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Comment by KerrAvon | Hacker News Reader

The United States has a nearly infinite amount of unoccupied land. What's required is the political and social will to incentivize people to build.

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> The United States has a nearly infinite amount of unoccupied land. What's required is the political and social will to incentivize people to build.

The vast majority of that land is not where people want to live. Building houses there won't change that.

China tried it and failed in several cases, but succeeded in a couple of cities.

And when the typical voter who owns their own home votes in their best interest, they vote NIMBY. If you incentivize scarcity, scarcity is what you will get.

Change needs to come from above the system, not within.

Most home owners do not want their house to drop in value because there's more housing being built and available. I feel bad for the people who bought in at the top, but they're really pulling the ladder up behind them if their vested in their home value appreciating.

And a relatively flat population. "Peak baby" was years ago. Most of the developed world is below replacement birth rate.

That's irrelevant, we are not going over there in Nigeria, India, Pakistan etc. they'll come over here in the developed world.

It's not even a matter of policy or politics or us vs. them...it's gonna happen, like gravity happens.

It makes sense to be prepared.

Except much of it is in places that are relatively hard to access, have no amenities, have exceptionally harsh weather, and may not have sufficient water to sustain a population. It's also stuck in the catch-22 of no jobs, no houses.

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