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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I concur with a PP who stated that YIMBYism relies on a basic failure of understanding economics. But it’s worse than that, because it’s also a failure of understanding basic finance.

If the expectation is that increasing the supply of infill housing units will drive down rental costs, then no one would invest in multi-family residential RE because there would be no profit.

Trust me, the PE funds, REITs, asset managers and developers understand the finance and economics of this a lot more than you do and they will never, ever invest in anything without a near guarantee of maximizing profits at high margins.

Also, I find it a bit odd that YIMBYs claim that we desperately need housing but turn their noses up at the new housing that is built or just pretend that it doesn’t exist. Just because you personally don’t like the tens of thousands of new units of single family homes, townhomes and apartments being built in [b]Clarksburg or Leesburg doesn’t mean that it’s not real and that a lot of people do want it and prefer it[/b].[/quote]

Tearing up farms to build farther out is not sustainable. What happens when there is no more arable land, so that people can have single family houses? [/quote]
And here we go. This is where you totally lose me because it is clear that you are only thinking about the bubble of you and your cohort’s limited wants and needs.

As you yourself confirm, the YIMBY calls for more housing come with an asterisk. I guess the acronym should be changed to “yes, but only in the yards that I want.”

If your foundational belief is doing everything possible to increase affordable market rate housing supply, the truth is that new build greenfield housing has historically been the only proven and effective means to do it. Which makes it odd that it is the only type of housing that you absolutely do not want.

If you got out of your bubble, what you would learn is that:
- Way more people live in the suburbs than in the city. 
- Way more jobs in the suburbs than in the city. 
- Greenfield is the only housing type that can be built at low unit cost to provide market rate “affordable housing”.
- These new developments are highly racially integrated, particularly including a lot of immigrant families realizing their own American dream. 
- The most “dense” cities in the world have massive suburbs. Manhattan, for example, is surrounded by a 4 state area of suburbs of varying density extending from northern NJ, to PA, to the Hudson River Valley, to Fairfield and up to New Haven and the across Island Sound.

I think you all need to get out and start meeting people outside of your limited friend groups. Pretty ironic for people that have somehow anointed themselves as the champions of diversity.

It’s funny to me that [/quote]

Ok, so at some point, there won't be more greenspace to build on.
Your vision maximizes car dependency, and is the least efficient use of land, or transportation investment and sprawl. It is such a loser game to keep doing what doesn't work until there is nothing left.[/quote]
For people that consider the supply of housing to be a crisis that requires extreme measures, it’s funny to me that you believe housing should only be increased within the policy constraints that fit your priors.

Apparently everyone else needs to compromise and sacrifice in order to provide for ensuring that the objective that you want is met except for you, the actual chief promoters of the objective.

In short, according to YIMBYs, zoning is bad except for when it’s good and the free market is good, except for when it’s bad.

[/quote]

It isn't MY constraints. There is only so much land. Why does it make sense to plow under arable land to build single family tract housing in car dependent areas? This just leads to so much waste. I am sorry you cannot see it. Maybe someday your children will.[/quote]

Today's Post talks about all the people fleeing the 'density rich' Bay Area for livable, breathable communities inland. Sorry, but you CAN build non-sterile lovely communities and builders have figured out how to create new housing with community. It's a very narrow view that everyone needs to live like the Matrix in pods in the city.[/quote]

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