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Comment by renewiltord | Hacker News Reader

Yes, people do unfairly call me a NIMBY but ultimately I’m just trying to make sure that the thing that is being built in my backyard is community-oriented, socially-responsible, ethical, environmentally conscious, and built by local artisans using local materials.

And if we can’t do it right, then maybe we shouldn’t do it.

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That's a great attitude if you can afford it.

But try telling it to the single low-income parent trying to raise their kids who just needs to make ends meet at the end of the month.

Unless you have a massive wealth redistribution plan in place, with massive, extremely progressive local taxes so everyone can afford the massively higher prices you'll be forcing on everyone?

An angle on that: Imagine getting rid of the big cost factor, the car. And having a walkable neighborhood with school, stores, medical care, workplaces in workable (or short bicycle ride) away.

Of course this won't magically happen when a single DG is rejected.

We can also do a lot to help low income families by decreasing housing costs and medical costs, both of which seem as likely as building walkable communities in the US.

Yeah I see a lot of stuff in America where decades of single-minded optimization towards cheap & convenient has had knock-on effects that ultimately don't serve people very well, or wind up creating second order costs—like hollowing out downtowns for cheap stuff at Walmart being a big part of making car ownership a prerequisite for daily living, or the cheap and convenient food options that have precipitated a nationwide public health crisis, or the way we've constructed our built environment in a way that has seemingly left people unhappy and isolated.

I'd tell them about the importance of union rights. We're all sacrificing a little but the important thing is to protect unions.

People never consider the chapter of local artisans anymore

The problem is that the big corporate stores end up making the town poorer. They siphon money out of the community, undercut local businesses, and turn over control of a tax-producing plot of land to a corporate office out-of-state (country?) that probably doesn't care what happens to the town. If they pull out, you're screwed. If they stay and have deleterious policies of one kind or another, you're screwed.

The local businesses and well-to-do need to come together and make a plan to make keeping these companies out a more palatable notion. Special pricing for people on government assistance is the way one of my local co-op grocers does it. I'm sure there are other ways to innovate, too, but adopting them requires realizing that the less affluent are your neighbors, not obstacles.

Is this satire or are you actually serious with that nonsense? I can't even tell.

I'm pretty sure it's satire. "built by local artisans" is the give away. Other than that line, there are lots of people who would post that unironically.

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