Comment by jjav

2 days ago

This assumes a house is nothing but an investment, like a bunch of stock.

This is far from reality. A home is family and life to most people, nobody cares if it went up or down in value, a home is about our life.

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jjav

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camel_Snake  2 days ago

> nobody cares if it went up or down in value

If only this were true, we wouldn't have homeowners constantly fighting against new development or construction. Many homeowners treat their primary residence as an investment.

  • jjav  20 hours ago

    > If only this were true, we wouldn't have homeowners constantly fighting against new development or construction. Many homeowners treat their primary residence as an investment.

    You'll be very hard pressed to find any home owner who actually thinks in this cartoonish way.

    When people oppose changing the character of their home neighborhood it has nothing to do with "treating their primary residence as an investment". It is because they selected a place to live, to call home, based on some criteria that they liked. Everyone does. A home is a big commitment, so you spend a lot of time researching exactly where you want to settle down for the next many decades. You pick an area you like, a neighborhood you enjoy.

    For some people that might be quite rural, for some people distant suburban, for others near-city suburban, for others inner-city center. Whichever type of area you select, it is because that's the kind of area you personally enjoy the most. Somehow this obvious truth is controversial on HN for reasons I don't understand, but it is the truth. People select what makes them happy, no surprise.

    So, when people oppose seeing their suburban area torn down to build highrises, it has absolutely nothing to do with home values or investments.

    People oppose it because they very intentionally chose to live in a suburb far away from highrises and now they see those imposed on them. Of course they're unhappy. Basic human nature, nothing to do with investments.

    If someone feels this is not so, I'd appreciate an explanation of your viewpoint.