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Imgbaah t1_j88kd39 wrote

Reply to comment by IHadADreamIWasAMeme in Maintain the integrity of our town! Preserve Freeport’s charming and historic parking lots! by bitesandcats

For a lot of people it's about not wanting more density and traffic or to have their small town turn into Portland, which is itself turning into Boston. They are proposing a huge housing complex (also not affordable) in South Portland by bug light and the thought of 1200 more cars trying to get down Broadway through Millcreek give me pause...

(and sure public transportation - great idea that no one uses. Would take a massive investment in infrastructure area-wide to reduce cars on the road.)

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gingerbreadguy t1_j88mj7z wrote

We need density. And we need better public transportation and bike options. We need all of it.

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Imgbaah t1_j88n552 wrote

I'm simply saying this isn't NIMBYism - its people who like their small communities resisting the density and all that goes with it. If I lived in a small town and liked it and saw it rather quickly turning urban I'd probably resist too.

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gingerbreadguy t1_j88obrl wrote

I can sympathize with that but what does happen if you don't increase supply in a desirable place, is that prices shoot up. So if you don't support developing more housing, get ready for rents to rise, house prices to rise, small businesses struggling or shutting down due to rents and issues with worker housing, friends and family getting priced out of the community and having to move far away. I mean, you will still have the buildings themselves technically, but over time you won't have the community itself because of affordability issues. It will all be rich transplants. And, respectfully, I think it is NIMBYism. Just maybe you don't think NIMBYism is always bad, and it's your right to have that opinion.

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Imgbaah t1_j88qti9 wrote

Not that I don't think it's bad, I just think it's inevitable - the people who already live there and own their homes don't see or care about rent prices but they would see their home values going down when a huge apartment complex gets built next door. (and I'm not suggesting that's because of income level, it's because of density, traffic, noise, maybe they like their privacy or space etc.). They are protecting their investments.

I can see both sides on this one - I know people who've struggled to find housing they can afford, I also see how someone whose lived on a quiet street in a quiet town for years may not want a big apartment building built next door because it would have an impact on their home value and enjoyment of their property (no longer quiet).

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gingerbreadguy t1_j88vyeu wrote

I can understand that also. But as far as property value goes, if dense development is permitted these homeowners could end up with unprecedented wealth for retirement, their families, etc. when/if it's time to downsize. But to your point, not everything is about money.

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Trilliam_West t1_j8f3x7n wrote

Yeah, the Portland Metro has what? Under 700k people? Boston metro has 5 million. Somehow i think we're safe from Portland becoming Boston in our lifetimes.

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