You can't avoid change. You have to pick what kind of change you want. This graphic sums it up pretty well: https://twitter.com/issiromem/status/15578166686041

You can't avoid change. You have to pick what kind of change you want. This graphic sums it up pretty well: https://twitter.com/issiromem/status/1557816668604141568 https://twitter.com/issiromem/status/1557816668604141568 What your friend has observed is what happens when you keep it bottled up for years and years. Instead of gradually moving to 4-plexes and 3 story apartments and narrow townhomes, when all that demand finally gets unleashed, it's a larger change. Change can be disturbing, so we should aim for more frequent gradual changes than 'quantum leap' type stuff. That said, at least your friend has options in that their land is probably worth a ton of money now and they do have the possibility to get out and go somewhere more to their liking. Tons of people in high cost cities like Seattle have no home at all due to housing costs.