Reply to If you were born in 1990, how do you plan on ever affording a house?

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Reply to "If you were born in 1990, how do you plan on ever affording a house?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think the answer is people of your generation need to vote in droves in your local elections and show up at city council meetings and public comment meetings to advocate for large increases in housing stock in your communities.  The price explosion of housing near cities is almost entirely driven by the lack of supply.  And every time developers propose projects to increase the numbers of units, homeowners show up to oppose them in order to protect their home values.  You can't have a say in your community if you don't show up to voice it.[/quote]
Good point, though part of the problem is that the people who want the density often don't live in the jurisdictions.  I live near the proposed Westbard development in Bethesda, and the NIMBYs opposing it all are SFH owners in the neighborhood who don't want further development because of all the usual ostensible reasons - schools, traffic, environmental, overcrowding.  (Unsaid, of course, is that brown or, even worse, moderate income people might move in.  the horror!)  The people who would benefit form the additional housing often don't even know about it.  [/quote]
I think these are fair points, but they don't explain the complete lack of involvement by younger generations and renters when it comes to local politics.  For example, it's not that hard to learn about new housing developments that are up for public comment.  Most municipalities are required to publish the information online.

I'm a former Fed who now lives outside of the DC area and has been organizing people to get more involved in their local communities.  It's like pulling teeth, because (more or less by definition) there isn't a big movement around any one proposed multi-family dwelling or local conservation effort. And you are actually required to think for yourself instead of having someone tell you what position you should be taking.  This problem isn't unique to younger people, but I do find that younger people are particularly under-represented.

It's not easy to effect change, but it's often worth it.  People keep asking me why I can't make it easier for them to be involved in their local communities without ever having to leave their house or doing anything but email/phonecalls.  I'm not sure how to respond to that.[/quote]

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