> The real reason is that they don't consider reducing housing prices a good outcome.
I think this is the key. If you're a property owner, any outcome that reduces the value of your property is naturally a negative outcome. A rational economic actor, in that case, would always oppose anything that would reduce housing costs. It's a tough problem to combat, because what can be done? Barring property owners from participating in local governance?
> It's a tough problem to combat, because what can be done? Barring property owners from participating in local governance?
Zoning shouldn't be local governance, because it's too easy to capture. It should be regional at the very least. A San Francisco politician doesn't have to care that most of the people working in his city have to commute 1hr+ to get there...that's someone else's problem. All he has to care about are the people in his own district. If he is given jurisdiction over a decision like zoning where a net negative to the region is a net positive for his constituents, he's going to make the decision that benefits his constituents. He shouldn't be given a decision like that.
Well you could add a conflict of interest clause. If the thing you're testifying on impacts the property value of your home then you must state that up front. Further, such rational economic thinking isn't really that rational. For example next to my home is a tent encampment. That certaintly doesn't increase property values and could easily be fixed by say building some affordable micro-apartments on that plot of land.
I think this might be a case where we are seeing something as a zero-sum game that isn't. Property in Manhattan would be pretty worthless if we had kept Manhattan to a few hundred single family homes. Lower prices might attract more people to move the and everyday someone might want to build a skyscraper where my single family home is now.
Building a big tower could decrease your property value, but upzoning and by-right construction should increase property values (because now the person who wants to buy your house wants to replace it with more than one house.)
Local government being able to stop individual projects rather than setting policy could be the problem. Maybe.
I think this is the key. If you're a property owner, any outcome that reduces the value of your property is naturally a negative outcome. A rational economic actor, in that case, would always oppose anything that would reduce housing costs. It's a tough problem to combat, because what can be done? Barring property owners from participating in local governance?