What’s In My Backyard?

USA: @knarefsky @jacobinmag about #YIMBY’s. „The profit motive is what caused the [housing] affordability crunch in the first place.“

Jacobin Magazine: „YIMBYs look to the free market to solve the housing crisis. But the profit motive is what caused the affordability crunch in the first place. …

Ultimately, YIMBYism is an exhortation to unleash unfettered market forces to remedy the housing crisis, despite the evidence that the profit motive is what caused the affordability crunch in the first place. Mortgage lenders realized they could make more money selling subprime loans and defrauding home buyers than they could by ensuring homeowners long-term stability. As a result, many former homeowners have joined the renter nation, competing for an increasingly unaffordable rental-housing supply.

YIMBYs argue that zoning and other restrictions on development prevent the market from meeting people’s housing needs. But the housing market has never met the needs of the poor — in fact, while the latest housing crisis was caused by the mortgage market’s collapse, working people have been overpaying for substandard housing since at least the mid-nineteenth century, well before New York City pioneered zoning restrictions in 1916.

By advancing a narrative that privileges development (and developer profits) over non-market strategies and tenant power, YIMBYs provide cover and political support for politicians who want to be seen as progressive but don’t want to confront developers. Some YIMBYs are running for office themselves on a pro-growth platform. … “

https://jacobinmag.com/2017/08/yimbys-housing-affordability-crisis-density

Dazu Right To The City Alliance: „We need #UniversalRentControl, Community Control of Land, Housing and #DevelopmentWithoutDisplacement and defense and expansion of social housing because #TrickleDownDoesntTrickle #luxuryhousing is not built for us, and we can’t build ourselves out of a crisis that is driven by putting profit over people and money over homes.
Thanks to Karen Narefsky for the great article!
#Homes4All“

https://www.facebook.com/righttothecityalliance/posts/10154630288962657