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As interesting as the voters' rejection of zoning is where the decisive opposition came from: low-income residents. As tabulated by the [Houston] Post, 72 percent of "low-income blacks" and 68 percent of "low-mid-income whites" voted against zoning, results echoed by "affluent" voters (56 percent against) and "predominantly Hispanic" voters (58 percent). Middle-income voters, fearful of multi-family dwellings and mixed land-use encroachment in residential neighborhoods, strongly favored zoning, with 63 percent of whites and 56 percent of blacks casting ballots in favor of the legislation.
Zoning issues are a case by case issue. Maybe eminent domain gets involved and you may really upset people.
It isn't a class thing, I think it is a case by case thing despite what anything statistically shows.
Zoning is designed to be exclusionary -- basically saying what you cannot build somewhere, no what you can build somewhere. So when entire towns are zoned as single-family dwellings, they are saying, "we don't want low-income people here." This leads to people who cannot afford single-family dwellings being stuck in inner-city ghettos.
Zoning is designed to be exclusionary -- basically saying what you cannot build somewhere, no what you can build somewhere. So when entire towns are zoned as single-family dwellings, they are saying, "we don't want low-income people here." This leads to people who cannot afford single-family dwellings being stuck in inner-city ghettos.
But surely free-market conservatives would never do a thing like that.
Live in Houston. We do just fine without zoning. If you want to have liberty to do pretty much as you wish with your property you buy in a neighborhood without an HOA, if ya don't want neighbors with a car on cinder blocks in the front yard you find a neighborhood with an HOA.
But surely free-market conservatives would never do a thing like that.
Conservatives, what say you?
It's a form of gentrification of every square inch of America leaving no place for poor people to live. McMansion builders needed to lose their permits long ago. When the real demand was always for low income housing and none of it was being built people who could not afford a McMansion were in effect forced into them. A rigged market colluding with county officials who had nothing but gains in their eyes because higher sticker prices meant a higher tax base. There are only so many independently wealthy individuals in America. That's that. Whomever wants their grand mansion has to keep in mind that the people scrubbing their toilets need a place to live too. Writing the rules of your community that prohibits poor people living proximally to work means what?
I went house shopping in Virginia and NC and there were just too many of these nook gated communities choking the landscape. It was a real turn off. I prefer the company of hill folk any day over these silly anal retentives.
Location: Just transplanted to FL from the N GA mountains
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Why do we assume that poor = trash? I don't care how big or small your house is. I've had less fortunate neighbors who kept their place as neat and tidy as they come and I've had rich neighbors who were slobs. Personally, I like what we found... a small (and I do mean small) little group of houses with no HOA, and about 3 restrictive covenants. No junk cars, appliances, and trash in your yard. End of story.
Ugh zoning- would that be the same rule that requires building permits?Getting permission from the town to build a deck. That blows my mind.
Why are people against it? Because it goes against the very idea of freedom and ownership. If I want to build a garage and own the land why do I need permission to do it? It's my garage and my risk. It's not like its affecting the neighbors, they can't see my house or potential garage.
It's also a safety issue having 5 families packed into a one family home -- but also a tax issue. It's common practice in some areas and when 5 families have the same taxes to pay as 1 family living in one house, it's a huge benefit to those 5 families. It's a mess on the streets with all the cars from those houses with many famillies parked up and down the streets.
Zoning should be done where the people want it. Let everyone have a choice to live where they want. If you want to have 30 people in hour household because your household consists of numerous families then you buy your house where the zoning allows for that.
It's also a safety issue having 5 families packed into a one family home -- but also a tax issue. It's common practice in some areas and when 5 families have the same taxes to pay as 1 family living in one house, it's a huge benefit to those 5 families. It's a mess on the streets with all the cars from those houses with many famillies parked up and down the streets.
Zoning should be done where the people want it. Let everyone have a choice to live where they want. If you want to have 30 people in hour household because your household consists of numerous families then you buy your house where the zoning allows for that.
If 5 families are packed into a one family home, at least four probably are renting it (heck, probably all five). Obviously it's now worth a lot of money as a rental property and gets its taxes jacked up. They subsidize you. (I once lived in a duplex that had $1,200 extra property taxes because it was a rental - more renters equals subsidizing you.)
And there was a family of SIX renting the other unit, which was 2BR (but hey, who needs safety?) It was okay for the family of six to live in the unit but would have been unlawful (and costly with citations, fines, etc) for three unrelated to live in the same unit. Safety my eye.
Also, overnight parking was prohibited and rigorously enforced - just part of the code police patrols that inspected the rental neighborhoods day and night. No mess on the streets. At all. No zoning needed, just a parking ordinance. And no parking on lawns either, plus if there are "too many" cars in your driveway, the Neighborhood NIMBYs will report you for overoccupancy if the roving Code Police don't catch you first.
What's to stop people from zoning out the poor because they want it? Sometimes your zoning means poor people CAN'T live where they want. You certainly have a right to live where you want, but do you have a right to keep me from living where I want?
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