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Comment by mstipetic | Hacker News Reader

I really don’t understand this mindset, shouldn’t you stop caring about money at a certain point? So what if one of your houses decreases in value, you’re set for life. Is it some weird money obsession/disease?

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I think it's an excuse. The real reason is probably he doesn't want his neighborhood transformed. If your neighborhood is tree lined single family homes, you may not want multi-family living that breaks the "character" of your neighborhood. Lower prices also attract less affluent people, would increase school sizes, etc. I still think it's hypocritical, but I don't think its about just the home value.

Do you feel the same way about people that want to prevent chain stores or Walmarts from opening in their neighborhoods? It's something like that...

> The real reason is probably he doesn't want his neighborhood transformed.

Oh the Urbanity! recently did a (7m) video on this, 'The Problem of “Neighborhood Character”':

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bkC8YlBxoM

> Lower prices also attract less affluent people

You are right! It looks like he might not give a crap about the actual financial "hit" from depreciation of his house as much as he worries that if the prices do go down, Atherton will become more affordable, and that to him is probably a massive problem.

I am a huge YIMBY but pretty sure he is stating arguments that he thinks will be compelling to the rest of the voters in his town. Most people their prob have net worths north of 10M - but entirely wrapped up in their property values.

Solution is to just not give local towns such strict control. Otherwise there is truly no incentive to allow building like this

I'm doubtful of both of those points. Perhaps I've not seen the part of town where the merely very affluent live, but there's not that much of the town to see. I'd guess that 25% or less of their wealth is in their Atherton properties.

Once you're in the tres commas club, the money disease is fatal.

Might be reduced to driving a car with doors that open sideways.

If you're fighting for market share with other companies... IDK, fair enough. If you're trying to stop people with way less money from having a place to live, that's just gross.

And it's false in any case according to some of the research I've seen. It's housing. For people. Not a sewage facility.

"I really don’t understand this mindset, shouldn’t you stop caring about money at a certain point? "

You most likely will never get to that point if you aren't greedy and always look for your personal advantage.

The mind can be that: I will be feeling fulfilled after I get a little bit more. And they never fill fulfilled.

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