identified as NIMBYism could be enforced by covenants, and keeping blacks and Jews out was literally their original purpose.
colinmhayes 5y ago
Excessive zoning makes everyone poorer and is implemented by a local political elite who have power because they can afford to spend the most time on politics.
chasil 5y ago
Here is another zoning related video, referencing home-based business fronts in upscale neighborhoods. https://youtu.be/wzBL85kTwwo https://youtu.be/wzBL85kTwwo
throwaway984393 5y ago
Because the wording of such restrictions are often just window-dressing on the true motive, which is racial segregation. The first zoning law in the country was in Los Angeles in 1908. Part of the law was crafted to force certain businesses to relocate retroactively. It was crafted specifically to target the Chinese businesses, which were the laundromats. White people just did not want to live alongside Chinese people. Redlining was a further practice of both bankers and zoning having restrictions which were explicitly racially motivated. Levittown, the first planned community in the United States, was very explicitly "not mixed" - it had racial covenants that restricted blacks or jews from moving in. The intent was to sell more homes, as they presumed white people would not want to live in "mixed" areas with neighbors of an undesireable race. That practice continued throughout planned communities and zoning laws all over the country. Many of those racial covenants are still in place today. As an aside: you can let your children go outside in most cities. The moral panic over children getting kidnapped or abused if they step foot outside the house has been overblown for decades, and at this point is just a bizarre psychological trope of America.
coolso 5y ago
> What's wrong with me not willing Misery loves company. City-dwellers have to deal with crime, dodging homeless excrement, noise, and general unpleasantness? So should you.
NineStarPoint 5y ago
What’s wrong is everything the top comment mentioned. Zoning in the US is an albatross on our GDP, increases wealth inequality and racial segregation, and is forcing the car-centric culture that we currently live in. In the broadest sense, it’s making it close to impossible to modernize our cities and will be a major factor in the US’s fall from being the biggest economy in the world. If you’re okay with all of that as the price of you getting to live in an eternally quiet neighborhood (that your children will never have a similar opportunity to live in themselves due to zoning-driven real estate prices going far beyond what standard wages can afford), then sure. As long as you acknowledge what consequences your desires have on wider society, then you can say you think the price is worth it or that you don’t really care.

djbebs 5y ago

Nothings wrong with that. Nothing is stopping you from buying up the land around you, or agreeing with you neighbors to make a HOA that has those characteristics. The problem with zoning, is that it isn't voluntary.

pessimizer 5y ago
It's certainly as voluntary as a HOA, which were originally called White Homeowners Associations. Zoning is assigned by democratically elected administrations. HOAs are restrictive covenants that are required for the purchase of a house. Every single thing identified as NIMBYism could be enforced by covenants, and keeping blacks and Jews out was literally their original purpose.

colinmhayes 5y ago

Excessive zoning makes everyone poorer and is implemented by a local political elite who have power because they can afford to spend the most time on politics.

chasil 5y ago

Here is another zoning related video, referencing home-based business fronts in upscale neighborhoods. https://youtu.be/wzBL85kTwwo https://youtu.be/wzBL85kTwwo

throwaway984393 5y ago

Because the wording of such restrictions are often just window-dressing on the true motive, which is racial segregation. The first zoning law in the country was in Los Angeles in 1908. Part of the law was crafted to force certain businesses to relocate retroactively. It was crafted specifically to target the Chinese businesses, which were the laundromats. White people just did not want to live alongside Chinese people. Redlining was a further practice of both bankers and zoning having restrictions which were explicitly racially motivated. Levittown, the first planned community in the United States, was very explicitly "not mixed" - it had racial covenants that restricted blacks or jews from moving in. The intent was to sell more homes, as they presumed white people would not want to live in "mixed" areas with neighbors of an undesireable race. That practice continued throughout planned communities and zoning laws all over the country. Many of those racial covenants are still in place today. As an aside: you can let your children go outside in most cities. The moral panic over children getting kidnapped or abused if they step foot outside the house has been overblown for decades, and at this point is just a bizarre psychological trope of America.

coolso 5y ago

> What's wrong with me not willing Misery loves company. City-dwellers have to deal with crime, dodging homeless excrement, noise, and general unpleasantness? So should you.

NineStarPoint 5y ago

What’s wrong is everything the top comment mentioned. Zoning in the US is an albatross on our GDP, increases wealth inequality and racial segregation, and is forcing the car-centric culture that we currently live in. In the broadest sense, it’s making it close to impossible to modernize our cities and will be a major factor in the US’s fall from being the biggest economy in the world. If you’re okay with all of that as the price of you getting to live in an eternally quiet neighborhood (that your children will never have a similar opportunity to live in themselves due to zoning-driven real estate prices going far beyond what standard wages can afford), then sure. As long as you acknowledge what consequences your desires have on wider society, then you can say you think the price is worth it or that you don’t really care.