4 ms·

YIMBYs Keep Winning

50 points by theptip 3y ago

jaaasshh 3y ago
what’s up with articles not defining terms anymore? wut the heck is YIMBY? some play on words opposite of NIMBY?
- playingalong 3y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YIMBY_movement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YIMBY_movement
ryanschaefer 3y ago
Couldn’t read the whole article because of the paywall but the author pretty much lost me in the first paragraph… > The YIMBY movement annoys a lot of people who are highly engaged with politics because we are living in a time of intense political polarization, and YIMBYism is not aligned with either pole Who *wants* polarization and would be annoyed by bipartisanship?? Wouldn’t it make more sense that people find the common ground and unity refreshing? Just a strange phrasing of the movement.
- klooney 3y ago
  I think you're reading him backwards- he's pro YIMBY, and saying that they are bipartisan and successful, but annoying to highly online highly partisan types.
  - wrsh07 3y ago
    Note the author is himself deeply engaged in partisan political discourse - he's referencing his discourse (the discourse he frequently engages in) as being the polarizing discourse (which I assume from his comments he finds frustrating)
- jjulius 3y ago
  >Who wants polarization and would be annoyed by bipartisanship? I think this[0] is the right take, but I'm guessing you haven't read much in the way of political discourse on Twitter, Reddit and Facebook over the last decade or so? Nuance has been discarded and there's hardly any willingness to compromise on anything. [0]https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37449692 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37449692
7e 3y ago
[flagged]
CalRobert 3y ago
Interestingly yimbys are often associated with youngish urban lefties but the core principles are actually conservative in nature. Strongtowns.org discusses this a lot. Well built cities are more financially sustainable ones.
- fallingfrog 3y ago
  [flagged]
  - Georgelemental 3y ago
    What is it with the obsession some progressives have with badmouthing potential allies? Is dunking on the outgroup really so much more important than accomplishing your political objectives? - Earnest question from me, a YIMBY conservative
    - polygamous_bat 3y ago
      > What is it with the obsession some progressives have with badmouthing potential allies? If your commitment to the cause evaporates because "a leftie was mean to you on the internet", what kind of commitment are you offering in the first place?
      - Georgelemental 3y ago
        I am still just as much of a YIMBY as I was 10 minutes ago.
  - jrajav 3y ago
    I disagree with the GP's predictable refrain that conservatism is naturally more financially 'smart', but I also find your characterization of conservatism a little bizarre. More to the point, it's ironic that both GP and yourself are making partisan stabs when the article's main point is that the success of this movement might stem from its marked nonpartisanship.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
user3939382 3y ago
[flagged]
datavirtue 3y ago
What is a YIMBY?
- Wowfunhappy 3y ago
  "Yes In My Backyard". It's meant to be the opposite of a NIMBY, someone who always says "Not In My Backyard" to new building proposals, with the end-result that nothing is ever built.
  - fargle 3y ago
    It's interesting because on of the reasons YIMBY-ism "annoys a lot of people" is because while it's meant to be the opposite of NIMBY, it's really not. It ends up being in practice Yes-In-Your-Back-Yard, which is arguably a less pronounceable acronym (YIYBY). Not as much fun.
    - mixmastamyk 3y ago
      There's also the twin to NIMBY, a bit less pronounceable as well: FYIGM - F. You, I Got Mine.
hugh-avherald 3y ago
YIMBYs keep making gains, but haven't really won anything yet. I'd say their success is not unlike present climate change policy: there's an emerging consensus on the correct policy, but we're a long way before the problem stops getting worse, let alone solved.
- CalRobert 3y ago
  The burst of ADUs in California seems like a win
light_hue_1 3y ago
I wish. YIMBYs have not managed to do anything of consequence. It's naive and far too premature to declare that things are turning in the right direction. 75% of new housing is single family homes. We're building the same unsustainable housing stock, with the same sprawl, that results in crazy prices. This isn't a win. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-single-family-housing-starts-surge-july-2023-08-16 https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-single-family-housing-st... The California ADU "win" is inconsequential. California is down 3-4 million units. We're talking about 20k ADUs per year. California needs to build 300k-400k+ units per year. Building at such a low rate is a NIMBY win! In my extremely left Massachusetts town NIMBYs just killed 1000 units of new housing and turned them into hundreds of thousands of square feet of lab space. All because they don't want anyone to change the character of the neighborhood. Better to have a lab building than to accept an equally sized building with new people in it. Heck, in the town nextdoor they just voted against new bikeway on land that is already owned by the state (disused rail trail) and fully paid by the state. All this would have done is raise people's home values. And this isn't a one off, it's happened regularly in the state for years now. NIMBYs are definitely winning. All of the basic statistics show this no matter where you look.
xt00 3y ago
If one thing comes from ADU related wins being that there is a decoupling of mortgage cost to rent then that should be massively encouraged everywhere. In fact give tax breaks to people who build them even. Basically the idea that in a time when mortgage rates are 7% plus on a 1M house, and somehow you can find a rental for less than whatever that would cost is so unlikely that you have tons of people fighting for the rare case when that happens. But with an ADU it’s just a random additional space that could easily house a couple of people and charging a low rent and low utilities for that seems super likely. In particular imagine the amount of older people who have a large enough back yard and might benefit a bunch from additional income and having a neighbor close by to look in on them occasionally.. seems like with the aging population in US it’s a win win.

YIMBYs Keep Winning

50 points by theptip 3y ago

jaaasshh 3y ago

what’s up with articles not defining terms anymore? wut the heck is YIMBY? some play on words opposite of NIMBY?

playingalong 3y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YIMBY_movement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YIMBY_movement

ryanschaefer 3y ago

Couldn’t read the whole article because of the paywall but the author pretty much lost me in the first paragraph… > The YIMBY movement annoys a lot of people who are highly engaged with politics because we are living in a time of intense political polarization, and YIMBYism is not aligned with either pole Who *wants* polarization and would be annoyed by bipartisanship?? Wouldn’t it make more sense that people find the common ground and unity refreshing? Just a strange phrasing of the movement.

klooney 3y ago
I think you're reading him backwards- he's pro YIMBY, and saying that they are bipartisan and successful, but annoying to highly online highly partisan types.
- wrsh07 3y ago
  Note the author is himself deeply engaged in partisan political discourse - he's referencing his discourse (the discourse he frequently engages in) as being the polarizing discourse (which I assume from his comments he finds frustrating)
jjulius 3y ago
>Who wants polarization and would be annoyed by bipartisanship? I think this[0] is the right take, but I'm guessing you haven't read much in the way of political discourse on Twitter, Reddit and Facebook over the last decade or so? Nuance has been discarded and there's hardly any willingness to compromise on anything. [0]https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37449692 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37449692

7e 3y ago

[flagged]

CalRobert 3y ago

Interestingly yimbys are often associated with youngish urban lefties but the core principles are actually conservative in nature. Strongtowns.org discusses this a lot. Well built cities are more financially sustainable ones.

fallingfrog 3y ago
[flagged]
- Georgelemental 3y ago
  What is it with the obsession some progressives have with badmouthing potential allies? Is dunking on the outgroup really so much more important than accomplishing your political objectives? - Earnest question from me, a YIMBY conservative
  - polygamous_bat 3y ago
    > What is it with the obsession some progressives have with badmouthing potential allies? If your commitment to the cause evaporates because "a leftie was mean to you on the internet", what kind of commitment are you offering in the first place?
    - Georgelemental 3y ago
      I am still just as much of a YIMBY as I was 10 minutes ago.
- jrajav 3y ago
  I disagree with the GP's predictable refrain that conservatism is naturally more financially 'smart', but I also find your characterization of conservatism a little bizarre. More to the point, it's ironic that both GP and yourself are making partisan stabs when the article's main point is that the success of this movement might stem from its marked nonpartisanship.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

user3939382 3y ago

[flagged]

datavirtue 3y ago

What is a YIMBY?

Wowfunhappy 3y ago
"Yes In My Backyard". It's meant to be the opposite of a NIMBY, someone who always says "Not In My Backyard" to new building proposals, with the end-result that nothing is ever built.
- fargle 3y ago
  It's interesting because on of the reasons YIMBY-ism "annoys a lot of people" is because while it's meant to be the opposite of NIMBY, it's really not. It ends up being in practice Yes-In-Your-Back-Yard, which is arguably a less pronounceable acronym (YIYBY). Not as much fun.
  - mixmastamyk 3y ago
    There's also the twin to NIMBY, a bit less pronounceable as well: FYIGM - F. You, I Got Mine.

hugh-avherald 3y ago

YIMBYs keep making gains, but haven't really won anything yet. I'd say their success is not unlike present climate change policy: there's an emerging consensus on the correct policy, but we're a long way before the problem stops getting worse, let alone solved.

CalRobert 3y ago
The burst of ADUs in California seems like a win

light_hue_1 3y ago

I wish. YIMBYs have not managed to do anything of consequence. It's naive and far too premature to declare that things are turning in the right direction. 75% of new housing is single family homes. We're building the same unsustainable housing stock, with the same sprawl, that results in crazy prices. This isn't a win. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-single-family-housing-starts-surge-july-2023-08-16 https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-single-family-housing-st... The California ADU "win" is inconsequential. California is down 3-4 million units. We're talking about 20k ADUs per year. California needs to build 300k-400k+ units per year. Building at such a low rate is a NIMBY win! In my extremely left Massachusetts town NIMBYs just killed 1000 units of new housing and turned them into hundreds of thousands of square feet of lab space. All because they don't want anyone to change the character of the neighborhood. Better to have a lab building than to accept an equally sized building with new people in it. Heck, in the town nextdoor they just voted against new bikeway on land that is already owned by the state (disused rail trail) and fully paid by the state. All this would have done is raise people's home values. And this isn't a one off, it's happened regularly in the state for years now. NIMBYs are definitely winning. All of the basic statistics show this no matter where you look.

xt00 3y ago

If one thing comes from ADU related wins being that there is a decoupling of mortgage cost to rent then that should be massively encouraged everywhere. In fact give tax breaks to people who build them even. Basically the idea that in a time when mortgage rates are 7% plus on a 1M house, and somehow you can find a rental for less than whatever that would cost is so unlikely that you have tons of people fighting for the rare case when that happens. But with an ADU it’s just a random additional space that could easily house a couple of people and charging a low rent and low utilities for that seems super likely. In particular imagine the amount of older people who have a large enough back yard and might benefit a bunch from additional income and having a neighbor close by to look in on them occasionally.. seems like with the aging population in US it’s a win win.