
'Dear NIMBYs' – An Open Letter from a Homeless Woman in LA - clairity
https://laist.com/2018/12/20/dear_nimbys_open_letter_from_an_la_woman_experiencing_homelessness.php
======
40acres
It appears to me that once a society becomes large enough a majority of the
problems left to solve are collection action problems, I think the housing
crisis in West Coast cities in particular is an example of a collection action
problem.

I keep up with the NIMBY/YIMBY divide both in my home: Portland, OR and in the
Bay Area. And I've noticed a few trends: You can't build high in certain areas
because it blocks the view for wealth homeowners, you can't build moderate
density buildings because it "changes the character of the neighborhood", you
can't extend rail into certain areas because rail bring minori-- eh, crime.
And you can't build near existing rail because it should be up to each
individual community to decide what gets built in their location.

Where are you supposed to build? Something has to give, and it looks like as
always its poor folk who are suffering. Being pushed out further and further
with a lack of adequate transportation support to get to urban job centers.

~~~
whatshisface
> _Where are you supposed to build?_

Austin. That's why the US has a federal structure, so that if one polity
degenerates into a self-interested but somehow still self-destructive gridlock
situation, everyone can just leave.

~~~
cenal
Poor people can’t just leave. They lack the resources to get started in a new
community.

~~~
masonic
This is why the Dust Bowl westward migration... didn't happen?

------
49531
I agree with this but am always skeptical of the YIMBY side of things. At
least as I understand it, YIMBYism is advocating for deregulated real estate
development markets? So maybe my understanding of it is skewed, but I can't
really see real estate developers making cheap housing a priority in an
expensive neighborhood when they could profit from building more expensive
housing. Especially now that housing can be bought as an investment and held
but not used. I just think "market based solutions" aren't going to fix
homelessness. Good ole fashioned public housing might though, real public
housing, not projects owned by private corporations and subsidized by tax
dollars.

This letter isn't really talking about YIMBYism so I'm probably just assuming
any anti-NIMBY writing is pro-YIMBY which is probably inaccurate. I do see a
lot of YIMBYism on HN so perhaps someone can set me straight on it.

~~~
nserrino
You might want to look into how things have played out in Seattle, where there
was a recent housing construction boom. The tl;dr is that prices have come
down significantly.

~~~
pxeboot
_the actual amount renters paid dropped 1.4 percent in the past quarter, or
$24 a month._

They have come down, but I wouldn't call 1-2% 'significantly' [1].

[1] [https://www.seattletimes.com/business/real-estate/amid-
build...](https://www.seattletimes.com/business/real-estate/amid-building-
boom-1-in-10-seattle-apartments-are-empty-and-rents-are-dropping/)

~~~
cheriot
They also never went as high as San Francisco where construction was more
restricted. How the amount of residential construction compares to the amount
of office construction also matters.

------
eberkund
I think there is no real solution that people will like. In order for the
price of a condo to fall to match the price of a condo in a rural area, there
would need to be a huge amount of construction (I think more than most people
realize) to increase supply sufficiently to satisfy demand. Doing this would
drastically change the lifestyles of the people living there.

I am just speculating, but think of a city New York now, it is already known
to have horrible traffic and overcrowded transit. It is also known to have
some of the most expensive real estate in the world. In order to become
"affordable" you could build tons of high density housing however how much
would it cost to take a taxi or eat at a restaurant if you did this? I'm sure
many well of people would leave because their quality of life would decrease
due to these changes. So you would basically be trying to find a new
equilibrium of real estate prices.

~~~
gbhn
I learn the opposite from NYC: if the city is successful enough to draw a lot
of real estate development, the result will be _even higher_ prices.

This more closely matches the actual trajectory of cities like NYC, Tokyo,
London, etc.

------
ap3
Why does it have to be LA though? Is there any place in the US where her
skills could translate to being able to pay for a housing/shelter?

I know real third world poverty and people that barely earn US hourly minimum
wage in a day, and yet in the US, the richest country in the world, it’s OK to
live off of others and demand “rights”

------
nickthemagicman
I think there needs to be more van life friendly facilities. I am perfectly
happy to live in a van and go to work every day as a software developer. And I
think there's a lot of people who also feel the same way. If there is a place
that would let you park your van for four hundred bucks a month or something
like that where you were safe and allowed to park. I think that would be a
huge moneymaker.

~~~
clairity
i think you presented an earnest and unconventional perspective and am
dismayed at the lack of engagement here (even if i myself wouldn't want to
live in a van).

~~~
nickthemagicman
Why thank you for the positive assessment! Yep agree van life isn't for
everyone. But as inequality grows it will be a tolerable decision for many I
think in the future.

