The DMV needs a YIMBY revolution

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why can't YIMBYs be happy living in their crowded apartment buildings in NoMa or Navy Yard, or whatever the new hotspot is, and walking to whatever fancy restaurants and gyms make them happy, and leave the rest of us alone? It always feels like, deep down, they are miserable and want to spread that misery to everyone.

+1000

They're angry at the fact they can't afford to buy and still rent at 38 years old. They resent it tremendously. Therefore they have to ruin what others have and worked hard to obtain simply because of jealousy.

OP should get more education and a better job if they wanted to own a home. Stop trying to tear down what others have because of their own shortcomings.

I’m 33 and own a condo in a mixed-dwelling neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lol this is a troll post. Nothing to see here.

To really sell it as YImBY they need waaaayyyyy more Messiah Complex.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why can't YIMBYs be happy living in their crowded apartment buildings in NoMa or Navy Yard, or whatever the new hotspot is, and walking to whatever fancy restaurants and gyms make them happy, and leave the rest of us alone? It always feels like, deep down, they are miserable and want to spread that misery to everyone.

+1000

They're angry at the fact they can't afford to buy and still rent at 38 years old. They resent it tremendously. Therefore they have to ruin what others have and worked hard to obtain simply because of jealousy.

OP should get more education and a better job if they wanted to own a home. Stop trying to tear down what others have because of their own shortcomings.

I’m 33 and own a condo in a mixed-dwelling neighborhood.

Wow, I thought those kinds of places were illegal. Huh.

[Anonymous]

There are DCYimbys, the Coalition for Smarter Growth and GreaterGreaterWashington - if you are a YIMBY, then support these great groups!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are DCYimbys, the Coalition for Smarter Growth and GreaterGreaterWashington - if you are a YIMBY, then support these great groups!

I do. And I appreciate their advocacy but none of their piecemeal approaches is going to accomplish what really needs to happen.

Think about it this way. Have you traveled around Europe? What is so appealing to Americans about Europe? Other than history buffs and foodies, why do people enjoy European cities and towns? Because of the urban planning. Everything accessible by transit, effective planning that centers around historic buildings, compact amenities, walkable streets. You don’t to go Europe to drive down a stroad to a wasteland of parking lots dotted with McDonalds and Walmarts.
In between these dense European cities you get cute little towns and scenic countryside.

You don’t get a 355/Wisconsin Ave or a Georgia Ave or a 29/Columbia Ave etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why can't YIMBY people understand that people move to the suburbs because they want to live in the suburbs? Not everyone wants a small apartment and walkability. Some of us want yards and space

This is why you are selfish and what you don’t understand. It’s not only that I personally prefer high-density urban planning and walkability. It’s that if more people lived this way, then we wouldn’t have the suburban garbage like stroads and strip malls and sprawl. If you house 20 families in an acre as opposed to one or two families, then that acreage can turn back into forest land, or green space, and be home to more biodiversity, OR it can be used for local farming, OR solar fields to power the neighborhoods. Land is finite and it better used that way than for empty lawns and gas-guzzling SUVs.

Your second sentence is what people are trying to explain. You prefer high density, which is fine. Many of us don’t. You clearly hate the suburbs. Again you’re entitled to your opinion but many of us prefer them and seek them out. Live downtown in your dense area but not everyone wants that.

Why do I need to live in a way I don’t want to so you can turn my yard into forest or farming just because you like density.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why can't YIMBY people understand that people move to the suburbs because they want to live in the suburbs? Not everyone wants a small apartment and walkability. Some of us want yards and space

This is why you are selfish and what you don’t understand. It’s not only that I personally prefer high-density urban planning and walkability. It’s that if more people lived this way, then we wouldn’t have the suburban garbage like stroads and strip malls and sprawl. If you house 20 families in an acre as opposed to one or two families, then that acreage can turn back into forest land, or green space, and be home to more biodiversity, OR it can be used for local farming, OR solar fields to power the neighborhoods. Land is finite and it better used that way than for empty lawns and gas-guzzling SUVs.

Your second sentence is what people are trying to explain. You prefer high density, which is fine. Many of us don’t. You clearly hate the suburbs. Again you’re entitled to your opinion but many of us prefer them and seek them out. Live downtown in your dense area but not everyone wants that.

Why do I need to live in a way I don’t want to so you can turn my yard into forest or farming just because you like density.

You miss the point. It’s not just that I like density. Me liking density is secondary to me liking biodiversity. Sprawl harms biodiversity and the environment. Your chemical sprayed lawn that Kayden and Jayden play soccer in for ten minutes once a month in between video games could be home to endangered wildlife.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unironically.
Most of you will hate this but I don’t care. We all need to suck it up and move into the 21st century, 25 years too late.

No more tweaking around the edges with low-level zoning reform or a few more metro stops or buses here and there. We need a broad scale systematic urban planning overhaul that completely eliminates single family zoning anywhere inside the Beltway.

Single family zoning is simply unsustainable. We can’t grow our economy if we don’t have new residents and we can’t have new residents if we don’t have homes. And if we don’t have more homes near better, reliable transit, then everyone will be more miserable stuck in traffic and less productive at work and less economically competitive. We need to completely eliminate suburban sprawl. The 1950s planned communities need to stay in the past. In a perfect world we’d move everyone closer in to promote re-wilding of our exurbs.

Nobody should be living in a single family suburban home and drive an SUV. It should be either urban, dense multi family dwelling walkable 15-minute neighborhoods, or rural homesteads, preferably using their land for organic family farming and solar fields and green spaces.

If it weren’t for American “but muh freedumb!” selfish ideology, I guarantee we would all have a much higher quality of life with less traffic, less stress, stronger communities, less obesity, and a better economy.

Bring on the YIMBY revolution.

As a proud YIMBY I do NOT associate myself with this post. And frankly, I'm hopeful it is a troll trying to stir up trouble.
In particular, the YIMBY movement that I am a part of does not take issue with anybody choosing to live in a SFH or drive an SUV. It does want to promote more choices for more people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are DCYimbys, the Coalition for Smarter Growth and GreaterGreaterWashington - if you are a YIMBY, then support these great groups!

I do. And I appreciate their advocacy but none of their piecemeal approaches is going to accomplish what really needs to happen.

Think about it this way. Have you traveled around Europe? What is so appealing to Americans about Europe? Other than history buffs and foodies, why do people enjoy European cities and towns? Because of the urban planning. Everything accessible by transit, effective planning that centers around historic buildings, compact amenities, walkable streets. You don’t to go Europe to drive down a stroad to a wasteland of parking lots dotted with McDonalds and Walmarts.
In between these dense European cities you get cute little towns and scenic countryside.

You don’t get a 355/Wisconsin Ave or a Georgia Ave or a 29/Columbia Ave etc.

I have traveled to Europe and I don’t want to live there. Most Americans don’t want their city to look like Europe. You only went to the nice touristy parts of Europe anyway. Many of these areas in Europe are high density slums and not nearly as nice as this childish fantasy you idealize.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are DCYimbys, the Coalition for Smarter Growth and GreaterGreaterWashington - if you are a YIMBY, then support these great groups!

I do. And I appreciate their advocacy but none of their piecemeal approaches is going to accomplish what really needs to happen.

Think about it this way. Have you traveled around Europe? What is so appealing to Americans about Europe? Other than history buffs and foodies, why do people enjoy European cities and towns? Because of the urban planning. Everything accessible by transit, effective planning that centers around historic buildings, compact amenities, walkable streets. You don’t to go Europe to drive down a stroad to a wasteland of parking lots dotted with McDonalds and Walmarts.
In between these dense European cities you get cute little towns and scenic countryside.

You don’t get a 355/Wisconsin Ave or a Georgia Ave or a 29/Columbia Ave etc.

The thing about Europe is, once you get farther out than the centuries-old city centres, it's suburbia. It's cuter, usually smaller suburbia (their SUV's are smaller than ours so their roads are able to be narrower and cuter), but wastelands of parking lots and chain stores nonetheless.

[Anonymous]

I guess the OP wants more rodents and vermin

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why can't YIMBY people understand that people move to the suburbs because they want to live in the suburbs? Not everyone wants a small apartment and walkability. Some of us want yards and space

This is why you are selfish and what you don’t understand. It’s not only that I personally prefer high-density urban planning and walkability. It’s that if more people lived this way, then we wouldn’t have the suburban garbage like stroads and strip malls and sprawl. If you house 20 families in an acre as opposed to one or two families, then that acreage can turn back into forest land, or green space, and be home to more biodiversity, OR it can be used for local farming, OR solar fields to power the neighborhoods. Land is finite and it better used that way than for empty lawns and gas-guzzling SUVs.

If you want fields and woods intermixed with denser housing, it would be far, far more wasteful (and environmentally damaging) to try to transform existing detached SFH neighborhoods into that than to plan and build such in greenfield spaces. Attract a job center for work/live/shop and build some electric bus/trolley service, and connect that to regional rail to get to downtown centers.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely not, OP. There is not reason to ruin the city. If you want NYC move to NYC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why can't YIMBY people understand that people move to the suburbs because they want to live in the suburbs? Not everyone wants a small apartment and walkability. Some of us want yards and space

This is why you are selfish and what you don’t understand. It’s not only that I personally prefer high-density urban planning and walkability. It’s that if more people lived this way, then we wouldn’t have the suburban garbage like stroads and strip malls and sprawl. If you house 20 families in an acre as opposed to one or two families, then that acreage can turn back into forest land, or green space, and be home to more biodiversity, OR it can be used for local farming, OR solar fields to power the neighborhoods. Land is finite and it better used that way than for empty lawns and gas-guzzling SUVs.

Your second sentence is what people are trying to explain. You prefer high density, which is fine. Many of us don’t. You clearly hate the suburbs. Again you’re entitled to your opinion but many of us prefer them and seek them out. Live downtown in your dense area but not everyone wants that.

Why do I need to live in a way I don’t want to so you can turn my yard into forest or farming just because you like density.

You miss the point. It’s not just that I like density. Me liking density is secondary to me liking biodiversity. Sprawl harms biodiversity and the environment. Your chemical sprayed lawn that Kayden and Jayden play soccer in for ten minutes once a month in between video games could be home to endangered wildlife.

No on sprays their lawns around here. We all fill our yards with trees and native plants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why can't YIMBY people understand that people move to the suburbs because they want to live in the suburbs? Not everyone wants a small apartment and walkability. Some of us want yards and space

This is why you are selfish and what you don’t understand. It’s not only that I personally prefer high-density urban planning and walkability. It’s that if more people lived this way, then we wouldn’t have the suburban garbage like stroads and strip malls and sprawl. If you house 20 families in an acre as opposed to one or two families, then that acreage can turn back into forest land, or green space, and be home to more biodiversity, OR it can be used for local farming, OR solar fields to power the neighborhoods. Land is finite and it better used that way than for empty lawns and gas-guzzling SUVs.

Your second sentence is what people are trying to explain. You prefer high density, which is fine. Many of us don’t. You clearly hate the suburbs. Again you’re entitled to your opinion but many of us prefer them and seek them out. Live downtown in your dense area but not everyone wants that.

Why do I need to live in a way I don’t want to so you can turn my yard into forest or farming just because you like density.

You miss the point. It’s not just that I like density. Me liking density is secondary to me liking biodiversity. Sprawl harms biodiversity and the environment. Your chemical sprayed lawn that Kayden and Jayden play soccer in for ten minutes once a month in between video games could be home to endangered wildlife.

No on sprays their lawns around here. We all fill our yards with trees and native plants.

adding: ... and you want to replace that with concrete and high rises.