
Don't be a Stanford Asshole - oinksoft
http://www.48hills.org/2015/01/26/dont-stanford-asshole/
======
malandrew
Honestly, I hate articles like this because they always fail to recognize the
biggest asshole, the landlords who extract economic rent from everyone and
prevent all progress because increased supply makes their properties less
lucrative.

It shocks me to see brand new condos going up in the city that are 4-5 stories
tall when cities like Paris and Munich have shown that you can have human
scale living at a much greater density. Why do new buildings have so few
stories? Because landlords in the city heavily lobby for restrictions and
challenge every project trying to scale them down. There is enough room for SF
to keep its eccentrics and welcome newcomers and that solution is supply.

~~~
ceras
From my experience living in the Bay Area, it was definitely not just
landlords lobbying against construction. Normal residents often expressed
NIMBY concerns like "changing neighborhood character." Many of the people I
spoke to were not convinced that increased housing supply could reduce costs,
and that "all new housing would just be for rich people."

I think if more residents supported construction, the landlord lobby would
have no hope, but unfortunately they have many allies.

------
JesperRavn
Sounds like the real asshole is the person who instead of trying to understand
and critique people with different opinions, simply lambasts them as
"assholes".

A great example of the author's inability to engage with opposing views is in
the intro:

 _Afterward, one of the event organizers thanked me for coming, even though,
she said, “I disagree with almost everything you said.” Seriously? So it’s
okay to evict poor people to make room for new rich people? Is that what the
SF Chron talked about today with a story called “psychology studies suggest
rising wealth means more jerks in SF?”_

Note how the author is more interested in psychology studies about people,
than what those people would actually say for themselves.

------
jcrben
"Don’t ever move into an apartment, TIC, condo, or house that has been cleared
by an eviction."

This is impossible in practice. But more importantly, it is one of those
hopelessly naive idealistic rules. Apartments will be rented out, whether it
is by you or someone else. Changing an economic trend requires more than rent
control and well-intentioned protests.

