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Marc Andreessen slams new multi-family affordable housing

fortune.com

111–120 of 141 posts

Re: Marc Andreessen slams new multi-family affordable housing

#112
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>They will MASSIVELY decrease our home values... Your net worth is $1.7 billion, you can fuck off with your concern about that one home of yours experiencing a dip in value. I realize this comment isn't in the typical spirit of an HN comment, but that's just gross.

Do you think he really cares about home values or that he would have to breathe the same air as the poors?

To be fair, even poor people don't like living around one another. That's why they move away as soon as they can afford it.

That's why after realizing her sudden immense wealth, even Patrisse Cullors purchased her homes in Inglewood and a spacious ranch in Conyers, GA, instead of say Compton or Oakland.

Re: Marc Andreessen slams new multi-family affordable housing

#113

>“I am writing this letter to communicate our IMMENSE objection to the creation of multifamily overlay zones in Atherton,” wrote Andreessen and his wife Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen in an email. “Please IMMEDIATELY REMOVE all multifamily overlay zoning projects from the Housing Element which will be submitted to the state in July. They will MASSIVELY decrease our home values, the quality of life of ourselves and our ne…

It's not remotely hypocritical.

He lives in a quiet neighbourhood and he likely moved there for that reason.

The community wants to keep it that way.

It's (almost) entirely none of your/my/our business otherwise.

The anti-NIMBYism issue is an irrational hysteria ... pushing everyone to think that the moment an area becomes popular, it must be turned into New York or Hong Kong.

And FYI are those places affordable?

There's tons of land in the US, it's time for stupid cities to organize themselves and not have antiquated/disjoint transport systems i.e. Caltrain/Bart.

If the 'Valley' were 'intelligent' they'd have a train from Santa Rosa to Morgan Hill in 1 hour.

What is 'very hypocritical' is that in Atherton they apparently refused the infrastructure changes necessary to electrify the CalTrain.

Now that - is terrible.

I'd imagine this would mean a modicum of change / trouble, for quite an important common/civic benefit.

Andreesen should be pushing for that electrification change, and probably other forms of change, and finally not be ALL CAPS in emails like a giant turkey. I mean, it evokes images of an angry giant bald man smashing his fists on the table. I mean, Marc, chill. Just make your point ...

Re: Marc Andreessen slams new multi-family affordable housing

#114
post #100

>“I am writing this letter to communicate our IMMENSE objection to the creation of multifamily overlay zones in Atherton,” wrote Andreessen and his wife Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen in an email. “Please IMMEDIATELY REMOVE all multifamily overlay zoning projects from the Housing Element which will be submitted to the state in July. They will MASSIVELY decrease our home values, the quality of life of ourselves and our ne…

This has always seemed like a very weak argument, almost like a straw man that people believe in for some reason. Even intuitively, why would one expect that reducing land use restrictions would devalue land? But let’s try actual, if low quality, numbers: Houses near Atherton, in Menlo Park, seem to sell for around $500k-$1M per 1000 sq ft of lot size. That’s $500 - $1000 per sq ft lot. Houses in Atherton, supposed h…

> Houses in Atherton, supposed home of very expensive homes, seem to sell for around $10M per acre of lot. (Yes, Atherton is so fancy that it uses different units in Zillow!). That’s about $230 per sq ft of land.

It should be noted that the zoning rules in Atherton require a minimum lot size of 1 Acre per home. Thinking of it in terms of square feet lets you compare it to nearby towns somewhat, but misses that building say two houses per acre (1/2 acre lots) is illegal there.

Re: Marc Andreessen slams new multi-family affordable housing

#115
post #22

>“I am writing this letter to communicate our IMMENSE objection to the creation of multifamily overlay zones in Atherton,” wrote Andreessen and his wife Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen in an email. “Please IMMEDIATELY REMOVE all multifamily overlay zoning projects from the Housing Element which will be submitted to the state in July. They will MASSIVELY decrease our home values, the quality of life of ourselves and our ne…

>They will MASSIVELY decrease our home values... Your net worth is $1.7 billion, you can fuck off with your concern about that one home of yours experiencing a dip in value. I realize this comment isn't in the typical spirit of an HN comment, but that's just gross.

No, non-Atherton residents can 'f-off' with whatever their opinions are, unless it materially affects the community at large.

The residents can have whatever kind of municipality they want. If they want to keep it quiet and not be Manhatten, it's their prerogative.

Now - blocking the electrification of Caltrain - that - is actual NIMBYISM, because they're blocking needed infrastructure changes that don't likely hugely affect them.

Those kinds of actions make it impossible to have High Speed Trains etc. etc..

But otherwise, there's plenty of land, people can go elsewhere, and tell Google they need to open an office in Morgan Hill because nobody can get to GHQ without spending 1/2 their salary just to survive.

Re: Marc Andreessen slams new multi-family affordable housing

#116
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That list includes Tribeca, NY and Bacon Hill, Boston, which is described as "This historic neighborhood in the heart of Boston"

Not every expensive neighborhood is expensive for the same reason. There's definitely an "archetype," if you will, of neighborhoods that primarily derive their value from being exclusively home to the upper class. Atherton, River Oaks in Houston, even Palm Beach in Florida are examples. Compare property values in Palm Beach to West Palm Beach, for instance.

Are those property values high because there are a lot of mansions built out there, or is it specifically because of the population density in county limits?

Re: Marc Andreessen slams new multi-family affordable housing

#117
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just greed. Past a certain point it's purely "my pile of money is too small to satiate my ego."

Greed, and that he doesn't feel very threatened.

This will change. Hopefully soon!

Re: Marc Andreessen slams new multi-family affordable housing

#118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's plenty of space in the US. Grow wide, not dense. It's good policy.

What you are saying is, "convert farmland to housing and highways." It's an inefficient use of space, it socially isolates us, and it has devastating ecological consequences.

Suddenly, all non-urban space in the US becomes farmland.

Re: Marc Andreessen slams new multi-family affordable housing

#120
post #114
post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This has always seemed like a very weak argument, almost like a straw man that people believe in for some reason. Even intuitively, why would one expect that reducing land use restrictions would devalue land? But let’s try actual, if low quality, numbers: Houses near Atherton, in Menlo Park, seem to sell for around $500k-$1M per 1000 sq ft of lot size. That’s $500 - $1000 per sq ft lot. Houses in Atherton, supposed h…

> Houses in Atherton, supposed home of very expensive homes, seem to sell for around $10M per acre of lot. (Yes, Atherton is so fancy that it uses different units in Zillow!). That’s about $230 per sq ft of land. It should be noted that the zoning rules in Atherton require a minimum lot size of 1 Acre per home. Thinking of it in terms of square feet lets you compare it to nearby towns somewhat, but misses that buildi…

Computing land value per square foot isn’t missing something — this is the whole point. Atherton has a land use restriction that depresses property values.

(Under SB9, one can likely split a 1 acre lot once. I imagine that Atherton would try to block such a split.)

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