> An equally important question to ask is, who is ultimately allowed to control their living environment, i.e. their land, house, and property? Society is. Th

> An equally important question to ask is, who is ultimately allowed to control their living environment, i.e. their land, house, and property? Society is. This is literally the basis of society--we reach consensus (in some fashion, even consensus is dictated), and abide by the laws. There's this weird attitude in the united states, something along the lines of, "well this property is mine, ergo, i can do whatever the hell i want with it." It's weird because it's actually unfounded. Maybe more true in rural areas. The use of land has always been governed. And the more humans that are nearby, the more governance and consideration of your neighbours there must be. I actually hold no opinion on the 'correct' way to govern land use, other than to point out that maybe the reason it's hard to change the character of the city is because it was done so intentionally. Thankfully we have a way to get progressive permitting done with you having to perform your civic duties on a tuesday afternoon! it's called voting. And perhaps if there's not enough votes to install leaders with progressive permitting views, then perhaps it is not a prevalent view. edit: Fascinating I'm getting downvoted, I wish people would explain other than 'I don't like the words you're saying'.