Quote:
Originally Posted by aaron38
The only way “more families” equals “fewer single people” is if the supply of housing is restricted. Otherwise developers will build enough units for everyone who wants to live in a neighborhood. We want these neighborhoods to grow, and grow for everyone. It should not be zero-sum.
I don’t see any issue with an alderman saying he wants more families. That’s natural, kids are natural. The problem is saying “I want ONLY families, and cut that 300 unit building down to 80 units, and make it all 3 bedrooms”.
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Fair enough, and maybe it isn't the case here, but Ordo is right, "family units" is a dog whistle for "less scary single people". It's also, as I said above, not the way the law works at least for professionals. For example, as a broker you aren't even allowed to say something like "JUST STEPS FROM THE TRAIN!" in a listing anymore because the word "STEPS" is considered discriminatory against handicapped people who can't walk. I know it sounds absurd, but this is very much how the law works and, as Ordo said, there is a LONG history of winks and nudges in real estate that resulted in generational segregation of poverty along race and other lines which is why we have laws like this to begin with.
Sure, they may not be saying "we want less single people", but a good litmus test as to whether something should be said is to replace the word in question with "white". If you change the sentence "we need more housing for families" to "we need more housing for whites", well, you get the picture...
And that's what they beat into you in RE continuing education these days; the language of anything you say about housing must be absolutely and totally neutral or you will eventually get sued. You do not go into describing the potential buyer, you don't say "close to hip bars and restaurants, perfect for the hip single young professional" or "right next to the park, perfect for famlies". You leave it at "close to the hottest bars and restaurants" or "right by the park". You are drilled to stick to only describing the property itself and the location in the most factual terms possible. Politicians would be wise to do the same. If you want larger units then shut your damned mouth about who you want to rent those units and stick with "we already have a ton of 1 and 2 bedroom units, could you include more larger units?"