[tptacek]

The Collective Action Problem. Locals have a concentrated interest in preventing development. The broader public's interest in there being housing outweighs that, but it's diffuse. You see the same thing play out over and over again in cities around the world: it's so much easier to organize opposition to housing than support that no housing gets built.

[Eumenes]

Sounds good to me. I don't really care for the masses/others.

[BirdieNZ]

Just take this a step further, bring "local" all the way down to "the person who owns the land". Let the locals decide what to do on the land they own. If they want an apartment, or a store, or a giant mansion in the middle of 20 acres, as long as they own the land let them do it! They're the most local individual, right?

[Eumenes]

I'd rather just manipulate zoning laws to prohibit soviet style apartment blocks from appearing in my little slice of heaven

[tptacek]

To a US suburban resident in a single-family lot, any apartment building is a Soviet-style apartment block.

[smcl]

In any HN discussion on housing there is inevitably a couple of people acting like you’re trying to build a krushchevka on their lawn. It’s like if we pretended all detached housing was like the infamous “groverhaus”[0]. The user you’re replying to appears to be getting a kick out of trolling as a NIMBY, slightly odd but it takes all sorts I suppose.

[0] - best source is unfortunately knowyourmeme @ https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/groverhaus the phrase “load-bearing dry wall” appears

[tptacek]

I mean, I spend a lot of time discussing this stuff with actual local development opponents, so arguments like these in the abstract just aren't that aggravating. I'm often happy for people to mount the most superficial arguments against things I believe in; might as well lay the flimsiness of the opposition out clearly.

[scatters]

If you don't want an apartment block on your lot, you don't have to build one! But if your neighbor wants to build one, what moral right do you have to stop them?

[Eumenes]

I dont' care about morals, I care about legality, and if there are legal means to stop such projects, I pursue them with full force.