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You see, if Americans had the same value for "not being a nuisance" as the Japanese, then you could pack us like sardines in a can, and we'd all get along fine.

You see, if Americans had the same value for "not being a nuisance" as the Japanese, then you could pack us like sardines in a can, and we'd all get along fine. "Changing the character of the neighborhood" is an actual concern that real people have, and trucking over them to build more housing will probably just cause another wave of white flight. Ideally, Americans would value respect over freedom, but I think the right to do whatever you want is too deeply ingrained in our culture at this point.

mcpackieh 3y ago
The problem is "be more like the Japanese" isn't actionable advice. Americans don't have uniform values; most Americans are already respectful neighbors (yes, even the "freedom loving" ones) so telling them to be more like the Japanese is pointless because they aren't the problem. The problem is the small portion of Americans who are deliberately antisocial. If even 10% of Americans are antisocial neighbors, then 100 Americans moving into your neighborhood will mean you have 10 awful people making the neighborhood hell. And what can the quiet 90% do about it? Socially pressure the anti-social people? This provokes even more disruption in retaliation and stands a non-negligible chance of getting you stabbed. Calling the police with noise complaints is ineffectual, as soon as the police leave the disruption will become even worse just to spite everybody else. NIMBYism is the most proximate and pragmatic solution; stop the problem from occurring in the first place.