The case for de-densifying Bay Area living
David Teniers: Landscape with Peasants Dancing, c1645-1650. Image in Public Domain
Thanks to urban-growth boundaries, most CA'ns inhabit cities that, together, occupy 5% of available State land. These pro-density boundaries make it much costlier for locals to develop and buy homes. Edward Ring argues in the Pacific Research Institute that artificial land constraints are unnecessary, impractical, and detrimental to already-struggling downtowns like SJ's.
When the supply of land is artificially constrained, property values go up, which increases property tax revenues to existing public sector jurisdictions. Building new cities on raw land reallocates these tax revenues to new cities. Similarly, when home building is excessively regulated to the point where affordable housing can no longer be profitably constructed and sold at market prices, politically connected developers collect billions from the government to build subsidized housing.
And if water and energy consumption is rationed, it relieves the obligation of the government to facilitate new investments in water and energy supply infrastructure despite its feasibility and sustainability. That money can instead go to failed social programs such as ultra-expensive public housing projects, and to higher wages and benefits for government employees. And it would be remiss to not point out that expensive renewable energy allows public utilities, which earn profit on a capped percent of revenue, to greatly increase their absolute profits because they are selling the same quantity of electricity at much higher prices.
These are some of the darker possible motivations underlying the densification lobby and the power behind it. There is a lot of money to be made by cramming people into smaller spaces. But under scrutiny, densification does not have a significant ecological benefit, and it comes with a costly price both economically and in terms of how it degrades the quality of life and limits the choices for millions of families.
Instead of rescuing our downtowns through further densification, why not de-densify them? Clear the streets and make them safe again by putting homeless into dedicated shelters using popup tents on inexpensive industrial land, and put lawbreakers in jail. In both cases, it may be the first chance they’ve ever had to recover their dignity and restart their lives. This will save billions of dollars when compared to the “permanent supportive housing” scam.
This article originally appeared in the Pacific Research Institute. Read the whole thing here.
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