Background Statement
We believe that we must build welcoming, thriving communities of opportunity for all, and that a fundamental step toward that goal is addressing our housing shortage.
The policies that artificially constrain our housing supply and led to today’s staggering shortage are rooted in racism and classism. Local communities weaponized policy to exclude, marginalize, and exploit low-income people and people of color. Policies including:
1. exclusionary zoning designed to legalize segregationist policies and practices;
2. excessive permitting processes wielded to slow down or block new residences for othered groups; and
3. intentional reductions in funding to strangle public housing and other housing restricted to workers and families earning less than median incomes.
We recognize that our fight to change these and other exclusionary housing policies is, fundamentally, a fight for class justice and for racial justice. We envision an integrated society where every person has access to a safe, affordable home near jobs, services, and opportunity.
Ultimately, YIMBY’s work will shift societal norms about new housing. Fear of change and related skepticism about new housing in one's community (“NIMBYism”) will always be a natural impulse. But our goal is that this impulse is outweighed by a powerful social consensus that we cannot have thriving, inclusive, and sustainable communities without building abundant housing. It’s time that society moves in this direction of greater justice. We are excited to partner with the funding community to make this possible.