The podcast on TheBuildingCulturePodcast.com features a debate between Strong Towns founder Chuck Marohn and Nolan Gray, Director of Legislation and Research with ‘California YIMBY’.
YIMBY meaning, of course, “Yes In My Back Yard” — the philosophical opposite of NIMBY, “Not In My Back Yard”. In general, NIMBY refers to a type of person who understands the need for housing reform, who understands that our society cannot function properly when only the wealthy can afford decent housing, but doesn’t want that necessary housing to be built anywhere in their own neighborhood.
A typical NIMBY argument is, “…But that kind of housing development will negatively affect my property values! Do it somewhere else…”
The YIMBY Movement seeks to explain why the NIMBY approach to building a community will ultimately destroy the community’s viability… and also seeks to develop acceptable, effective solutions to the problem.
Here in Pagosa Springs, our local governments and HOAs have been fully committed to protecting property values as a top priority, and this has helped to create a community where workers can not longer find housing, and where businesses and governments can no longer find workers.
The YIMBY movement is committed to “a path of broad-based economic prosperity, creating vibrant, livable, and inclusive communities for everyone.”
But… how to get there?
Chuck Marohn, working as an engineer and planner in the government sector for 15-plus years, began blogging in 2008, sharing his thoughts about why municipal policies and projects seemed to be making cities and town less prosperous rather than more prosperous. Through his research — and the research of other conscientious people who joined his Strong Towns movement — he came to the conclusion that ‘American-style suburban development’ has played a major role in bankrupting our municipal and county governments.
He gradually concluded that America is caught in a ‘housing trap…
Americans typically view housing as an investment. Investment prices must go up.
But housing is also shelter. When the price of shelter goes up, people experience distress.
This is the housing trap. It’s time to escape.
In Escaping the Housing Trap: The Strong Towns Response to the Housing Crisis, Chuck Marohn and Daniel Herriges introduce a first-of-its-kind discussion of the tension between housing as a financial product, and housing as shelter.
Given that Archuleta County consists almost exclusively of ‘American style suburban development’, I have naturally found Strong Towns to be an excellent source of thoughtful ideas.
Many of the solutions suggested in Mr. Marohn’s book align perfectly with the work being done by Nolan Gray and the rest of the team at ‘California YIMBY’.
But a couple of months ago, Mr. Marohn posted a ‘rant’ on social media, complaining that the YIMBY Movement was failing to focus enough attention on the financial part of the puzzle.
Mr. Marohn and Mr. Gray — colleagues working for similar organizations and seeking similar outcomes — got into a philosophical debate on that social media platform, and, as can happen on social media, the debate got somewhat heated.
Enter Austin Tunnell, a podcaster with a company called Building Culture, who invited Mr. Gray and Mr. Marohn to join him for another conversation — hopefully, a more friendly conversation.
That podcast inspired this editorial series. You can listen to the entire podcast here.
Here’s a comment by Mr. Marohn:
“I do think there’s a Venn diagram of overlap between Strong Towns and the YIMBY conversation. And I think that overlap is about 95%. So what we are really debating is that 5% or 10%, and I don’t think that’s in, like, an actionable way, like when we get out on the street and people are talking and they’re meeting.
“That is not something that should prevent us from either understanding each other, or working together, or finding common cause.
“I think, in a [podcast] setting like this, I think we can delve into the nuance…”
I assume our readers are familiar with Venn diagrams.
Here, for example, is my sense of the overlap between the policies and recommendations proposed in Mr. Marohn’s Housing Trap book, and the policies of our current Archuleta County government.
Our current Archuleta County leadership knows that we’re in a housing crisis, and generally believes in “a path of broad-based economic prosperity, creating vibrant, livable, and inclusive communities for everyone”… in a somewhat abstract sense. But in my experience, Archuleta County sees “preservation of property values, and promotion of tourism, and recreational lifestyles” as more important than a diverse community that promotes broad-based economic prosperity.
Meanwhile, a Venn diagram showing the separate policy recommendations of Strong Towns vs. California YIMBY would show almost a complete overlap between the two circles.
Almost complete.
Both groups view the crisis in terms of “We need more housing”. But how to get there?
Here’s Nolan Gray, from that podcast:
“I agree with Chuck, that there’s about a 95% overlap… If we were radically different movements, I don’t think there would be anything interesting to argue about.
“We occasionally see ‘financialization arguments’ offered as an alternative theory for why we’re in the housing crisis. And you see this most acutely with some of the rhetoric on the far right and the far left…”
The “financialization argument” holds that investors buying up housing to make hefty profits — either through Long-Term Rentals or Short-Term Rentals — is a key cause of America’s housing crisis.
Mr. Gray:
“But I think the fundamental reason rents and home prices are going up is that there’s simply a mismatch between supply and demand. I think we agree on that, and it’s a matter of what’s being emphasized in the conversation that can get us tied up into knots.”
I would never suggest that the “mismatch between supply and demand” can be called “simple”… and I don’t think Mr. Gray wanted to imply that it’s a “simple” matter.
Yesterday in Part One, I listed a few of the reasons for that mismatch in Archuleta County.
A community-wide lack of inventory, especially for starter homes and middle-class homes
Federal and state tax policies that have encouraged ever-increasing home prices
Unchecked conversion of residential homes into commercial Short-Term Rentals — a conversion trend supported by aggressive, tax-funded tourism marketing
High cost of labor and materials for new homes, accompanied by a shortage of building trades professionals
Construction industry focus on larger, higher-profit homes
Zoning regulations and HOA rules that discourage residential density and affordable housing choices such as manufactured homes
An effective real estate industry with an interest in promoting high prices
The retirement of Baby Boomer Generation, bringing with them pensions from 45-50 years of relatively high-paying employment
A County-funded airport recently expanded to accommodate private jets
Homeowners who expect to make a profit when they sell property for more than they paid for it
That’s for starters.