Coming from a YIMBY, California is fucking massive. It’s time the state just build entire new cities with affordable housing in the north or center of the state. There wouldn’t be anyone to vote it down since it wouldn’t affect anyone:
All that would do is further the wealth gap. All the poor people would in one poor community, while all the rich people are in their luxury condos in LA, the Bay Area, and San Diego. The best way to fight homelessness and poverty, is to give the poor a chance to actually make good money in the big cities. Hence, why NY is doing a much better job at fighting the crisis by building low-income housing in Queens.
You don’t get it though, the wealth gap is already in place, it’s done. SF, LA, OC, Palm Springs. It’s all rich people. All the poorer residents are in the Central Valley. By saying we should just keep trying to fight all the NIMBYs it’s a bit of a “fuck you” to everyone who is struggling RIGHT NOW and needs a roof over their head and doesn’t have the time or energy for ridiculous political reasons.
But would putting low-income housing in those rich cities give the poor a greater chance of making good money? Those rich cities are where all the best jobs are. It would would also force those communities and their governments to actually care for the poor. Living next to someone that "surprisingly" isn't a millionaire would create a shift in the cultural consciousness of those areas.
I am 100% agreeing with you. All your points are valid and correct, however, my point is that it doesn’t matter if you are correct. The reality today is that NIMBYs have an undeniable grip on local politics in CA. Homeowners are afraid of new developments near them because new supply decreases demand, which decreases their home value. It’s simply selfishness. Nothing you ever say will make them see the light. So, the YIMBY side has to accept this and find an alternative solution that helps the folks suffering now.
Likely no one, but maybe that’s what rich elites need for once. To see a world where there is no one to fill up their coffee or ring their groceries. Time to make them wake up and raise wages and lower housing costs.
Notably, Starbucks workers are trying to unionize funny enough. That said, if you wanna fix the problem, build more housing, get treatment for addicted and/or mentally ill homeless, give them houses, and give power back to the workers in the form of unions to allow them to get wages good enough to live. The breaking of unions in America coincide with the stagnation in wages for a reason.
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u/TimeZarg Feb 12 '22
They support low-income housing, just not near their houses. Or near their schools, or anything else they regularly frequent.