> But in the 1970s, city planners and neighbors aggressively sought to restrict overall housing growth...
We pass by this point rather quickly, but this is like the most interesting part of the story to me which is WHY all this stuff changed in the 1970s. I see increasingly this is just sort of hand waved in passing as if "and then nimbys appeared in the 1970s.." but of course the human desires that drive nimbyism always existed, so it's more a question of why in the 1970s this manifested in a way such that housing was now more remarkably halted as a result.
A possible answer is that in the past growth continued because nimbyism pushed it to the suburb margins, or rammed development into marginalized neighbourhoods that couldn't protest, but these things changed as endless sprawl became less possible and marginalized groups had found their voice.
It's also worth noting that the 1970s was a time of economic upheaval when governments started backing away and started on the path to cuts and austerity.
As the 1970s get further and further away, it seems like more of this is becoming myth and legend and the concrete details and the situation on the ground is becoming lost.
My guess it would be around the time the first boomers are getting out into markets, and their parents are settling into their forever home - never selling until death or forced retirement home.
Tie that with what people of that generation would consider a tolerable commute and the cultural idyllic home size/lot size. I think you start to form the basis of the answer, and like all answers it is simple in it's complexity
We pass by this point rather quickly, but this is like the most interesting part of the story to me which is WHY all this stuff changed in the 1970s. I see increasingly this is just sort of hand waved in passing as if "and then nimbys appeared in the 1970s.." but of course the human desires that drive nimbyism always existed, so it's more a question of why in the 1970s this manifested in a way such that housing was now more remarkably halted as a result.
A possible answer is that in the past growth continued because nimbyism pushed it to the suburb margins, or rammed development into marginalized neighbourhoods that couldn't protest, but these things changed as endless sprawl became less possible and marginalized groups had found their voice.
It's also worth noting that the 1970s was a time of economic upheaval when governments started backing away and started on the path to cuts and austerity.
As the 1970s get further and further away, it seems like more of this is becoming myth and legend and the concrete details and the situation on the ground is becoming lost.
I'd read a whole book on this topic.