Here's a perfect example of why we have a housing crisis:

A company plans to build 1,895 housing units near their new headquarters here in Scottsdale, which will create 5,500 jobs.

Local NIMBYs gathered just 26,000 signatures to block it, and now the company might leave Arizona entirely.

This is Axon (maker of Tasers and body cams). They proposed a $1.3B campus with housing, offices, retail, and restaurants.

The City Council approved it 5-2. But opponents say apartments would "change Scottsdale's character" and create traffic.

Classic NIMBY arguments.

The referendum means the project is stalled until 2026(!). Axon's CEO is now considering Texas and Florida instead.

So we might lose:

• 5,500 new jobs

• $11.5M/year in tax revenue

• Thousands of homes

• One of Arizona's biggest companies

This is because some people worry that the “character of the community” will change for the worse because of the addition of apartments.