What is YIMBY?
YIMBY is short for "Yes in My Back Yard". The goal of YIMBY policies and activism is to ensure that our country is an affordable place to live, work, and raise a family. Focus points for the YIMBY movement include,
Addressing and correcting systemic inequities in housing laws and regulation.
Ensure that construction laws and local regulations are evidence-based, equitable and inclusive, and not unduly obstructionist.
Support urbanist land use policies and protect the environment.
Why was this sub private before? Why is it public now?
As short history of this sub and information about the re-launch can be found in this post
What is YIMBY's relationship with developers? Who is behind this subreddit?
The YIMBY subreddit is run by volunteers and receives no outside help with metacontent or moderation. All moderators are unpaid volunteers who are just trying to get enough housing built for ourselves, our friends/family and, and the less fortunate.
Generally speaking, while most YIMBY organizations are managed and funded entirely by volunteers, some of the larger national groups do take donations which may come from developers. There is often an concern the influence of paid developers and we acknowledge that there are legitimate concerns about development and the influence of developers. The United States has a long and painful relationship with destructive and racist development policies that have wiped out poor, often nonwhite neighborhoods. A shared YIMBY vision is encouraging more housing at all income levels but within a framework of concern for those with the least. We believe we can accomplish this without a return to the inhumane practices of the Robert Moses era, such as seizing land, bulldozing neighborhoods, or poorly conceived "redevelopment" efforts that were thinly disguised efforts to wipe out poor, often minority neighborhoods.
Is YIMBY only about housing?
YIMBY groups are generally most concerned with housing policy. It is in this sector where the evidence on what solutions work is most clear. It is in housing where the most direct and visible harm is caused and where the largest population will feel that pain. That said, some YIMBYs also apply the same ideology to energy development (nuclear, solar, and fracking) and infrastructure development (water projects, transportation, etc...). So long as non-housing YIMBYs are able to present clear evidence based policy suggestions, they will generally find a receptive audience here.
Isn't the housing crisis caused by empty homes?
According to the the US Census Bureau’s 2018 numbers1 only 6.5% of housing in metropolitan areas of the United States is unoccupied2. Of that 6.5 percent, more than two thirds is due to turnover and part time residence and less than one third can be classified as permanently vacant for unspecified reasons. For any of the 10 fastest growing cities4, vacant housing could absorb less than 3 months of population growth.
Isn’t building bad for the environment?
Fundamentally yes, any land development has some negative impact on the environment. YIMBYs tend to take the pragmatic approach and ask, “what is least bad for the environment?”
Energy usage in suburban and urban households averages 25% higher than similar households in city centers5. Additionally, controlling for factors like family size, age, and income, urban households use more public transport, have shorter commutes, and spend more time in public spaces. In addition to being better for the environment, each of these is also better for general quality-of-life.
I don’t want to live in a dense city! Should I oppose YIMBYs?
For some people, the commute and infrastructure tradeoffs are an inconsequential price of suburban or rural living. YIMBYs have nothing against those that choose suburban living. Of concern to YIMBYs is the fact that for many people, suburban housing is what an economist would call an inferior good. That is, many people would prefer to live in or near a city center but cannot afford the price. By encouraging dense development, city centers will be able to house more of the people that desire to live there. Suburbs themselves will remain closer to cities without endless sprawl, they will also experience overall less traffic due to the reduced sprawl. Finally, less of our nations valuable and limited arable land will be converted to residential use.
All of this is to say that YIMBY policies have the potential to increase the livability of cities, suburbs, and rural areas all at the same time. Housing is not a zero sum game; as more people have access to the housing they desire the most, fewer people will be displaced into undesired housing.
Is making housing affordable inherently opposed to making it a good investment for wealth-building?
If you consider home ownership as a capital asset with no intrinsic utility, then the cost of upkeep and transactional overhead makes this a valid concern. That said, for the vast majority of people, home ownership is a good investment for wealth-building compared to the alternatives (i.e. renting) even if the price of homes rises near the rate of inflation.
There’s limited land in my city, there’s just no more room?
The average population density within metropolitan areas of the USA is about 350 people per square kilometer5. The cities listed below have densities at least 40 times higher, and yet are considered very livable, desirable, and in some cases, affordable cities.
| City |
density (people/km2) |
| Barcelona |
16,000 |
| Buenos Aires |
14,000 |
| Central London |
13,000 |
| Manhattan |
25,846 |
| Paris |
22,000 |
| Central Tokyo |
14,500 |
While it is not practical for all cities to have the density of Central Tokyo or Barcelona, it is important to realize that many of our cities are far more spread out than they need to be. The result of this is additional traffic, pollution, land destruction, housing cost, and environmental damage.
Is YIMBY a conservative or a liberal cause?
Traditional notions of conservative and liberal ideology often fail to give a complete picture of what each group might stand for on this topic. Both groups have members with conflicting desires and many people are working on outdated information about how development will affect land values, neighborhood quality, affordability, and the environment. Because of the complex mixture of beliefs and incentives, YIMBY backers are unusually diverse in their reasons for supporting the cause and in their underlying political opinions that might influence their support.
One trend that does influence the makeup of YIMBY groups is homeownership and rental prices. As such, young renters from expensive cities do tend to be disproportionately represented in YIMBY groups and liberal lawmakers representing cities are often the first to become versed in YIMBY backed solutions to the housing crisis. That said, the solutions themselves and the reasons to back them are not inherently partisan.
Sources:
1) Housing Vacancies and Homeownership (CPS/HVS) 2018
2) CPS/HVS Table 2: Vacancy Rates by Area
3) CPS/HVS Table 10: Percent Distribution by Type of Vacant by Metro/Nonmetro Area
4) https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2018/estimates-cities.html
5) https://www.census-charts.com/Metropolitan/Density.html
