A poll by Pew Research last year found that 80% of Americans feel that their elected officials don’t care what they think or want to hear their opinions on issues. While you might think that feeling pertains to just those sent to Washington or to state houses–it most certainly applies to local officials that literally live in the same neighborhood as their own constituents as well. And no one is finding themselves more ignored by local leaders than those living in R-1 single-family housing zoning districts opposed to high-density housing projects near their homes.
In recent months, the city councils of Oshkosh and Green Bay have rezoned entire neighborhoods or abutting properties to R-1 districts to what is known as R-3–which allows for construction of high-density apartments and rows of townhomes–over the objections of those living closest to the developments. In the case of the Green Bay Council, that opposition was not met with just ignorance–but downright contempt.
After several homeowners spoke in opposition to having rows of multi-story apartments built next to their properties in the Red Smith Neighborhood–and a petition signed by more than a hundred others was presented to the Council–a “community activist” (who also teaches at UW-Green Bay and has made several unsuccessful runs for public office) chastised those in opposition, claiming they “don’t want ‘others’ in their neighborhood”. The developer himself stated those in opposition were “just afraid of diversity”–a sentiment echoed by not one but two alderpeople.
Those same alders said that while the people in that district may not want high-density housing in their backyards, the people living in “their” districts did want the project–and that trumps the wishes of those living closest to it. One alder claimed that she had heard from a “couple” of people in Red Smith that actually supported the project, but were afraid to say so in public out of “fear of retaliation”. Apparently, those one or two people are the political equivalent of the gorilla that can outfight 100-men in the social media poll that is making the rounds this week.
I should also mention the discussion on this issue revealed an interesting attitude that those pushing for the development of every available piece of urban property into high-density housing have toward those who actually take on the financial risk and do the actual work. The aforementioned “community activist” and the two alders with the constituency that holds great sway over development in other parts of the city all used the phrase “I wish we didn’t have to rely on developers for these types of projects.” It’s a telling statement, as it reveals the real belief of the modern “urbanist”, that it should be the Government–and not the private sector–that controls housing. I’ll get to the other “hidden” reason “urbanists” love high-density rental housing a bit later.
I feel a great deal of empathy for those facing the prospect of hundreds of new residents piled on top of each other right next to them. For 18-years, I lived in a home that was in an R-1 zoning district that abutted R-3 high-density residential in Oshkosh. That, along with my own experiences as a renter, have shaped my attitudes toward the “keep packing them in” mentality prevalent in urban planning today.
Let’s first start with my time as an apartment dweller. In St. Paul, Minnesota, I had some lovely neighbors in the brownstone across the street that sat on their front stoop every night yelling about each other’s drug use, threatening to kill each other, and claiming that they don’t “fear the cops”. I also had the back window of my car shot out one night, and the woman that lived below me had, according to a city inspector, 28-cats in her unit–so you can imagine how it smelled down there.
In Marinette, there was a shooting death in my apartment complex. The guys in the unit next to mine intentionally clogged the drain line of their shower before moving out–causing my toilet to back up into my shower when I flushed it. One night, I had to call the cops as the young guy across the hall was physically assaulting his girlfriend–dragging her back into the unit after she ran into the hallway screaming for help. One afternoon, I used my small Weber charcoal grill to make a few burgers, and came back down an hour later to find it stolen. The live-in handyman built a little covered area with a full-size Weber grill under it shortly after that–and someone stole that one too.
In Oshkosh, the apartment complex behind my house always seemed to have kids that climbed my back fence to look in the yard. Some of them enjoyed pulling and pushing on the support posts to make them come loose. The parking lot hosted many a vehicle blasting bass from the stereo so loud that it shook the windows of my house at all hours of the night. One tenant put giant speakers into the windows facing my yard and played loud music at all times of the day–none of it directed into the unit where they lived. A number of times, fast food bags full of leftovers and trash were tossed into my yard–as were dirty diapers.
In the past few months, there was a sizeable drug bust in one of the apartment buildings. And there was a drive-by shooting incident as well.
The owner of the property made no effort to cut the strip of grass between my fence and the parking lot, so every summer weeds and brush grew higher than my six-foot fence. After I filed complaints with the city Inspections Department, the grass and brush were cut down–but then were left in a pile next to the fence, becoming a fire hazard as it dried out. Never once was something done as required by codes unless I complained to City Hall.
To be fair, it wasn’t just the apartments that created issues in the neighborhood. When I first moved in, former National League umpire Dutch Rennert lived two houses down from me. But after he and his wife moved down south permanently, their house was purchased by a rental company. After that, it hosted a couple that was obviously running an unlicensed day care center–as there were different groups of children running around the yard (and the entire neighborhood) every day. Another renter hung a Confederate flag in the window of their garage and started a pile of leaves in their yard on fire during a windy day, resulting in flaming leaves landing on the houses downwind. The fire department was called in to put an end to that stupidity. Another tenant got a lot of “visitors” who parked along the street, and had the renters run out to “talk to them” for a few minutes before driving away again. After a conversation with the community policing officer assigned to our neighborhood, he started “doing his paperwork” while parked in front of that house. For some reason, those “visitors” didn’t seem to come around nearly as much.
After another house on the street was purchased by a rental firm, police cars started showing up there as well. At least once, a resident was hauled away in handcuffs.
Never once, did I have to file any complaints or talk to police about the people living in owner-occupied houses in my neighborhood. They mowed their lawns. They didn’t blast their music at 3:00 am. They didn’t throw garbage in my yard. They didn’t burn yard waste in their yards. They didn’t run drug houses. Because they lived there for years, I got to know them. We helped each other with snow removal, moving heavy objects, and keeping an eye on the place while the owner is on vacation.
Apartment dwellers, by their very nature, are transient. They feel no sense of ownership of place, because they literally do not own where they live. Urban planners and developers like to draw up these pictures of what their projects are going to look like. Often they feature all of these groups of people gathering together in common green spaces or rooftop party areas and looking like they are having a grand old time. Show me where that is actually happening around here. I drive by those new towers in many of the cities in this area. I don’t see people on their balconies–much less hosting an impromptu cocktail hour on the green. Let’s not forget that with weather that stinks for outdoor activities 6-7 months out of the year, people living on the 8th floor aren’t going to bother running downstairs to “get to know their neighbors”.
And what those renters aren’t going to concern themselves with is the state of local politics. In 25+ years of doing local news, I am yet to hear a renter come to a city council, county board, or school board meeting to voice concerns about increasing property taxes. They never advocate for street repairs. They seldom care about garbage collection, fire department response times, or water rates. About the only thing I can remember them coming to city council meetings about is enforcement of on-street parking laws–especially in the winter.
And it is the dis-association with their local government that modern urbanists like the most. When property taxes go up for school-approved referenda or street project assessments they don’t get the bill. The landlord gets the bill. And when the rent goes up a corresponding amount, who catches heat? Not the alderperson, or the supervisor, or the school board member that voted for it. Instead, the landlord is blamed. And the same representatives that voted for those higher taxes and fees sit there with a straight face and not an ounce of guilt and tell those renters, “That’s right, you’re landlord is a greedy SOB”–and look like they are an “advocate” for those “getting screwed by the system”.
In a week, I will be relocating from a rental situation (where my neighbor set his unit on fire a few months ago–made all the newscasts) back into an R-1 single-family home. There are no high-density housing developments around it–and no plans on the books for any to be built there. But if one should ever be proposed, you can expect to see me in front of Plan Commissions and Village Boards telling my story–and likely being ignored.
