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[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Pretty Little Flower

That's what I want to know! But whenever the conversation comes up, the only thing I am able to discern is that 1) if you are against the plan, you are an old greedy racist NIMBY bastard trying to preserve the value of your urban mansion on the backs of the oppressed, 2) if you are for the plan, you are either a young selfish asshole who just wants a nice apartment near downtown regardless of the consequences, or a dim-witted social justice warrior whose ill-conceived plan plays right into the hands of a cabal of evil developers who are licking their lips at the chance to enrich themselves through the destruction of the character and social fabric of Minneapolis.

The primary goal of the plan appears to create more economically and racially diverse neighborhoods through an increase in mixed housing. This is an oversimplification, of course, but suffice to say that I personally believe that the intended consequences are all good ones. Will the plan achieve these goals? Things get murky here real quick. As you may recall when the plan was last discussed, even Adder conceded that the whether or not the plan will meaningfully lessen racial disparity in Minneapolis is unclear at best (while still insisting that to oppose the plan is racist). Most people I have discussed the plan with are for it, but I have had no less than four discussions (including the exchange with Adder here a while back) where the primary argument for the plan is that 1) things right now are not fair, 2) we need to do something, and 3) the plan is something. If you ask whether it is possible that doing something just for the sake of doing something could actually make things worse, your motives come under suspicion. Unintended consequences are similarly unclear. Opponents of the plan argue that it will result in the razing of historic homes and the destruction of neighborhoods by the above-mentioned evil cabal of developers, although I have heard no persuasive evidence to suggest that this will occur. But, I have heard concerns from people who believe the goals of the plan are noble, but fear that areas populated by the less affluent will be most easily be targeted by developers who want to build lots of apartments for young professionals at the expense of making urban housing even less available for the often minority families in these neighborhoods. I have heard no persuasive evidence that the plan will address, much less effectively address, this unintended consequence. But because their is so much name-calling, propaganda, and disinformation being thrown around by both proponents and opponents, I have found it difficult to obtain information I consider reliable.

Here in the Bay Area, the price of housing is insane. The only way to really change it would be to allow people to tear down single-family homes and replace them with denser housing. The people who live in neighborhoods of single-family homes do not want this to happen in their neighborhood, because they do not like change or congestion, and they worry -- with good reason -- that it will reduce the value of their home. They're right!