[al_borland]

When a majority of the homeowners have the same opinion, that is what drives the neighborhood. On a larger scale, it’s what drives the direction of a community or city. This is democracy, where the citizens vote to influence the direction of the place they live… rather than leaving everyone at the mercy of whoever has the deepest pockets.

[amazingamazing]

You are silly. Only homeowners get a say? Add renters and they will agree with me, dismantling your silliness. Though I am glad you replied the way you did, at least you’re not shy about classism.

[al_borland]

I was a renter for 16 years. I have a house now, but think about going back to renting often. I’m not a big fan of the headaches that come with home ownership.

That said, I’m not sure what your point is here. Renters still vote. Though they don’t have the same skin in the game that a home owner has, they aren’t excluded from the democratic process.

I don’t feel like I changed social classes when moving from an apartment to a house, and don’t think I would lower my social class by going back to renting.

Having some wealthy developers come to town, who aren’t part of the community, and ignore the democratic process for financial gain, sounds like the a more damaging form of classism. We’re seeing this play out in real time with AI data centers. One an hour from me was voted down, but is happening anyway, because the billionaires sued and the town can’t afford to fight corporate lawyers, and folded. Now the town just has to deal with it, and the developers don’t really care what happens them. They aren’t people to them, just impediments.