Yes In My Backyard

San Francisco activists push for more construction in Baghdad by the Bay.

- Alexis Garcia

“Cities are incredible things,” says activist Sonja Trauss. “They’re places where freedom is possible in a way that is just not as possible in a small town. So I feel like San Francisco and the Bay Area should be taking advantage of its opportunity to build a big city.”

But San Francisco isn’t getting that much bigger—at least in terms of places to live. In 2015, the Bay area added 64,000 jobs but less than 5,000 residential units.

One of the reasons for the housing shortfall is the existence of NIMBY (“not in my backyard”) groups that have been able to successfully organize against development in the region. That in turn has sparked a counter movement of YIMBY (“yes in my backyard”) groups that believe the solution is to build, build, build.