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12stTales t1_j21rebd wrote

Reply to comment by DJBabyB0kCh0y in Opinion: New York finally has momentum on housing and it’s time for a breakthrough by King-of-New-York

A highrise of affordable units is literally illegal to build in almost all of NY state so I dont think "capitalism" is to blame.

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SirMonkey687 t1_j23c4fh wrote 

   Genuinely curious - what are you specifically referring to here?
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12stTales t1_j23txmi wrote

Zoning in suburbs and towns often restricts building size to single family detached houses. Even in NYC there are some areas like this. Whats left has other zoning restrictions that limit size, bulk, etc and deter housing production

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--A3-- t1_j2c2gpt wrote

But why are these restrictions so widespread and fought for so strongly? It's because people who already own houses have a financial incentive to restrict the creation of new houses. If the supply of housing stays the same but demand increases, the value of what they own skyrockets.

The monetary incentive which leads to NIMBY zoning policies arises from the fact that housing is a commodity.

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