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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   37968 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of March 27, 2023

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YIMBY sentiment on this forum has (I think) been mostly focused on increasing the density of existing residential zones. However, it may be worth noting that there is an alternative: converting existing agricultural or unused land to low-density residential use (i. e., continuing to "sprawl"). In this article, a former employee of the libertarian Cato Institute accuses that organization of focusing exclusively on high-density housing, and of smearing as racist people who are not interested in long-term high-density living and clamor for more single-family houses. (In his view, upzoning imposed from the top down is not libertarian, because the existing owners have a sort of property right in the zoning of their neighborhood as a substitute for deed restrictions that could or should have been used instead of zoning codes.)

Urban sprawl satisfies libertarian YIMBYs. More homes, more lawns, more castles, more basement home theaters and pinball rooms, more space for your children to grow up physically and socially distant from their peers, in places without sidewalks, where mom has to deliver them to and pick them up from soccer practice or their friends house. Where you need a taxi to be able to go drink with your friends. Where getting out of your car is inconvenient and so every service, from the bank to Starbucks, is drive ‘thru’. A place where you have to drive to walk your dog in sanctioned green space nearby. Hell, a place where you have to drive to walk at all.

The 80s called, they want their stereotypes back.

I bought my house a little over a decade ago, as a new build. The neighborhood has mini playgrounds or open parks every two blocks at most, and few larger parks with sports facilities a five minute walk away. There are sidewalks everywhere, there's minimal wasted space between hosues, which are anyways clustered into cul-de-sacs to minimize frontage, and the cul-de-sacs are structured so that you can cut from one to another without crossing the street. The elementary school is integrated into the neighborhood, and the "town center" has townhouses (two or three stories over a two car garage), a grocery store, cafes, etc.

My streets are full of kids. Your streets are full of shit.

Ah but they do build unwalkable suburbs.

They are seen as a cheaper way to make something similar to a gated community. No excuse to be in the community if you don't live there and there isn't anywhere to go.

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