Great post and I agree with the core premise. I also think we should be cautious about 'us versus them' language when talking about homeowners. The vast majority of home owners I know would welcome denser development in their neighborhoods, and I think most NIMBY movements come from a super vocal minority. I think we give them more power by treating it as a bigger group than it is.
Homeowners benefit from dense development too. density allows more businesses to thrive, more investment in transit and pedestrian infrastructure, and generally raise the value of those properties regardless.
The money on a table every day analogy is not a good one in my opinion. It ignores the differences between realized and unrealized gains.
The much more accurate description would be that Durham homeowners get $148/day deposited into a savings account that they can’t withdraw from until they sell their house. However they are allowed to borrow from that account via a HELOC or home equity loan for 7+%.
Great post and I agree with the core premise. I also think we should be cautious about 'us versus them' language when talking about homeowners. The vast majority of home owners I know would welcome denser development in their neighborhoods, and I think most NIMBY movements come from a super vocal minority. I think we give them more power by treating it as a bigger group than it is.
Homeowners benefit from dense development too. density allows more businesses to thrive, more investment in transit and pedestrian infrastructure, and generally raise the value of those properties regardless.
The money on a table every day analogy is not a good one in my opinion. It ignores the differences between realized and unrealized gains.
The much more accurate description would be that Durham homeowners get $148/day deposited into a savings account that they can’t withdraw from until they sell their house. However they are allowed to borrow from that account via a HELOC or home equity loan for 7+%.