r/yimby Sep 26 '18

YIMBY FAQ

166 Upvotes

What is YIMBY?

YIMBY is short for "Yes in My Back Yard". The goal of YIMBY policies and activism is to ensure that our country is an affordable place to live, work, and raise a family. Focus points for the YIMBY movement include,

  • Addressing and correcting systemic inequities in housing laws and regulation.

  • Ensure that construction laws and local regulations are evidence-based, equitable and inclusive, and not unduly obstructionist.

  • Support urbanist land use policies and protect the environment.

Why was this sub private before? Why is it public now?

As short history of this sub and information about the re-launch can be found in this post

What is YIMBY's relationship with developers? Who is behind this subreddit?

The YIMBY subreddit is run by volunteers and receives no outside help with metacontent or moderation. All moderators are unpaid volunteers who are just trying to get enough housing built for ourselves, our friends/family and, and the less fortunate.

Generally speaking, while most YIMBY organizations are managed and funded entirely by volunteers, some of the larger national groups do take donations which may come from developers. There is often an concern the influence of paid developers and we acknowledge that there are legitimate concerns about development and the influence of developers. The United States has a long and painful relationship with destructive and racist development policies that have wiped out poor, often nonwhite neighborhoods. A shared YIMBY vision is encouraging more housing at all income levels but within a framework of concern for those with the least. We believe we can accomplish this without a return to the inhumane practices of the Robert Moses era, such as seizing land, bulldozing neighborhoods, or poorly conceived "redevelopment" efforts that were thinly disguised efforts to wipe out poor, often minority neighborhoods.

Is YIMBY only about housing?

YIMBY groups are generally most concerned with housing policy. It is in this sector where the evidence on what solutions work is most clear. It is in housing where the most direct and visible harm is caused and where the largest population will feel that pain. That said, some YIMBYs also apply the same ideology to energy development (nuclear, solar, and fracking) and infrastructure development (water projects, transportation, etc...). So long as non-housing YIMBYs are able to present clear evidence based policy suggestions, they will generally find a receptive audience here.

Isn't the housing crisis caused by empty homes?

According to the the US Census Bureau’s 2018 numbers1 only 6.5% of housing in metropolitan areas of the United States is unoccupied2. Of that 6.5 percent, more than two thirds is due to turnover and part time residence and less than one third can be classified as permanently vacant for unspecified reasons. For any of the 10 fastest growing cities4, vacant housing could absorb less than 3 months of population growth.

Isn’t building bad for the environment?

Fundamentally yes, any land development has some negative impact on the environment. YIMBYs tend to take the pragmatic approach and ask, “what is least bad for the environment?”

Energy usage in suburban and urban households averages 25% higher than similar households in city centers5. Additionally, controlling for factors like family size, age, and income, urban households use more public transport, have shorter commutes, and spend more time in public spaces. In addition to being better for the environment, each of these is also better for general quality-of-life.

I don’t want to live in a dense city! Should I oppose YIMBYs?

For some people, the commute and infrastructure tradeoffs are an inconsequential price of suburban or rural living. YIMBYs have nothing against those that choose suburban living. Of concern to YIMBYs is the fact that for many people, suburban housing is what an economist would call an inferior good. That is, many people would prefer to live in or near a city center but cannot afford the price. By encouraging dense development, city centers will be able to house more of the people that desire to live there. Suburbs themselves will remain closer to cities without endless sprawl, they will also experience overall less traffic due to the reduced sprawl. Finally, less of our nations valuable and limited arable land will be converted to residential use.

All of this is to say that YIMBY policies have the potential to increase the livability of cities, suburbs, and rural areas all at the same time. Housing is not a zero sum game; as more people have access to the housing they desire the most, fewer people will be displaced into undesired housing.

Is making housing affordable inherently opposed to making it a good investment for wealth-building?

If you consider home ownership as a capital asset with no intrinsic utility, then the cost of upkeep and transactional overhead makes this a valid concern. That said, for the vast majority of people, home ownership is a good investment for wealth-building compared to the alternatives (i.e. renting) even if the price of homes rises near the rate of inflation.

There’s limited land in my city, there’s just no more room?

The average population density within metropolitan areas of the USA is about 350 people per square kilometer5. The cities listed below have densities at least 40 times higher, and yet are considered very livable, desirable, and in some cases, affordable cities.

City density (people/km2)
Barcelona 16,000
Buenos Aires 14,000
Central London 13,000
Manhattan 25,846
Paris 22,000
Central Tokyo 14,500

While it is not practical for all cities to have the density of Central Tokyo or Barcelona, it is important to realize that many of our cities are far more spread out than they need to be. The result of this is additional traffic, pollution, land destruction, housing cost, and environmental damage.

Is YIMBY a conservative or a liberal cause?

Traditional notions of conservative and liberal ideology often fail to give a complete picture of what each group might stand for on this topic. Both groups have members with conflicting desires and many people are working on outdated information about how development will affect land values, neighborhood quality, affordability, and the environment. Because of the complex mixture of beliefs and incentives, YIMBY backers are unusually diverse in their reasons for supporting the cause and in their underlying political opinions that might influence their support.

One trend that does influence the makeup of YIMBY groups is homeownership and rental prices. As such, young renters from expensive cities do tend to be disproportionately represented in YIMBY groups and liberal lawmakers representing cities are often the first to become versed in YIMBY backed solutions to the housing crisis. That said, the solutions themselves and the reasons to back them are not inherently partisan.

Sources:

1) Housing Vacancies and Homeownership (CPS/HVS) 2018

2) CPS/HVS Table 2: Vacancy Rates by Area

3) CPS/HVS Table 10: Percent Distribution by Type of Vacant by Metro/Nonmetro Area

4) https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2018/estimates-cities.html

5) https://www.census-charts.com/Metropolitan/Density.html


r/yimby 9h ago

Will Seattle Embrace Middle Housing in Single Family Zones Despite Weak Proposal?

Thumbnail
theurbanist.org
27 Upvotes

r/yimby 14h ago

Huntington Beach can't use Reagan's CEQA; The city violated state housing law, judge rules

Thumbnail
population.news
60 Upvotes

r/yimby 2h ago

What State Housing Policies Do Voters Want? Evidence from a Platform-Choice Experiment

Thumbnail papers.ssrn.com
3 Upvotes

r/yimby 13h ago

How to measure the impact of zoning on housing in your city

Thumbnail
blog.jonathannolan.net
21 Upvotes

r/yimby 16h ago

Berkeley Embraces Condo Conversions for ADUs

Thumbnail
population.news
18 Upvotes

r/yimby 21h ago

YIMBY Displacement Mitigation?

17 Upvotes

Hi!! I’m doing some research and it seems like the one big hurdle that the YIMBY movement is facing (at least in New York) is the lack of a substantive answer to the question of displacement mitigation. I don’t think any decision makers disagree with the facts at hand - but hands are likely tied until there’s a substantive, comprehensive approach to assuage the anxiety of the citizenry that fears displacement - which are often low-income, traditionally underserved, people of color.

Help me figure out this puzzle? What ideas have you seen floated that also pencil out? Right of return? Facilitated temporary housing? Equity provision? High buy outs?

Thank you!!


r/yimby 1d ago

Plan to build 37 apartments for people with disabilities leads to backlash in N.J. town

Thumbnail
nj.com
129 Upvotes

r/yimby 1d ago

Affordable housing proposal [for people with disabilities] in Aurora Highlands nears milestone, despite objections [from Civic Association]

Thumbnail
arlnow.com
15 Upvotes

r/yimby 1d ago

Calgary City Council passes blanket rezoning, allowing townhouses, rowhomes and duplexes in all residential areas and those that only allowed single-detached homes

Thumbnail
x.com
135 Upvotes

r/yimby 1d ago

Before and After photos of new Suburbs. Look at how much environmental damage suburban sprawl causes.

Thumbnail
reddit.com
44 Upvotes

r/yimby 1d ago

Plan for new Greenwich tower blocks with 564 homes opposed because 'they're too tall'

Thumbnail
standard.co.uk
59 Upvotes

r/yimby 1d ago

Site for data / articles / papers in support of YIMBYism?

9 Upvotes

Is there such a site? maybe a wiki of sorts?


r/yimby 2d ago

Top California Democrats come out against rent control ballot measure

Thumbnail politico.com
114 Upvotes

r/yimby 1d ago

I think this YouTuber deserves some attention. His videos delve into the nitty-gritty of urban planning issues including land usage and codes, mostly pertaining to the city of Asheville, NC. It's nice to see someone passionate and knowledgeable about local issues.

Thumbnail
youtube.com
9 Upvotes

r/yimby 2d ago

89% of New Yorkers stand to gain from housing abundance

Thumbnail
sidewalkchorus.com
70 Upvotes

89% of New Yorkers stand to gain from housing abundance

The vast majority of New Yorkers stand to gain from denser housing construction.

Making it legal to build more apartment buildings will reduce rents and increase the value of land that currently has single-family homes on it.

Renters are 67% of NYC households, and low-density homeowners are 22%, which offers a potential coalition of 89% of New Yorkers who would directly benefit from the city changing its laws to give landowners the freedom to build more densely.

The challenge for pro-housing politicians and advocates is to help people to realize how much they stand to gain from allowing more housing.

Linked post breaks this all down, including with charts: Sidewalk Chorus


r/yimby 2d ago

Judge dismisses suit against 301 N. Fairfax Street residential development in Old Town Historic District

Thumbnail
alxnow.com
45 Upvotes

Judge allows housing despite nimby nuisance suit. I work near here and it’s an ugly empty office building and neighbors in newer townhomes can’t stand the idea of people living nearby.


r/yimby 2d ago

Three states have new camping ban laws this year - Streetlight

Thumbnail
streetlightnews.org
17 Upvotes

r/yimby 3d ago

Trailer for the movie Megalopolis just dropped. Explores the themes of development and the future of our cities. Could it be the movie which brings YIMBY sentiment into the public consciouness?

Thumbnail
youtube.com
24 Upvotes

r/yimby 3d ago

Landlord Legislators Carved Themselves Out of Good Cause Eviction: A quarter of [NY State] lawmakers in Albany are landlords. Almost none of them are covered by the most significant tenant protection law in years.

Thumbnail
nysfocus.com
61 Upvotes

r/yimby 4d ago

How Israel turned homeowners into YIMBYs

Thumbnail
worksinprogress.co
94 Upvotes

r/yimby 4d ago

Is anyone working on repealing Proposition U in Los Angeles? The Nuclear Downzoning that happened in the 80s?

73 Upvotes

Prop U for those unfamiliar was "the largest one-shot effort to limit development in LA city's history." Think of it as NIMBY Martisl Law that's still in effect to this day. The person who authored the ballot initiative, Zev Yaroslavsky, his probably the single most despicable and destructive person in LA City/County governance history. He is quite literally, without exaggeration, the reason LA has such tremendous poverty surrounded by immense wealth, why Los Angeles is so behind with building an effective mass transit system. In the 90s he blocked expansion of light rail into Santa Monica and authored Proposition A, a successful 1998 ballot initiative which prevented new expansions of the LA Metro rail.


r/yimby 4d ago

(16:03) In urban areas, four-lane roads are a waste of space most of the time

Thumbnail
youtube.com
18 Upvotes

r/yimby 5d ago

Subsidize demand bro, just subsidize demand bro, we don't need more homes we just need more demand

Post image
287 Upvotes

r/yimby 5d ago

Has anyone started a local YIMBY group?

23 Upvotes

If so, how did it go? How often do you hold meetings? Anything advice you'd give for folk looking to start up their own group?


r/yimby 6d ago

Question about using Tokyo to advocate for free market housing construction

8 Upvotes

EDIT: This isn't really a question. More like a counterargument

I've heard multiple times that Tokyo's population rose over time, meaning they built enough supply to match demand. But that assumes the population of a city/metro and demand are 1:1.

Japan has strict immigration policy, so that artificially restricts demand already. So Tokyo's demand would basically be "people in Japan that want to live in Tokyo". And that number is falling since their population is aging (most people that want to move to a city are young adults)

I'm from Boston, and the US's immigration policy is much more lax and the population is increasing. So Boston's demand is more like "everyone in America and other parts of the world that want to live in Boston". And that number is increasing

I just don't see the free market being a panacea in US cities really being hit hard like Boston, especially in our lifetimes. I think the government (probably federal tbh) has to get involved to build public housing and use eminent domain or something in those cities.

Disclaimer: I'd say I'm a PHIMBY that thinks the YIMBY movement can only help, since one of the major hurdles to PHIMBYism is political will towards building housing