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Originally posted by Cynthetiq
in today's economy... it may be futile... if it's jobs and more taxes... that holy $ may just win...
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Not necessarily. Construction jobs aren't permanent, so they're not really as politically holy. Now if the developers were building a shopping mall or office complex, that might be another matter.
As for the tax advantage, it depends on the area. Here in California, we have Prop 13 which limits the amount of annual property tax increase to, in the long run, less than the rate of inflation. So new residential developments don't necessarily generate enough taxes to pay for the services they require, necessitating heavy "development fees" up front from the city to at least mitigate the costs for a few years. In such a situation, the lower-density development would actually be preferable to the city, because it would probably require less police and fire service, fewer additional classrooms, etc. (Commercial developments are considered okay, because they add new jobs but not necessarily new citizens, and also can generate sales tax revenue.)