Comment by triceratops

20 days ago

Why don't we let people who like living in dense housing build and live in dense housing? And leave those who don't in peace? Right now we only do the second one but make the first one illegal.

20 comments

triceratops

Reply
apparent  20 days ago

Sure, we do let people do that. The thing that's objectionable is when a suburban neighborhood is rezoned by people who live hundreds of miles away, and developers get the green light to build towers there. Why do people who don't live in a place think they're entitled to change the zoning of that place?

What's to stop them from saying that it should now be zoned for industrial, and a chemical treatment plant can open up next door to a school? It's the same line of thinking.

  • triceratops  20 days ago

    > Why do people who don't live in a place think they're entitled to change the zoning of that place?

    Why do people who don't own the land think they're entitled to tell the actual owners what they can build?

    > It's the same line of thinking.

    It is not. This is a made up slippery slope.

    • apparent  20 days ago

      When someone buys land, they should be allowed to do whatever they want to do to it, subject to the zoning laws that were in effect at the time of purchase, or passed by a majority of voters in that area after purchase.

      7 replies →

  • HDThoreaun  20 days ago

    Not in California we don’t let people do that. The demand for condos far outstrips the amount of land zoned for them

    • bombcar  20 days ago

      Is it demand for condos or is it demand for reasonably-priced housing and condos are the only even remote possibility?

      I've met a few people who really loved condo living but almost every one would have taken the single family home next to the condo building if it had been even remotely similar in price.

      1 reply →

colechristensen  20 days ago

>And leave those who don't in peace?

That's not what's happening.

People who are living like that are being invaded by high density people who want to live in high density in their communities. They want to take over and force people out.

And generally they just want to flip. Find somewhere cheap and make it expensive to make money by lowering everybody's quality of life and calling it progress.

  • triceratops  20 days ago

    > They want to take over and force people out.

    How do you "force" people out? The existing owners have to sell land, and once they do the new owners have as much right to decide as the other residents. Are there thugs going door to door forcing sellers to sign papers?

    Allowing higher density construction doesn't mean higher density must get built there. That's still up to the property owner to decide. True freedom.