Arlington "missing middle"

[Anonymous]

I find the whole debate on the missing middle interesting. I don’t really know where I stand on it. I am an immigrant and grew up in a country that has absolutely no zoning laws. You can build an apartment complex behind a single family home - it’s all good. It’s an island but the government keeps reclaiming the sea so there is always land. Plus it’s not that built uo The permitting process is quick and there is very little bureaucracy. However real estate prices have sky rocketed in the past 20 years or so. The entire country has become unaffordable. Most people blame it on the fact that we have rich people from neighboring countries buying investment properties and second homes, which just pushes the price of homes. Things got much worse when they started allowing anyone from any country to buy a home. Obviously countries are different. I hate to say it but if I were to extrapolate from the situation there, I would say that the only way to bring housing prices is to tax hell out of second homes and investment properties and to further regulate or eliminate REITS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find the whole debate on the missing middle interesting. I don’t really know where I stand on it. I am an immigrant and grew up in a country that has absolutely no zoning laws. You can build an apartment complex behind a single family home - it’s all good. It’s an island but the government keeps reclaiming the sea so there is always land. Plus it’s not that built uo The permitting process is quick and there is very little bureaucracy. However real estate prices have sky rocketed in the past 20 years or so. The entire country has become unaffordable. Most people blame it on the fact that we have rich people from neighboring countries buying investment properties and second homes, which just pushes the price of homes. Things got much worse when they started allowing anyone from any country to buy a home. Obviously countries are different. I hate to say it but if I were to extrapolate from the situation there, I would say that the only way to bring housing prices is to tax hell out of second homes and investment properties and to further regulate or eliminate REITS.

I hit send too soon. I meant to add that I didn’t watch this documentary but I’ve heard good things about it and I think it argues the same thing https://make-the-shift.org/push-how-big-finance-is-driving-up-housing-costs/

[Anonymous]

Second/investment homes aren’t the issue. This is a simple supply and demand problem. The population is growing and all the job growth is in urban areas, so demand for housing has shot up relative to the supply.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:If cramming housing in to every square inch makes a place affordable, explain Manhattan to us.

So much ignorance. Didn't you take an econ class at some point?

The clueless crap that I read on DCUM by supposedly educated and high earning people is a window into the origin of our current state of affairs. Like these people have never dead a book or even browsed wikipedia before opining on anything and everything.

DCUM isn't as homogeneous as you believe. There are some f-ing idiots.

In addition to the f-ing idiots, there are posters on DCUM who are willfully ignorant, and are motivated to remain so by their bizarre desire to encase their neighborhood in amber and prevent any changes whatsoever.

Ah, I recognize you! Don’t you have anything else to do but post repeatedly all over DCUM and Nextdoor. Lol.

NP, but I agree with the PP. I have yet to see an anti-MM argument that doesn’t boil down to “I don’t want change”. What is the argument against? The big one, not the BS “tree canopy/street parking/school capacity” etc. Those are broader issues not specific to MM. I have yet to see a concrete argument specifically against MM, and it just comes across as fear. Arlington is changing. Either it is enormous 7k sq ft McMansions owned by tech/consulting or it is higher density, but those non-historically significant ramblers and colonials are turning over. I’m not sure how anyone looks at land surrounding the pentagon, across from the capitol and thinks “this should remain low density neighborhoods.”

Exactly.

That’s a Trumpian take on things that only shows you’ve chosen to ignore every argument presented in this thread as well as credible arguments ignored when thrive MoCo was passed, and basically every bit of academic research that shows that there isn’t much utility in this type of zoning mismanagement versus disruption in neighborhoods.

Can either of you present some evidence that meddling with existing zoning will accomplish the goals of affordable housing? More home ownership? Lower rent? Better schools? Less congestion?

Anything in the way of proof? Have you ever thought that maybe people would just like to think that something might work before making changes?

Seems that if you need more density near the Pentagon you’d change the zoning to build high density in some areas. What does it accomplish to “upzone” some SFH neighborhoods? What’s the aggregate good in that? Planning exists for a reason.

Numbers, please, or we can just write this off as more YIMBY fantasy.

PP, it's ok to say "I don't want my neighborhood to change." Or even "I don't want Arlington to change."

This! Home and land owners from Chain Bridge to Spot Run, were quite agitated about the development of residential neighborhoods like Rivercrest, etc. "It's going to ruin Arlington! and It's the beginning of the end." They predicted doom and tried to scare everyone. But change is inevitable, neighborhoods evolve over time.