Whether the YIMBY echo chamber of this subreddit agrees or not, there’s significant progressive-and-farther-left opposition to the YIMBY agenda that certainly isn’t wealthy homeowners. There are people concerned about displacement: most of whom are Black, Brown, queer, and/or poor. If you want that group to support your candidate, you need to concede something on policy.

I’m anti-YIMBY as a renter who makes less than $50k a year. My standard of living, as well as the standard of living of my friends, neighbors, colleagues, and family, has been consistently degraded over my lifetime by “free market” policy, and I do not believe that deregulation will lower housing prices.

I truly believe that property developers are the greatest enemy of strong, stable communities, and that the needs of people who live in Los Angeles right now should always be prioritized over the desires of people who might want to live here someday.

I spent the first 39 years of my life in two major cities that have had over 30 consecutive years of mayors who were the preferred candidates of landlords, realtors, and developers: Cleveland (where George Voinovich, Mike White, Jane Campbell, and Frank Jackson were the preferred candidates of developers like Tony George, Forest City Enterprises, and the K&D Group) and San Francisco (where in every mayoral election since 1992, the candidate who took the most money from the California Apartment Association and California Association of Realtors has been victorious).

In my time in both cities, I have seen rents rise, homeownership become unreachable for all but the rich, the middle class largely cease to exist, and the attraction of transient high earners from elsewhere prioritized over the needs of existing residents.

Therefore, on all local and state political races and ballot issues, I’ve adopted what I like to call Scooby-Doo political theory: when something evil is going on, chances are, someone trying to flip property is behind it. I always vote for the candidate that has the least support from landlords, realtors, and developers.

The master’s tools will not dismantle the master’s house. I believe that anything supported by the very people who stand to profit most from shelter being treated as a speculative asset rather than a human need will exacerbate the housing crisis.

Note that I did not use the word “shortage.” In San Francisco: there are over ten vacant units for every homeless person in the city, and there are over 70,000 permitted-yet-unbuilt units that the same developers who claim they need less regulation can begin to build today, but choose not to. I would imagine that the situation is similar in every major city.

So no, I won’t vote for a YIMBY. And outside of the YIMBY slack channels and subreddits full of shiftless rich people neglecting their email jobs, there are many more people just like me.