What NIMBYs Get Wrong About Density (Intentionally?)

A few years ago, a concerned resident opposed a four-storey apartment on this site in their Edmonton neighbourhood by saying: “more apartments are economically unnecessary and actually unwanted by the community”. We know what it means when homeowners don’t want new housing nearby but what does it mean for an apartment building to be “economically unnecessary”?

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[nik_narcotic]

"people don't want to live in apartments next to their jobs" has me gobsmacked. Are there people who genuinely enjoy commuting?

[stephen]

The developers are interested in profit, but so are the nimbys.

[humanecities]

A lot of these communities have actually been losing density with the decrease in the average family size… this leads to them being unable to support local amenities. And, adding more humans, especially through missing middle - and frankly, even through high rises - doesn’t really make it feel that more dense. The abundance of cars makes it feel dense. Create car-free spaces and you’ll have plenty of density without that cramped car infested city feel.

[KhanJoltrane]

New development is like a grocery store. Is it profit driven? Yes. Can its construction be disruptive? Yes. Is it necessary? If it’s being constructed, there is usually a need.

[lite]

Great video. The truth is, people rarely say "We're a tight knit community" until they're either on the local news after a tragedy or opposing a change in the local neighborhood.

[theoffkeydiva]

Another thing that upsets me is when only current residents are asked if the neighbourhood needs more housing. Of course they will say it doesn't need more housing-everyone they asked already lives there!! I would love to live in the place I grew up, but it is no experience to buy and the people who I grew up with, my friendly neighbours that would give me candy on Halloween and wave every time they saw me, refuse to allow any development of more affordable apartments.

[SteveBluescemi]

Heard an interview between a homeowner and the leader of the BC Green Party the other day where the homeowner literally said "I have no problem with individuals gaining equity on housing, but is there some way we can stop people from profiting?" His argument was that he should be allowed to get rich from merely owning land, but REITs that purchase rental properties should be banned for collecting rent. What's more is that *he himself is a landlord*. The framing that developers exist only to exploit apparently opens up a world of unfathomable entitlement and hypocrisy for those who endorse it.

[Eggmancan]

"Companies are keeping houses vacant to artificially reduce supply!"
"New housing would just be turned into unaffordable homes for the rich!"
"All the apartments are being converted into AirBnBs!" etc.
There are so many pervasive myths about housing supply in online discourse that are easily disproved by some public data, and the most infuriating thing is that a lot of the people parroting these myths are young people who would benefit from more housing supply and looser zoning/building restrictions. Keep up the good fight with this channel, guys.

[Urbanhandyman]

California ended R-1 single-family zoning on January 1st, 2022. It replaced it with the legal right to build up to four units on a lot that was previously only approved for a single unit. Although many current residents are unhappy with the change, none of them fear that a large multi-story apartment will be constructed next door. The video implies that as a possible scenario. What I'm seeing here in the East Bay in the greater San Francisco Bay Area is the construction of four to seven story apartments along busy traffic corridors already zoned for multi-story construction while the neighboring streets filled with single-family homes are as they've always been. So far the "tsunami" of change "ruining the character" of a quiet tree-lined street filled with single-family homes on a single lot due to the end of R-1 zoning hasn't happened.

[lynn]

"The office workers make good salaries" ... ahhh... yes again, service workers are invisible fairies, and they should just enjoy that 2 hour bus commute each way, to come vacuum your office, do maintenance, and make your lunch - for minimum wage.

[seavicvan]

You left out the elephant in the room: the belief that density would bring in poorer and otherwise "undesirable" people (at least to NIMBYs) and thus drive down the value of their single family homes. They see their neighborhoods as exclusive and don't want anyone else moving in who would destroy that, misguided as it is. Exclusion and racism have to be factored into this problem.

[SpmMe]

"Small government" people asking government to protect their specific niche desires, part #4985.

[whoandgo]

Who the hell wouldnt wanna live near their job(s) ?? That literally will make life easier & less susceptible to invest in a car, which is on average 3-5 more bills

[AbsolutePixelMaster]

There are so many "kinds" of demand that go undiscussed

- Young adults moving out from their parent's place to get their own place
- People sharing a place because there are not enough places to live
- People who already live in the city but are trying to get closer to their jobs
- The currently unhoused, especially those who do have some means, but can't afford at current rates

Those were just off the top of my head, I am sure there are many more. But not like the "I got mine" crowd would care anyway.

[cloudyskies]

I feel like in a lot of cases this is generational. There was a time where treating a house like an investment that would pay for your retirement was a reality, and a large chunk of the older generations bought into it and benefited from it. The problem is, what now? This process has changed our communities and there's a genuine question of what the subsequent generations are supposed to do to have a decent life.

[chiaracoetzee]

As a homeowner let me just say: a neighborhood with good density and good transit and good access to commerce is an *amazing* neighborhood with amazing character and a better and more lively place for everyone to live. Unless your biggest priority is having an unobstructed view of as many trees as possible, rather than human beings, I assure you that densification will only make your neighborhood better.

[zeighy]

lmao, that point about how "why are we stopping a developer from making a bad business decision" lol, it really tells you what the nimbys making the statement's objective is... It's not that they're against developers, they're for their own interest... not the community. Just a disguise to using the "community" to make themselves look like they're not selfish.

[j.s.]

I like that you use the term "standalone house". I think that's the best term for such a structure.

[MegaLokopo]

Don't forget you need a good balance between the housing density and the commercial/industrial density. The problem of congestion only gets worse if you continue to have a line between all homes and all businesses regardless of density. What we need to focus on, is average distance between the place someone lives and the place they work.

[WhereWeRoll]

7:34 “People who live in apartments don’t want to live next to their job” why not? That sounds absolutely ideal to me.