Jacob Anbinder: origins of anti-growth ideology in Democratic cities
Beyond NIMBYism: antigrowth activism, political ideology, and the origins of the housing crisis
Jacob Anbinder describes the origins of anti-growth politics in Democratic cities, including in California: skepticism about the preceding period of rapid growth, historic preservation (aiming to stabilize declining neighbourhoods and increase their value), environmentalism, mistrust of power, and a push for local control.
To me the key challenge is that our municipal institutions were shaped based on these ideas, in particular our regulations on new housing and the revenue we extract from it in the form of development charges. I would suggest that these ideas are no longer dominant in Vancouver, demonstrated by TEAM’s getting only 10% of the vote in the 2022 municipal elections. But the institutions set up to oppose growth remain in place.
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Jacob Anbinder on the 1970s shift to local control, focusing on New York City
Summary of Marc Dunkelman’s Why Nothing Works
What happened in the 1970s? William Fischel on homevoters vs. the growth machine