SAN FRANCISCO liberals are the kind of people who abhor nativism in all its forms and recoil at statements, like those recently made by President Donald Trump, that America "is full!". Yet in their own neighbourhoods, they often act as if the country were packed to the brim. The city council, acting unanimously, recently rejected a 63-unit housing complex because it would cast a shadow on an adjacent park. In nearby Berkeley zoning officers can deny new development that "would unreasonably obstruct sunlight, air or views." Local residents in a posh part of the city have raised over $100,000 to contest plans for a new homeless shelter, claiming that the new "megashelter" will breed crime and violence ("drug users" and "pets, including those designated as 'vicious' will be allowed" they warn). These tactics, along with excessive environmental reviews, have hampered new development in the city. Since 1990 the city has averaged a mere 1,900 new housing units each year.
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