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in case anyone's wondering how my community hearing about an apartment complex on the empty lot down the street went https://twitter.com/koaleszenz/status/1230590218236907520
i'm fucking livid. might make a thread tomorrow
ok, here we go
i was the only ron at the meeting. there were about 30 leslies. mostly nice, well-meaning people. the meeting itself was mostly complaints about the proposed building (a small number of fair concerns were raised).
short summary of some of the things i heard:
i was the only ron at the meeting. there were about 30 leslies. mostly nice, well-meaning people. the meeting itself was mostly complaints about the proposed building (a small number of fair concerns were raised).
short summary of some of the things i heard:
(from two different people) "obviously a shortage of housing is not the issue in this neighborhood. there are always 'for rent' and 'students welcome' signs around here!"
"this building is a monstrosity. it's gonna completely block out the views!" (the proposed building is four stories tall. the speaker lives in a building three stories tall, which is currently the tallest building in the neighborhood)
"we need affordable housing, not luxury housing!" (one minute later, after i interject that "luxury" housing exerts downward pressure on rents via a musical-chairs effect) "trust me, i lived in SF, so i know even if they do build housing, rents are gonna go up anyway!"
(from a landlord) "i'm a responsible landlord. i try to keep rents low because i value the community." (one minute later, after i jump in and argue that increasing housing supply usually lowers rents) "if they build new housing, i might raise rents!"
(side note: landlords have the clearest perverse incentive to block the construction of new housing. why the fuck are they even allowed to show their faces at these things?)
"i've lived here for 15 years. if this monstrosity gets built, my rent is gonna increase and i'm gonna have to move."
"we need affordable housing, not luxury housing!" (one minute later) "the lot is zoned for 12 duplex townhomes, so they should build that instead of 83 one-bed apartments." (this happened twice, from two different people)
"i mean, come on. that's a gentrifier building. you can tell just by looking at it." (voice of narrator: you actually can't tell just by looking at it)
"the building is gonna destroy our green space!" (it's an empty, unmaintained grass lot next to a rehab center. there is a huge park one block away and an enormous, two-block park three blocks away.)
"it's immaterial that an apartment building used to be there." (do you think it was zoned for duplexes because the zoning committee took ayahuasca and foresaw that duplexes were part of the grand divine plan? or was it just a pretext to destroy some "undesirable" apartments?)
best for last (and overheard from many different people): "i love the diversity of this neighborhood!" (evidently not enough to make it even more diverse by letting more people move in!!!!!!)
i didn't get to speak much, and i worry that i came across as combative. but i'm okay with making a few enemies in the service of the greater good. NIMBYism is fucking satanic and should be called out as such
