How to Build a Better Suburb: Lessons from Disney, Houten, Japan, and Carmel
a day ago
- #YIMBY
- #housing
- #urbanism
- Americans recognize good urbanism and are willing to pay to experience it, as seen in Disney's Main Street, U.S.A.
- YIMBY groups like YIMBY Action and Abundant Housing LA have successfully advocated for housing reforms in California, Oregon, and Minneapolis.
- A gap exists between the achievements of organized YIMBY chapters and the lack of such advocacy in thousands of American suburbs.
- Setbacks in YIMBY efforts include the ousting of a YIMBY mayor in Auburn, Maine, and delays in housing bill signings due to political lobbying.
- The race is on to scale effective local organizing and deliver visible results like roundabouts and family-friendly apartments before political backlash takes hold.
- Understanding opposition: Baby Boomers, who hold $20 trillion in real estate, often resist new housing, while younger families and pronatalists can be converted with the right approach.
- Developers often misread the market for family-friendly apartments, which have lower vacancy rates and longer tenures.
- Soft opposition often masks practical concerns, such as parents questioning whether apartments can work for families or business owners fearing bike lanes will reduce foot traffic.
- Houten, Netherlands, is a car-light suburb designed for children, with 66% of trips made by non-car modes, demonstrating that family-friendly, walkable suburbs are possible.
- Japanese suburbs offer a model of organic evolution with family-friendly density, walkability, and green space, challenging American NIMBY narratives.
- Disney's Celebration, Florida, provides design innovations like underground utilities and pedestrian-priority design, which, despite higher upfront costs, offer long-term benefits.
- Carmel, Indiana, showcases a successful governance model with roundabouts, mixed-use districts, and higher-density housing, winning public support through tangible results.
- Universities have accidentally preserved walkable urbanism by maintaining dense, mixed-use neighborhoods around campuses.
- The need for integration organizations to synthesize, educate, and demonstrate successful models like Carmel's roundabouts and Japanese density patterns.
- The window for action is narrowing, and delivering visible improvements is crucial to prevent YIMBY efforts from becoming entangled in culture wars.