So, I get that there's a major hypocrisy here... and that this demonstrates NIMBYism and such. Personally, the passive-aggressive tone of the tweet makes this especially aggravating: "purported concerns about..."
That said, I think we just have to accept that affordable housing concerns are always hypocrisy-laden.
Home owners, have an interest in high prices. Home ownership overlaps significantly with active citizenry. Banks want higher prices. Mortgage solvency depends on it. Bank regulator regulators too, for the same reason. All that translates into entrenched political hypocrisy. You can't beat it by yelling at it.
FWIW, I'm personally not sure that increased density is the actual answer anyway... or what is. Are there any demonstrative examples with increased housing density making meaningful price impacts on an already expensive city. Do we even have examples of cities becoming significantly cheaper, that aren't a crisis?
In any case, I think we should call this kind of behaviour the "Andreessen Effect."
> FWIW, I'm personally not sure that increased density is the actual answer anyway... or what is.
The truth is the materials and labor to build what most people consider “housing” is out of reach for a lot of people and these people don’t know it. There’s a reason that nearly all new multi-family development is “luxury” - it’s the only profitable way. Anything that’s “affordable” is government subsidized. Not to mention upkeep.
So we need to change what people think affordable housing is. It’s a lot closer to a trailer than it is to a fixed structure. I don’t know if a lot of people are willing to accept that.
Density is just a side effect of building more homes (housing supply goes up in a given area -> density goes up). The effect of supply on price is, well, unambiguous.
This isn't barber shops and orange juice. Real estate is a far more structured market. Limited space. Price-pegged debt availability. Transport/infrastructure. Long term asset inflation trends. This creates a lot of ambiguity around the effect of supply on price... within realistic boundaries.
A simple supply and demand curve rarely models most urban real estate markets usefully.
That said, I think we just have to accept that affordable housing concerns are always hypocrisy-laden.
Home owners, have an interest in high prices. Home ownership overlaps significantly with active citizenry. Banks want higher prices. Mortgage solvency depends on it. Bank regulator regulators too, for the same reason. All that translates into entrenched political hypocrisy. You can't beat it by yelling at it.
FWIW, I'm personally not sure that increased density is the actual answer anyway... or what is. Are there any demonstrative examples with increased housing density making meaningful price impacts on an already expensive city. Do we even have examples of cities becoming significantly cheaper, that aren't a crisis?
In any case, I think we should call this kind of behaviour the "Andreessen Effect."