Luxury Beliefs applied to urbanism
There are transportation and housing ideas that confer status on the upper class while often inflicting costs on the lower class.
For instance…
A survey from YouGov found that Americans in the highest income category were by far the most supportive of defunding the police. They can afford to hold this position, because they already live in safe, often gated communities. And they can afford to hire private security.
…a vulnerable poor person in a crime-ridden neighborhood can’t afford to support defunding the police.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, compared to Americans who earn more than $75,000 a year, the poorest Americans are seven times more likely to be victims of robbery, seven times more likely to be victims of aggravated assault, and twenty times more likely to be victims of sexual assault.
Expressing a luxury belief is a manifestation of cultural capital, a signal of one’s fortunate economic circumstances. The chief purpose of luxury beliefs is to indicate evidence of the believer’s social class and education.
Members of the luxury belief class promote these ideas because it advances their social standing and because they know that the adoption of these policies or beliefs will cost them less than others.
If you aren’t familiar with Henderson, do yourself a favor and subscribe to his Substack. Hear me now and believe me later. He wrote (and spoke) a New York Times op-ed called “I went from foster care to Yale. This is what I learned about luxury beliefs.” Definitely worth watching.
Luxury Beliefs applied to housing and transportation
It’s easy to see luxury beliefs in politically-charged topics, but they also infiltrate boring infrastructure topics like housing and transportation policy.
“Preserve the character of the neighborhood.”
Outlawing small houses and small lots is a proven way for the privileged to keep those people off their street while sounding like they’re serving the greater good. “Single-use zoning isn’t for my benefit, it’s to protect the neighborhood.” Protection from whom? From people who can’t afford large homes on large lots.
Restricting property rights to “preserve neighborhood character” can be a luxury belief.
The established order makes sure to prevent property owners from renting out rooms, building a small cottage home in the backyard, operating a salon out of the garage, and growing/selling produce in the neighborhood.
Housing regulations limit the supply of affordable housing, drive up housing prices, and push lower- and middle-income families out of desirable areas. Of course the wealthy can afford to live in desirable neighborhoods with better schools, amenities, and job opportunities.
San Francisco has the unfortunate history of being the OG NIMBY city in America, which surprises many because the city has long had a reputation for being socially progressive. But like the defund-the-police example, people who have the means to live where and how they want are perfectly willing to impose rules on others. This affordable housing nonprofit gets millions from the government and they put that money to work by blocking any new affordable housing in San Francisco.
“Cars keep the economy moving.”
As a car owner, I know how difficult car dependency can be. Not just the state of being dependent on automobiles to get around for anything and everything, but even talking about it. Zoning is one of the most powerful forces keeping Americans dependent on cars. Local zoning rules of course force different types of housing to be separated from each other, but zoning also sprawls out the land uses in ways that make driving the only viable way to get around.
Of course you drive to CVS just to get a birthday card. Pharmacies are outlawed in your neighborhood.
Of course you drive your kids to Chick-Fil-A on a weeknight. Restaurants are outlawed in your neighborhood.
Of course you drive to get your haircut or nails done. Salons are outlawed in your neighborhood.
Americans have been slaves to personal vehicles for so many decades that it’s hard to visualize a future without them. Worse, we’ve been conditioned to believe that speedily zipping from zone to zone is fundamental for a thriving economy. Sitting at a red light isn’t called waiting your turn, it’s called delay. We’re told the economy suffers from our delay because we need to keep the wheels of productivity spinning.
Without taking a hot second to evaluate the financial ROI of walk-friendly, bike-friendly, bus-friendly mixed-use neighborhoods, local leaders insist that roads must be widened and traffic sped up. For the economy! For the greater good! Who suffers? Americans who are financially strapped but have no choice but to own and operate a personal fleet of vehicles for their family.
Car-oriented infrastructure can be a luxury belief.
The wealthy will always have mobility options. They can opt for large estates and however many vehicles they want, or they can opt to live comfortably in walkable, transit-rich environments.
“It’ll cost you, but it’s worth it.”
Luxury beliefs might be easy to spot in your political opponents, but I think it’s worthwhile to take a closer look at urbanism policies. Using Rob Henderson’s definition, there might be a longer list than we’d like to admit. Each of these is a candidate:
Ban fossil fuels.
Replace ICE with EV.
Preserve green space.
Preserve historical integrity.
Remove blight.
Protect natural habitats.
Abolish police cameras.
Mandate universal design.
Prohibit single staircase buildings.
Increase minimum wage.
Mandate minimum parking.
Please don’t take this as an attack on good intentions. Please do take this as a way to make sure we think through the outcomes of our good intentions. As economist Thomas Sowell said, “There are no solutions, only trade-offs.” Consider whether any specific urbanism belief is like a luxury good (something that serves to demonstrate status) or truly for human flourishing.
Here’s an example happening right now just outside Washington, DC.
Read
. Young as he is, he’s got heartbreaking and inspiring stories to share.
Luxury beliefs remind us that the aristocracy never died with monarchism, and they still control popular opinion, conspicuous consumption, and a large share of social engineering policy. H.P. Lovecraft had some interesting things to say about the aristocracy. I recommend reviewing them, to understand thought process 100 years ago. It's not wildly different today.
I've heard the "luxury belief" argument applied in the opposite direction: to justify car-oriented development and design. I've debated with people who claim that bike lanes and public transit are for urban elites and that road diets and elimination of parking minimums harm working class people who need personal vehicles for their jobs or who have no choice but to endure long commutes. I don't buy it because making ownership of a car the price of entry into the economy is the ultimate luxury belief. Nevertheless, the argument is out there and advocates for urban vitality need to be prepared for it.