Marco Lowe

I cringe a bit when I hear politicians say they're "pro-housing" and "pro-business" BUT "on our terms." When you play that game, you probably are not pro-housing or pro-business. Because, too often, your terms are either a) untenable or b) inferior to another city/state. Capital goes where it's wanted. Obviously, that doesn't mean letting businesses or developers do whatever they want. But it means "our terms" must be more inclusive-- terms that work for all sides, where there's some natural give/take on both sides. But at the end of the day, if you want more housing in particular, remember that a) you're competing to land development capital and b) the best and most proven remedy for affordability is to build more housing. Red or blue, that doesn't matter. You can be open for business either way. But if your approach is demonization over collaboration, you're only hurting your own cause. Meanwhile, housing capital will be fine. It just moves to where it's wanted.