Not In My Back Yard

Out out damn spot!

Did you read the story about Marc Andreessen?

He and his family recently objected to “multifamily development” in their neighborhood. It seems they were defending one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in America from certain demise.

It is no surprise, really. We all care about our “quality of life.” It’s a nearly universal thing.

We’ve heard it said that the people who have the most are the most fearful that they might someday have less. Andreesen is easily a billionaire. He was one of the investors behind Facebook, Lyft and dozens of other unicorn start-ups.

It’s a surprise to none of us that the Andreesens would stridently defend their neighborhood from encroachment by the masses.

We all would bet a fair chunk of cash that the uber-wealthy Andreesens would fight against multi-family development in their neighborhood. Only one thing might give us pause: Marc Andreesen’s impassioned, personal plea in 2020 for America to build more housing.

We can’t build nearly enough housing in our cities with surging economic potential — which results in crazily skyrocketing housing prices in places like San Francisco, making it nearly impossible for regular people to move in and take the jobs of the future. — Marc Andreesen, It’s Time To Build

I’m not exactly Marc Andreesen. My only faintly similar claim to business fame is being the idea/product/business development guy behind a startup that eventually sold for over half a billion. Not being the finance person, though, I never saw a dime from that sale.

No, I’m not Marc Andreesen, but a few months ago I did receive a frantic text message:

“I want to make you aware that our neighbor has filed plans to demolish two of the houses he owns at the top of the street… I can only imagine that he plans to build multi-family units there… We have to STOP this!”

Families on the street rallied to learn more about the demolition.

I admit to submitting my concerns to the planning commission, too. When I shared my letter with neighbors — in the spirit of transparency — I found myself the object of their concern:

“You said that multi-family housing is acceptable as long as it doesn’t worsen crowded on-street parking. That’s a terrible idea. Anything other than single-family housing will decrease our home values!”

I was shocked.

This statement had been delivered by a sincerely-caring, highly-educated neighbor. They had invested their life in medicine. They had worked through the pandemic, braved the front lines, and fought the bureaucracy.

They complain regularly about how hard corporate leadership makes it to care for patients today. They even turned down a retirement package to continue the fight for their fellows and for the best patient care possible.

Despite all that. Despite all their care, they, too, were terrified of decreased home values.

Not in my back yard.

Marc Andreesen’s It’s Time To Build piece is inspiring.

It condemns not just the failure to build new housing, but also similar failures around education, manufacturing, and transporation.

It condemns both America’s political parties, the left and the right.

It asks the conservative right to “fight hard against crony capitalism, regulatory capture, ossified oligopolies, risk-inducing offshoring, and investor-friendly buybacks” in order to build what America needs.

It urges the left to “demonstrate that the public sector can build better hospitals, better schools, better transportation, better cities, [and] better housing.”

It urges America to build a better world for all Americans. Better health care. Better housing. Better careers.

Every step of the way, to everyone around us, we should be asking the question, what are you building? … If the work you’re doing isn’t either leading to something being built or taking care of people directly, we’ve failed you, and we need to get you into a position, an occupation, a career where you can contribute to building. — Marc Andreesen, It’s Time To Build

It’s classic.

Do as I say. Not as I do.

We want to help people. But not at too much cost to the quality of our lives.

I find myself guilty, too.

This story, sadly, is not only about Marc Andreesen and his family.

It’s about so many of us.

Please follow J. Andrew Shelley to read more. Let’s experiment with better ways to help our world.

Be well