OPINION: Let’s hear it for YIMBYs. Opposition to urban density has done a remarkable amount of harm. Reducing that opposition could do a surprising amount of good.
Nobody is suggesting that we force Americans to live like New Yorkers, but allowing more people to live that way would be good for the environment. Normally, a special election for California’s state Assembly wouldn’t have much national significance — especially not an election in San Francisco, a liberal, Democratic city that’s the opposite of a swing district.
For a little while it seemed as if the pandemic might reverse these gains: The coronavirus hit New York hard during its early months, and there were many assertions that high population density was a health hazard. As we learned more about how to deal with the virus, however — and especially after vaccines became available — densely populated urban areas became substantially safer than rural areas, if only because their residents were more willing to wear masks and get vaccinated.
Which is a problem. You see, cities have become highly desirable places to live and work; as I’ll explain in a minute, they’re also good for the environment. But they’ve become increasingly unaffordable, largely because of local-level opposition to new construction. But a significant proportion of the opposition to density may reflect honest misunderstanding of what density does.
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