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Ask HN: As a person, what can I do to improve a city?

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Re: Ask HN: As a person, what can I do to improve a city?

#191

Post by troydavis »

This is nuanced, but..

Sometimes your own personal preferences are different from what you think would be best for the city or region. When that occurs, advocate for - tell friends, vote, donate, etc. - the policy that you think is best for the city, even if it's worse for you.

Residential zoning is a ready example because split positions come up all the time. I can't count the number of times I've heard "I agree that the city needs more housing and that the current zoning doesn't make sense, but I like it the way it is."

While nobody's going to fault you for putting yourself first, if you want to help improve the city, put it before yourself.

(Of course, often someone believes that a given policy is best for the city and it's also their personal preference. In those cases, my comment doesn't apply.)

Re: Ask HN: As a person, what can I do to improve a city?

#192

Post by pjc50 »

bpt3 wrote: post #38
Eric_WVGG wrote: post #6

Would you mind linking to the list you’re referring to? My off-the-cuff thought was, “join Transportation Alternatives and push for more bike lanes, public transit, etc.”, as I see automobiles as one of the most significant dangers to both urban areas and even the planet. But when I google "ten most dangerous cities," they seem to list places whose danger is more poverty-driven.

Automobiles (and their drivers) kill, maim, or injure significantly fewer people than intentionally aggressive individuals in major cities. For example, in 2017 there were 343 murders in Baltimore [0] (which I knew would be on the list before looking for one) vs. 38 fatalities due to car accidents [1]. Here's an example of a list: https://www.statista.com/statistics/217685/most-dangerous-ci... These lists are based o…

By comparison, there were 650 murders in the entire United Kingdom of 67 million people.

Something different needs to be tried. I would suggest looking at the Violence Reduction Unit: http://www.svru.co.uk/

Re: Ask HN: As a person, what can I do to improve a city?

#194

Post by fennecfoxen »

8note wrote: post #181
theptip wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not everyone is renting in the gentrified areas. If you own, your equity goes up in value.

But all you can do with that is take out debt or move away. In the mean time, your property taxes go up

The problem at the core of gentrification is that when people do end up moving away, those formal and informal networks which helped them all get by are torn into pieces. The problem at the core of uncompromising anti-gentrification is that without growth, the city will stagnate or decay, without any of the money that could make things better (both on an individual level and from the perspective of the city budget.)

Managing this is hard, and will expose a politician to the realities of messy tradeoffs. It's far harder to find the political will to make something work, and much more convenient to shout either "Progress!" or "Oppression!" and make hard problems harder.

Re: Ask HN: As a person, what can I do to improve a city?

#196

Post by [deleted] »

throwaway1777 wrote: post #189
Retric wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean this in the most objective way possible. The risk with urban improvement is making the area more desirable eventually prices people out of the community. So, the real question is do you help the land or current residents? When you own property it’s seriously worth considering local improvements for several reasons, but it’s also easy to confuse the two. Further, if most people in the community own property the…

Now you know why people support rent control despite it being repeatedly shown to have negative economic impact.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: As a person, what can I do to improve a city?

#197

Post by dkrudy »

renewiltord wrote: post #183

Don't. Get out. Get powerful. There is a threshold effect. Unless you have a non-normative path to power (organized crime or powerful family or lots of money already), don't do it. What you're doing is the equivalent of trying to get strong by pulling a 500 lb barbell every day without moving it. It is not effective. Go somewhere where you pull the 100 lbs first and get it off the ground. Then move up. One day you wi…

Disagree. You're falling prey to savior complex, so instead you should "Get out and get powerful and come back to be a hero" Translation: Go make fuck you money and then change what you independently determine is important. You're wrong, because you'll have no idea what barbells to move when you come back, you'll just throw them around without purpose, like a meathead in a gym. Even so, not many people can move a 500lb barbell by themselves, but you get a few people around you you can trust, and 500lbs is pretty light. Much lighter if y'all can work together to break it down and take some weight off the bar before you move it, too. You go away and get powerful, make some fuck you money, sure, you can buy a few houses, or support a policy or something, be a savior. You can toss a few barbells around with ease. But if there's no buy in from others who trust and understand your motives, your effort will die. You might get your name in the record books for the barbells you threw, but there wont be lasting impact.

Re: Ask HN: As a person, what can I do to improve a city?

#199

Post by bichiliad »

renewiltord wrote: post #183

Don't. Get out. Get powerful. There is a threshold effect. Unless you have a non-normative path to power (organized crime or powerful family or lots of money already), don't do it. What you're doing is the equivalent of trying to get strong by pulling a 500 lb barbell every day without moving it. It is not effective. Go somewhere where you pull the 100 lbs first and get it off the ground. Then move up. One day you wi…

I think building stronger ties with your neighbors is a great way to recruit people to help you move 500 lb barbells. You don't have to be able to lift them by yourself, and why would you want to? You'd just become a single point of failure.

Get to know your neighbors, organize with them, and do the work together to make your neighborhood better. Some reading never hurts, either. If you're in a city, I've found "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" by Jane Jacobs to be really insightful.

Re: Ask HN: As a person, what can I do to improve a city?

#200

Post by vbordo »

renewiltord wrote: post #183

Don't. Get out. Get powerful. There is a threshold effect. Unless you have a non-normative path to power (organized crime or powerful family or lots of money already), don't do it. What you're doing is the equivalent of trying to get strong by pulling a 500 lb barbell every day without moving it. It is not effective. Go somewhere where you pull the 100 lbs first and get it off the ground. Then move up. One day you wi…

Individual action can lead to collective action in any community. The trick is to distribute the weight of the barbell across a group with shared goals. There's great power in this type of organizing. Movement is certainly possible.
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