Submitted by otter_spud t3_ye2buh in Connecticut
ertebolle t1_itvs7x3 wrote
Honestly: explain why it's in their own selfish best interest.
In my town for example (Wilton) we have extra physical capacity in our public schools - too many classrooms, not enough students - and a bunch of vacant commercial buildings that would be perfect sites for new apartments; more housing means more tax revenue and more customers for our local businesses, and it won't even blow up our school budget.
A lot of other towns also have school systems with a lot of extra classroom capacity or high fixed costs due to administration / physical infrastructure / having to run buses to every little corner of town / etc; Westport may spend an average of $24,000 per student or whatever, but the marginal cost of adding a new student to that system is considerably less than $24,000.
(also, contrary to what a lot of people might think, people do not in fact move into apartments to mooch off your school system, at least not for very long - there was a BoE meeting recently discussing some new apartment building proposals and the added enrollment numbers they were projecting from them were - to me, at least - shockingly low; people at the apartment-renting point in their lives are mostly young workers or empty nesters)
ertebolle t1_itvswpo wrote
Also: stop bringing affordability and equity into it; make it simply about building more types of housing because new young residents make your town more vibrant and interesting.
The downside of 8-30g is that it makes it seem like every new apartment is some sort of charity case; build more housing and it'll get cheaper regardless of whether there's an income requirement or not.
johnsonutah t1_itw5o0g wrote
This is definitely a big part of the conversations turning sour. Should be focused on more housing stock overall rather than telling people who moved to a town in the last 24 months they are racist because they live in said town
Whaddaulookinat t1_itxgo11 wrote
If they're defending a racist strategy, and it's not even subtle, we should kowtow to their feefees?
ertebolle t1_ity5sgb wrote
It’s not about feefees, it’s just that antiracism isn’t a project they’re particularly invested in (or feel any sense of obligation to assist with). The tax / cultural benefits to adding new residents are a much better carrot than earning KendiBucks.
Whaddaulookinat t1_itybe0f wrote
But not calling out clear dog whistles isn't a viable strategy either, nor is ignoring the clear economic and cultural alliances that can be formed at the state and federal level. The "selfish" case has been made: density helps property value and increases economic vitality, asymmetry issues over changes of taste, etc...
Those that are really against change are against it because they feel demographic threat. Most people are in favor of moderate change in zoning restrictions, those that are opposed should be called out to defend their positions
johnsonutah t1_itxiwxg wrote
Living in the suburbs, and wanting to live in the burbs, doesn’t mean you’re racist
Whaddaulookinat t1_itxkaiw wrote
But almost to a person anyone that is opposed to any density is racist as shit. Think tunxis Hill in Fairfield is awful? Just cause minorities have the ability to afford there. I live there we have a ball, no matter what Go fuck yourself, I'm done with kid gloves on obvious racist tropes that are trying to be sly. Just had to use that trope didn't you?
Oh and btw where is the source of economic activity? Not in the suburbs nothing happens there. You just want an urban life without the give of living in a community. So again go fuck yourself
johnsonutah t1_itxlr67 wrote
Idk what trope you are talking about lol wtf. CT cities are barely sources of economic activity - there are loafs of businesses located outside of CT cities in the burbs. Nobody wants an urban life in CT because most of our cities are underinvested in.
I’m actually in support of investing in our cities, infrastructure and public transportation so that we have improved economic growth and more housing options. You’re barking up the wrong tree.
Also minorities don’t have the ability to afford whatever you are talking about - lower income folks do. Race isn’t a factor to income qualified housing.
Whaddaulookinat t1_itxo7p3 wrote
>Idk what trope you are talking about lol wtf. CT cities are barely sources of economic activity - there are loafs of businesses located outside of CT cities in the burbs. Nobody wants an urban life in CT because most of our cities are underinvested in.
The "we want suburbs to stay suburbs" is a constant trope which makes no sense, and often when pressed those that day that nonsense end up showing racist and classist colours
And remember CT is largely urban. The inner ring municipalities are all also urban in form and function. Between the core and inner ring that's 75% of CTs population.
>I’m actually in support of investing in our cities, infrastructure and public transportation so that we have improved economic growth and more housing options. You’re barking up the wrong tree.
And all I'm arguing is we should go back to allowing more pre 1970s style development, like the old trolley towns in more affluent municipalities. Not having every house being a 4000sqft behemoth on an acre isn't a bad thing. No one is calling for turning west Hartford into Blade Runners LA
>Also minorities don’t have the ability to afford whatever you are talking about - lower income folks do. Race isn’t a factor to income qualified housing.
And honestly that's why this zoning pattern emerged, the supreme court said it was allowed and not directly racially motivated (even if it clearly was) and the trend caught on like wildfire. You honestly can't defend the accent of this more recent development mandates and try to uncouple it with racism.
johnsonutah t1_itxq3x8 wrote
There’s a myriad of reasons for people saying they want the suburbs to stay the suburbs, the chief ones being they don’t want more neighbors, want a small school system, don’t want additional traffic. It’s no more complicated than that lol.
I already said my piece - I support mixed use development in the burbs especially around train stations.
Whaddaulookinat t1_itxrfcg wrote
>the chief ones being they don’t want more neighbors, want a small school system, don’t want additional traffic. It’s no more complicated than that lol.
But ok my family has been in CT for at least a millennia... The suburbs as they are now are very new it's just a silly mindset. And if there was more activism against new sfh on large lots (the number one source oh school children) construction there'd be a point but there isn't which tells us everything.
It's not like these communities have just came to this issue, it's been ongoing since the 70s... No real reason to allow a state power to give selfishness more weight than it deserves frankly
johnsonutah t1_itxwy95 wrote
CT has always been a large collection of quiet towns. Our cities used to be meaningful economic centers.
There’s no activism against single family homes cause they ain’t bringing many homes, and there ain’t many being built give. How developed our burbs are (unless you want to clear the woods I guess)
usernamedunbeentaken t1_itx66gl wrote
Where are the vacant commercial buildings in Wilton?
More dense housing brings more traffic and clutter and incremental expenses that are disproportionate to the tax revenue generated from dense housing.
And our schools (I have kids in Wilton public schools) may have excess physical capacity (or not I'm not exactly sure which schools you are referring to), but more kids would require more teachers and other expenses. Wilton schools are the way they are because of the wishes of the people of Wilton... we vote for taxes and budgets and cramming more kids with the same number of teachers and aides, or hiring more teachers and aides, are not what Wilton voters want otherwise we wouldn't have the current teacher to student ratio etc.
And the type of people who move to places like Wilton would have school children... the schools are the primary draw. Empty nesters tend to sell to move to cheaper places with lower taxes, and young workers without kids would tend to want to live in more exciting places like Norwalk or Stamford.
Whaddaulookinat t1_itxe4db wrote
So not many single people would live in Wilton without kids if available, increasing the tax base with little additional strain to community resources (oh btw Wilton has had severe under enrollment for almost a decade before the COVID surge came in saving the town). I went to school in Wilton, many of my friends grew up there, I worked there for a long long time...
What you're describing is an utter fantasy dear Lord I am honestly just sure you don't interact out know the town as well as you seem to think. It's hard to debate people like you honestly because of the divorce of perspective
ertebolle t1_itxajlo wrote
Route 7. Which is already cluttered and ugly and jammed with trucks, and as far as traffic costs go, it’s a state road so any extra paving costs or whatever are their problem.
They fret about declining enrollments at every Annual Town Meeting, and as for capacity I was specifically thinking of Miller Driscoll (which was overbuilt even at the time) but if enrollment is declining then that necessarily means every school now has more room.
And yes, there are marginal costs, but they’re lower than the current per pupil cost. We spend millions of dollars a year running half empty buses because they have so much ground to cover and we only have one school for each grade - you could add a bunch more students without significantly increasing the money we spend on those, not to mention that we’d be spending the same amounts on utilities and IT and coaching and assistant principals and curriculum / testing people and so on.
As for apartments adding lots more kids, they discussed enrollment projections a few BoE meetings ago - they don’t expect apartments to make that much of a difference even if every current proposal gets built, enrollment will still decline.
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