Flannery Associates, a company that recently gained attention for its large land holdings in Solano County, California, is reportedly owned by several Silicon Valley billionaires. The company has committed to buying 140 properties for over $800m, paying well above market value for the land. The owners, including former head of Sequoia Capital Michael Moritz and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, plan to build a town from scratch on the land, although it is not currently zoned for housing. The plans have sparked interest in the growing Yimbyism (Yes in My Backyard) movement, which advocates for more housing development to address housing shortages caused by strict zoning and planning laws.
The housing shortage in the San Francisco Bay Area is due largely to Nimbyism, or resistance to new development by locals. Yimbyism is a movement that seeks to address this issue by advocating for more housing development. Yimbys argue that strict zoning and planning laws make it difficult and expensive to build new housing. The movement has gained traction in recent years and now has thousands of members and chapters in countries including the US, Australia, Britain, and New Zealand.
Although Yimbys come from a range of backgrounds and political ideologies, they all share the belief that more housing needs to be built, particularly in large and expensive cities. House prices have been outpacing income growth in the developed world, and Yimbys believe that relaxing zoning and planning laws is one way to address this issue. The plans for a new town in Solano County owned by Flannery Associates, which includes prominent Silicon Valley billionaires, have brought attention to the Yimbyism movement and its goal of increasing housing development.
