Astroturf campaign

Vincent J. Curtis

20 July 21

RE: Stop sprawl floods councillors inboxes.  Hamilton Spectator news article 20 July 21.

Being experienced politicians, city councillors can recognize an organized campaign, and can detect when Astroturf is pretending to be grassroots.  I’ll bet that if Councillor Nrinder Nann were taken behind the woodshed, the campaign could be made to stop.

Campaigns to stop urban sprawl, save farmland, green space, and other such slogans. began in California in the 1970s, so we know how these things end.  Renowned economist Thomas Sowell has written about it in several of his books, including Discrimination and Disparities.  Because of rising demand and no new supply, the price of existing housing skyrockets.  Affordable housing disappears.  The poor and lower middle class are driven from their neighborhoods.  The policy responses to skyrocketing home prices in the U.S. led to the financial crisis of 2008.

It’s easy for existing home owners to say no to new housing construction.  They benefit, though their children may not.  Housing in Hamilton becomes unaffordable to new buyers early in their working careers.  All the people calling for stopping the sprawl pay no price for being wrong.  They have this vision, and they’re determined to impose it on others – the new home buyers.

Builders have lots to lose if they guess wrong, and they’re not going to build all at once.  They’ll let the market decide what houses should be built and in what price range.

Don’t let the visionaries trick or coerce council into imposing the “vision of the anointed” upon new home buyers.

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