Earlier quoted context omitted.
> like allowing duplexes or fourplexes in single-family neighborhoods This is such a middle of the road, easy, low-drawback compromise that I can't believe it's not happened already.
It's a perfectly reasonable proposal, unless you are living next to where a fourplex is being built, and you're worried about "those people" moving in nearby, where "those people" are either "poor" or "not white," depending on how much honest the NIMBY protestors are being. There are empty lots around the corner from me, and I hope they build as much housing on them as possible.
This argument actually does your argument a disservice. And I agree with your argument.
I've talked with plenty of NIMBYs in my neiborhood when an apartment building was going through approval. They aren't racists. And in fact they are often people of color. Their concerns aren't with poor people either. They tend to mention things like parking, traffic, density, character. Instead of immediately calling them racists, I think it's better to take them at their word and build and argument against it from there.