>I would actually not be OK with quads next door to my house right now, because that is not the type of life I bought into.
This is, definitionally, NIMBYism. Resisting necessary change in your town because it doesn't jive with what you want is more or less the problem.
Now, maybe your town doesn't need quads or apartments or anything of the sort. Maybe the properties and zoning laws that exist are able to meet demand. But if your town is growing faster than single-family construction can keep up; if people aren't able to afford to live close to their jobs; if you see your town becoming more exclusive, something that often comes at the expense of local businesses or municipal budgets; then reality dictates that we embrace change.
Of course, it sounds like you're in an area close to NYC, so you would hold that there's already suitable choice of housing in your area to meet peoples' needs. I think the areas where this debate is more prevalent are the ones in the PNW, Southeast, and Mountain west/Southwest portions of the US where cities are busting at the seams and zoning is a huge barrier for the stock of housing.
You may be totally right about PWN etc. and I think you're right about my assessment about the NYC area being already fine. But I guess I am not super comfortable with this sentence: "Resisting necessary change in your town." Who gets to decide what is truly necessary? Is it people who already live in the town? That seems the most democratic and least tyrannical. Or is it people from elsewhere that are somehow empowered to decide how the town ought to be, and if so how does that work?
How do determine what growth is necessary and what is optional? Should we compress more and more people into existing cities, or would it make more sense to build new cities in regions with fewer geographical constraints? How do we balance the interests of existing residents versus those who would like to move in? Considering that most US population growth is due to immigration, what is the optimal level of net migration?
This is, definitionally, NIMBYism. Resisting necessary change in your town because it doesn't jive with what you want is more or less the problem.
Now, maybe your town doesn't need quads or apartments or anything of the sort. Maybe the properties and zoning laws that exist are able to meet demand. But if your town is growing faster than single-family construction can keep up; if people aren't able to afford to live close to their jobs; if you see your town becoming more exclusive, something that often comes at the expense of local businesses or municipal budgets; then reality dictates that we embrace change.
Of course, it sounds like you're in an area close to NYC, so you would hold that there's already suitable choice of housing in your area to meet peoples' needs. I think the areas where this debate is more prevalent are the ones in the PNW, Southeast, and Mountain west/Southwest portions of the US where cities are busting at the seams and zoning is a huge barrier for the stock of housing.