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cg5280today at 12:35 AM4 repliesview on HN

The problem isn’t the powers that be. A lot of regular homeowners fight new developments tooth and nail. And many blue states unfortunately give them a lot of tools to do so.


Replies

epistasistoday at 1:03 AM

People want to blame the 1% for massive wealth ineqality, but when it comes to unaffordable housing, a basic necessity of life, the villain is actually about 30% of the population that is rich enough to own homes, act like rentiers, and block access to neighborhoods and opportunities.

The greatest inequality difference is that between those with housing assets and those without. Yes the 1% are a problem but they are not the reason that young people can no longer afford housing without generational wealth, that's all due to the seemingly normal guy that's enforcing a class system based on home ownership versus non-ownership.

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solid_fueltoday at 1:00 AM

> A lot of regular homeowners fight new developments tooth and nail.

In a system where those with more capitol have more power, homeowners are the powers that be. They're more likely to vote and have more money for discretionary spending - like donating to politicians.

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JumpCrisscrosstoday at 12:38 AM

> A lot of regular homeowners fight new developments

Which is self interested. The paradox is renters being turned against their own interests by large landlords pitching anti-gentrification.

lovecgtoday at 12:52 AM

Don’t know why this is being downvoted, that’s exactly right. One needs only to attend a local city meeting about any smallest step towards more development to see how the voters think.