SS: relevant to this sub because people here often claim that it's a small minority of boomer NIMBYs preventing us from having walkable dense cities.
However, the data here implies that young people overwhelmingly prefer single family homes and value bigger homes and safety (associated with low density) much more than diversity and public transit.
Posted by caroline_elly
5 Comments
Reddit loves to complain that auto companies lobbied public transit to death but I think it’s more that Americans just yearn for detached single family homes they can easily park at
No shit people want more space and a bigger house
They can’t afford it
“safe and walkable neighborhoods” lol
Nobody is stopping you from buying a single family homes, the issue is that boring fucks who love these things seem to think that anything over 2 stories must be banned and everything needs parking and businesses must be separate from where people live and they shouldn’t see minorities in their neighborhoods blah blah blah
Open up the zoning laws. If someone wants to build a 1 story house in their neighborhood, let them. But if someone wants to build a 10 story condo, that shouldn’t be causing a meltdown
I’m an American in his late 20s and I think a lot of this sort of surrounds the “American Dream” that surrounds this country’s economic narrative. A part of what seems to be the American social contract is that if you work hard, you can afford your own home and all of that jazz. It’s probably the largest sign you’ve “made it” in this country.
I know a lot of urbanists here are going to dismiss this but as I go from early 20s to late 20s and will go into my 30s, you can even see the most liberal-minded of people in your friend groups start to desire a house.