Dave Chappelle gives impassioned not in my backyard to Ohio affordable housing initiative
The controversy-seeking comedian has, once again, stepped in it
Aux News Dave Chappelle
Dave Chappelle has emerged as one of comedy’s most reliable cranks in his transformation from voice-of-a-generation comedian to transphobic grievance spouter. Jumping from one acronym to the next, Chappelle added NIMBY to his resume at a Monday night town council meeting when he voiced his opposition to an affordable housing initiative in Yellow Springs, Ohio, where he’s lived for the last two decades.
Last September, the Yellow Springs Planning Commission approved a proposal by Chappelle’s Iron Table Holdings, LLC. to open a restaurant and comedy club in town. But not if the council allows this new development to go through.
“I don’t know why the village council is worried about litigation from a $24 million a year company, while it’s out a $65 million-a-year company,” Chappelle said after taking the mic at the meeting, referring to this threat to pull investment from the town. “I cannot believe you would make me audition for you. You look like clowns. I am not bluffing. I will take it all off the table.”
Chappelle’s passionate rant against the initiative went viral yesterday, with the comedian’s critics jumping at the opportunity to rail on the guy who spent much of the last year making the world a worse place for marginalized people. If video of Chappelle threatening to pull a $65 million investment in Yellow Springs had premiered on Netflix, the streamer would call it the most-watched standup special of the year.
It’s a fair assessment, as Slate points out. Chappelle’s opposition seems to be the type of development proposed in Yellow Springs, an older community that Chappelle grew up in. “This place hasn’t changed in 100 years. It’s aesthetically almost identical,” he told Letterman years ago.
However, in a 2017 survey, Yellow Springs residents made it clear that housing in town was too expensive. So when Oberer Land Developers purchased a 52-acre plot of land for a housing development of “townhouses and duplexes in exchange for a park and a plot for affordable housing,” writes Slate.
The development appears to not have been aesthetically pleasing to Chappelle, who would like his community to keep that small-town vibe. Unfortunately, striking down the affordable housing initiative only does that. The development will still move forward, just not with any affordable housing. According to the Dayton Daily News, the developer Ober will build 143 single-family homes starting at about $300,000, instead of “64 single-family homes, 52 duplexes and 24 townhomes with an additional 1.75 acres to be donated to the community for affordable housing to be built later.”
Obviously, the way many communities plan and execute “affordable housing” is another conversation altogether—usually relying on lotteries to place residents or prices that are still outside the budgets of people who need places to live. It’s a flimsy bandaid for a gash that’s becoming more infected every day. But that doesn’t appear to be part of Chappelle’s opposition.
Chappelle’s threats were only part of an overarching plan to kill the development. Other town residents opposed the project based on many common complaints against affordable housing, like traffic, gentrification, overdevelopment, and, um, mosquitos.
Carla Sims, a spokesperson for Chappelle, refuted the characterization of the comedian to NBC. They said, “Neither Dave nor his neighbors are against affordable housing, however, they are against the poorly vetted, cookie-cutter, sprawl-style development deal which has little regard for the community, culture, and infrastructure of the Village.” By the sounds of things, he’ll still get that—but with much wealthier new neighbors.
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The homeless residents of Yellow Springs will continue to be homeless but at least they won’t be bothered by “cookie-cutter” developments while being homeless.
Wikipedia has the population of Yellow Springs listed as 3,697 people, current as of the 2020 census, and the number of homeless in a village is likely in the single digits. That $24 million dollar developer is only there to make money off low-income commuters working in Dayton and Springfield, they don’t care about sheltering indigent locals.
thank you, NIMBY apologist
Yep – the proposal was make a crappy housing estate with 3 of the 143 units dedicated to affordable housing.Now they’ll submit a new proposal to make a crappy housing estate, with 0 of the 143 units dedicated to affordable housing…and Chappelle will oppose that, as well.
The developer most likely gets tax credits by designating part of the development as “affordable housing.”
I hate what a transphobe he is, but it sounds like he would be fine if the affordable housing took into consideration the area it’s being developed. It should still feel part of the community, just because people are poor doesn’t mean they should have to live in some shoddy development that is very obviously separate from their neighbours.
When people oppose affordable housing, they often do it for reasons other than distaste for poorer people. Instead, they raise the kinds of concerns Chappelle is voicing here: the development is not consistent with the character of the neighborhood, or it won’t be aesthetically pleasing, or it will increase traffic, etc. Lots of people are going to be “fine with affordable housing” as an abstract concept, but then are also happy to raise obstacles that make building such housing impossible.
“When people oppose affordable housing, they often do it for reasons other than distaste for poorer people. Instead, they raise the kinds of concerns Chappelle is voicing here: the development is not consistent with the character of the neighborhood, or it won’t be aesthetically pleasing, or it will increase traffic, etc.”But those are masking purely selfish concerns. We need to eliminate residential zoning laws.
“I’d be fine with a bunch of cheap houses, as long as they’re each custom designed and distinctive and have nice big well-manicured yards, and look like they were built 100 years ago so they fit in to the neighborhood. Why can’t anyone do that?”
Absolutely. A true commitment to affordable housing involves recognizing (and being OK with) the fact that the housing probably isn’t going to look as nice as the more expensive housing in the neighborhood. If the houses were just as nice, they wouldn’t be cheaper.
It’s clearly bullshit here because the development itself is still happening. It’s just that now nothing affordable is being offered. The amount of new people and construction is all approximately the same, though, developed by the same company.
Toss in this “I’m rich; how dare you even have a conversation and not just do whatever I want immediately” attitude, and it’s pretty clear where his head is at.
Chappelle’s trying to kill the whole development, though…
Absolutely this. During the last developer panic in my area neighbors were canvassing the area telling us how affordable housing would fuck up our water table… It was novel at least, I’ll give them that.
Pro-tip if these dipshits ever come knocking at your door: Play super dumb. The longer you play dumb, the more they will say the quiet part loud. I don’t think I’ve had a single instance that didn’t eventually devolve into them referring to some collection of “those people” moving in. Absolutely flabbergasting.
Nah, it’s more the case that people pretend to be concerned about these other kinds of issues when their only real concern is NIMBY.Case in point here. The development is happening regardless, and Chapelle is only objecting to the possibility (however remote) of poor people living there.
I think there are people who are truly concerned about the aesthetics of the neighborhood. I don’t think they’re lying, per se. But their concern about such things just highlights how low a priority affordable housing truly is for them, in a way that makes it impossible for them to ever actually support an actual affordable housing project.
I love how we can’t even discuss a housing initiative without having to first declare how we feel about Chappelle’s views on gender.A crystallized form of virtue signaling, I guess.
That exact same argument has been used for decades (if not centuries) to keep out some “undesired” class, whether it be Blacks, Jews, or poor people. It’s a bullshit argument. Aesthetics are not more important than people.
“Aesthetics are not more important than people.”This exactly. Its not the design they care about, its putting their fear that having something “affordable” encroaching on their beige HOA enclave might lower property values ahead of people who just want a place to live. A few blocks from me in [large expensive city] is a warehouse that was converted into lofts. It sits, literally, in about 50 yards of space between two busy commuter train tracks and has an empty lot across the street that seems like a place you’d catch tetanus or buy meth. When a development firm floated the idea of putting “affordable” (probably still $1400+/mo) apartments on this vacant lot, the loft dwellers threw a fit about how it would lower property values. Again, this is a building with a late night train feet from each wall and an abandoned lot across the street, and somehow letting the “poors” move in will ruin property values. Of course the developers backed off the project, so rather than apartments that the city could desperately use there’s just a decaying vacant lot. Humans are the absolute worst
It also sounds like the kinds of excuses NIMBYers always make: “I love affordable housing, just not this particular affordable housing development that happens to be IMBY.” There’s always some complaint—it’s in the wrong style, it obstructs someone’s view, that parking lot is a historic landmark, etc.—that offers a fig leaf to the socially unpalatable objection of “I don’t want to have to live near Those People.”Now, maybe there were legitimate concerns in this particular instance, but in that case I wonder why the solution was not to attempt to address said concerns but to scrap the affordable housing plans altogether.
oh yah, I just am wary of big developments for affordable housing, sometimes they feel really deliberate in keeping poor people poor in their designs. I’d have to see the plans, but I’m talking government creations I guess which feel like they do the bare minimum and provide no community support.
FYI, this is only 20 units of affordable housing with an additional 140 at and above market.
This is not building the projects in the suburbs.
Thank you, Grover Norquist.When you’re done drowning the government in a bathtub, do be sure to explain to us, in detail, how the privatized solutions you’re calling for will be such an improvement….
Because it’s not just NIMBY. I’m someone who’s long advocated for affordable housing and help to others in my actual neighborhood and community- I work with many of the programs and agencies in a related capacity in my job. As someone who loves my home village and has watched it thrive in the last 20 years (I grew up here from age 0-17 and then returned at 38) I can kinda understand it. We just had to help kill a housing complex that would have caused unbelievable amounts of environmental impact, including sewage runoff into a saltwater pond in wetland areas, animal habitat destruction, adding 150 parking spots to a residential area with no parking to begin with, massive amounts of traffic/exhaust and pedestrians, etc. I’m the last person to care about how other people want to live, but when my front door view of the ocean is suddenly going to have a 15 story apartment complex through it- a home I bought 5 yrs ago partly for the bucolic, natural setting and absence of large amounts of people. So while it’s simple to say “What an asshat, not letting poor people have affordable housing!” it’s not always so black-and-white. Like, I don’t expect the AV club newswire to be honest, open and considerate of all POV’s, but come on. Just because Dave has become persona non grata around these parts (he’s about as hated as Weinstein from recent postings slants) doesn’t mean EVERYTHING he does is fodder for canceling him and removing his memory and history from our collective minds. (He’s still not like sexually harassing or abusing people, right? Still jut has opinions on things that we don’t all agree on, correct?) I know some will say his “words are violence” because, you know, meaningless literal statements are hilariously used around here for impact, but also, it’s not really true. He’s just a guy, who has a platform, that talks about things he believes/doesn’t believe in and because of how F’d up things are these days, he’s about as bad as Hitler from some perspectives. *”Worse! Hitler wasn’t a transphobic!”)Let him be, he’ll probably help build housing somewhere else instead, he’s a decent guy overall and does a lot for other people, just not the people some people WANT him to do things for.
Plans to develop weren’t scrapped…a ZONING proposal was scrapped. You people don’t even live here and feel like you can comment on this…gtfoh.
It’s rather rich that of the $65m-a-year he’s apparently pumped (or is planing to pump) into Yellow Springs, apparently none of that has gone (or is going, from these reports) towards affordable housing, but instead businesses that stand to financially benefit him.
It’s one thing to be opposed to developments that will drastically change and gentrify the area you live in (and, in Dave’s case, invest in). That being said, unless he’s bringing in the development for affordable housing that someone of his wealth and connections could easily do, his complaints seem squarely in the realm of NIMBY.
It isn’t as though Dave just moved to Yellow Springs; he’s been living there most of his adult life, and certainly since he’s been cashing the Netflix checks. If affordable housing has been such a major problem for Yellow Springs, why hasn’t it’s most prominent (and wealthiest) resident gotten together with city officials and done something about it? This is not to say that Dave has to foot the entire bill for affordable. However, coming out against a plan that would include affordable housing, and not having a plan yourself (or having thought of something in the intervening period of time that you’ve been a resident and you’ve noticed the problem) is both lazy and incredibly telling of where his mind actually is (and, hint hint, it’s not on the people who would benefit from the affordable housing).
The problem is how our system is set up. We need a stronger social safety net for people in general. If someone works a full-time job they should be able to afford healthy food and housing in a safe neighborhood with decent schools. And how about free college and vocational programs and the ability to go to them without working a full-time job while attending them.
There are a lot of ways our government and society fail the poor. Sure Dave could do more. But the help shouldn’t need to come from the wealthy. The help should come from our government. Tax the rich, tax corporations and use the money to help the poor.
for sure, my response I guess was less with Dave, and more with some affordable housing I’ve seen has really just been pretty covert ways to keep the poor even poorer. It’s important to raise concerns in development stage, but you’re right in that Dave probably doesn’t actually care.
Oh, you’re absolutely right.
It’s very easy to look up situations, especially in large, dense metropolitan cities, where developers dangle affordable housing in order to get tax breaks and property easements, and once granted, actually provide little-to-no affordable housing. In fact, in the latest episode of “Billions”, Chuck Rhoades Sr. talks about doing that specific thing, and basically having the affordable housing units be damn-near slum level, and requiring those tenants to “come in through the back” while he gets his desired tax breaks on his multi-million dollar unit condo building in Manhattan.
However, this is Yellow Springs, not Manhattan, and it’s unlikely that what appears to be a relatively small developer is depending on the tax breaks that Yellow Springs and the state of Ohio would provide by the relatively small amount of affordable housing units their development would house. While the single-family homes would be starting at $300k, even in Yellow Springs, affordable housing units wouldn’t be going for less than $600-800/month. Further, if the quality of what constitutes affordable housing to the county that Yellow Springs is in, and the state of Ohio as a whole, is shabby to the point of deriliction, then unfortunately, that’s on municipal and state government to rectify, not necessarily the developer.
That’s not to say that the developer should do the bare minimum, but economically, they’re gonna do what it’s in their best financial interest, and when it comes to affordable housing (especially when the government has to sign off on it), the crux of the responsbility lies with the government, and it’s clear Dave has them in a wag-the-dog type situation when it comes to affordable housing, since all signs point to the problem not being addressed should Dave continue to get his way, rather than what might be a poor or adequate solution with what this outside developer brings forth.
thanks for the response, actually very educational 🙂
I’m am interior architect that works on a lot of affordable housing, and am actually working on one in Cincinnati at the moment. Ohio Housing Finance Agency (the group you need to get sign off from on your plans in order to get any money) are actually pretty good at making sure the buildings are healthy, sustainable, and decent looking, at least at construction time. That being said, I don’t know what the developers and management companies need to do to keep the money coming, because the existing buildings we’re renovating were in pretty bad shape. Certainly not the worst I’ve seen, but definitely sad.
Thank you for chiming in.
I’m only familiar with how it works down in here in Tampa (I’ve got friends who work for the THA), and I know that we’re going through both a strong wave of gentrification, as well as strong attempts to get reasonably affordable housing in the city/county, especially since so many long-term residents (who are almost always older black and brown people) are being displaced, and housing prices/rents have skyrocketed in the last 5-10 years.
There’s no doubt that a great deal of affordable housing in municipalities follow the paradigm of taking care of the lowest common denominator. For that reason, it’s up to the governmental authorities to raise the minimum standards for affordable housing. Sure it might turn off some developers who no longer see the economic benefit of the entire development, but so long as there’s a general level of growth to be had by the development as a whole (and in certain locales where housing prices are skyrocketing, such as Tampa, even affordable housing is an financial winner), that development will come. Sure the pot might have to be sweetened (but given the propensity to subsidize so much other shit, such as athletic teams and stadiums, this shouldn’t cause any hiccups), but the net gain from affordable housing, if legally and financial structured correctly, should outweigh any tax breaks and other financial considerations afforded to developers.
“I don’t know why the village council is worried about litigation from a $24 million a year company, while it’s out a $65 million-a-year company,”Perhaps he doesn’t realize that it isn’t (or at least shouldn’t be) the job of the town council to make as much money as possible.
I would also love to see the data that actually supports that he’s bringing a $65 million-a-year company into Yellow Springs. Because I’m calling bullshit on that. I cast a big side-eye at the idea that a restaurant and comedy club in Yellow Springs is going to generate that kind money. I’ve been to Yellow Springs. It’s not going to become some great comedy Mecca. Dayton has established comedy clubs. Columbus is an hour away and a much bigger draw for national acts. Meanwhile, the $24 million company that he’s bitching about is going to bring like 150 new housing units into the community, increasing revenue from property taxes. In The Root’s article on this, they mention Chappelle complaining that the schools need to be better in order to attract young families. Well, Dave, in Ohio schools are funded by local property taxes. So this housing would have boosted the tax base for the schools significantly. The development would have helped accomplish the very things you said you wanted: draw in young people (looking for affordable housing) and boost the schools. So what exactly is your problem? Basically, I don’t believe anything Dave Chappelle has to say about this. He’s just NIMBYing all over himself and trying to use his money and celebrity to do it.
Yeah, i didnt quite get that…hes saying he puts 65 mil a year into that place? Thats insane.
I don’t think he’s saying that he’s going to bring $65 million a year into the town, just saying that’s the yearly revenue of his company, compared to the yearly revenue of the developer in question. Of course, that’s utterly irrelevant to the economic impact to the town, but it’s a pissing match.High level, assuming a $50 spend per customer (arbitrary, but maybe not entirely unreasonable for a restaurant or comedy club), you’d have to get about 3500 customers a day (almost the entire population of the town), 365 days a year to generate that kind of revenue, and even with Chappelle’s clout, I don’t think that’s happening.
Yes, surely this town will better service its residents with… (checks notes)… less money.
It was also reported that his investment is mostly to build restaurants and a comedy club. It’s not like those businesses ever shutter within 6 months of opening, even in well populated areas, much less in a town with a population of less than 4,000. It seems like he’s giving a false choice between him building commercial space that may attract tourism and the developer building housing that may actually attract people to live there.
“I don’t know why the village council is worried about litigation from a $24 million a year company, while it’s out a $65 million-a-year company,”Perhaps he doesn’t realize that it isn’t (or at least shouldn’t be) the job of the town council to make as much money as possible.
Please research this a little bit, you’re really making a fool of yourself. I’ll help you:https://www.daytondailynews.com/local/video-yellow-springs-votes-no-on-housing-plan-after-chappelle-others-speak-up/WFSD7UXAYVECLOFCZPWU4IV4FE/
You don’t have to thank me, just pay it forward.
yeah if he’s against this plan then the obvious next step is “He has to come up with a plan that’s better and solves the problems in his own way”.
Seriously, that’s your argument? I disagree with Trump and his butchering of the Constitution and presidential norms. Does that mean I have to rewrite the law to enforce things that I think he does wrong? Where do I start? Should be easy enough.Dave, please pick up “Building Affordable Community Housing for a Small Town (Population 50,000-150,000) for IDIOTS” immediately, you’ll need to file the paperwork for permits and planning this Friday at the latest, and also please contact some engineers and architects so we can begin reviewing your proposed home units and environmental impact studies.ARE YOU PEOPLE FOR REAL?!?You know the world doesn’t work like this, right?!?
Yeah, I don’t see the homeless holding up some “perfect enemy of good” position when ‘good’ means they get a home…
Somehow, I doubt the single-family homes that *will* get built (and he doesn’t seem opposed to) will be anything but cookie cutter. If anything, denser mixed-type zoning (even better would be if they went mixed-use) would be perfectly in character with an older area, but that’s never what the NIMBY’s actually mean.
THIS.
Chappelle’s explicitly trying to kill the development as a whole.The author just skims over that part, because it complicates his self-righteous wanking, haha:
Goddamn, that’s some naive stuff.
Yeah, but, see, their neighbors have more money than they do.I 100% support leveling the playing field – with a steamroller, if needs be, but preferably with something that raises the potholes instead – but you won’t find many who do. Rejiggering the game so that poorer people can live in decent-looking suburban single-family homes is a very expensive proposition, and it requires handing out a lot of money in precisely the ways that NIMBYs despise: directly to said poorer people, for very long periods of time, with no expectation family-to-family that they’ll ever “earn” or “repay” it (and especially not in the short term!)
lol
It could be the other aspects of the development that they’re protesting against, if the term cookie cutter is being used, that’s usually cheaper, starter homes (CP Morgan, Beazer etc). If they change the look of the product so that it blends with the town, make the lots a little bigger (they’ll lose $ as they won’t have as many homes to sell, etc) they could get it passed.And just because the neighbors are up in arms doesn’t mean the town couldn’t approve it. I work in RE development, we had a neighboring community come to a Plan Commission hearing and one man, and to give you an idea of what developers go up against, tell us “there are enough Black people around here, we don’t need more”. Four members of the Plan Commission were Black and the hearing was aired on the local gov’t cable tv public access channel. You would be amazed at the shit people say at these hearings. They seem to forget that before their house was there, or their business, or the mall where they shop, it was something else and the people who lived around it then were pissed off about THEM. They also said the prices of the new houses would hurt their homes’ value. Not knowing we had pulled property cards with appraised values on all their houses, and the new homes cost around $200,00 to start, which was more than some of theirs were valued. We got approved, and it’s a very lovely neighborhood, near an elementary school, diverse group of homeowners, worked out just fine. It was built on farm land that hadn’t been used in years so it was basically 40 acres of tall grass and weeds. Neighbors protest if you tell them you’re going to improve the area. It just goes with the territory.
thanks for perspective, I guess sometimes you get pulled into the hesitancy portrayed of housing projects in the media that I often associate all of them as poor housing alternatives, or that the developer has considered the actual people the houses would be serving, so thanks for checking me on that 🙂
Oh I just wanted to point out that usually developers have done their homework. We have so much to risk, the construction loan, putting in all the infrastructure, getting decent builders on board. (They’re the real a**holes sometimes, promising shit to sell a house that we never said we’d do). The City could demand they raise the number of affordable homes, change the architecture, ask for brick fronts instead of all siding, etc. Even if it’s zoned for residential there are still hoops that have to be jumped thru. The plat has to go thru a public hearing in most cases. They could vote against the tax abatement the developer may be getting.There’s nothing wrong with neighbors weighing in, that’s fair and we welcome it, to a point. We went up against the assistant director of planning in the county where we built a subdivision, he was kind of a “I don’t want to approve anything and then get in trouble” kind of guy. We had to learn to play his game. My dept head is very antagonistic and always thinks he knows everything. I knew how to kiss the guy’s ass and get stuff done. When we finished the project he told me “I hope I get to work with you guys again. You were great!” People don’t trust developers until we deliver.
“it sounds like he would be fine if the affordable housing took into consideration the area it’s being developed.”
Yes, that’s the constant refrain. It’s literally “Not In My BackYard.”
Yes, we want affordable housing but only if the affordable houses look exactly like the expensive-ass houses in town so that they “still feel part of the community,” which there’s no way you can build for an actually affordable price. And don’t get me wrong–his is for the benefit of the poor people! We don’t want them living in houses that make them look less rich than us! How embarrassing. Makes sense.
I more meant that sometimes the housing developments mostly serve everyone but the people moving in, and fails to provide any outreach for the new residents. But I totally missed the memo of what kind of community Yellow Springs is, so that’s my bad 🙂
I live in this area…Oberer (the developer) buys up land all over the place, throws up cookie cutter junk homes, and bounces to the next development. They are garbage developers who invest nothing into the area and don’t give a F about the people who actually live in the towns they buy up land in.Theres a good chance theres an Oberer PR person behind the national attention this is getting for retribution to Chappelle…but he was 1 of like 50 folks speaking out at several town halls.
is it possible that he isnt against affordable housing ?
If you’re totally for real no foolin’ for affordable housing but manage to find a problem with it (and only it, in a broader piece of planned development) when the topic comes up that amount to “aesthetics” or “vibe” then you’re actually against affordable housing.“I’m for cheap homes as long as they look like expensive homes” is some dumb rich-person boomer NIMBY bullshit.
“…they are against the poorly vetted, cookie-cutter, sprawl-style development deal which has little regard for the community, culture, and infrastructure of the Village.’’ isnt exactly the same thing as saying “im I’m for cheap homes as long as they look like expensive home’’
The positions here are between:
“poorly vetted cookie-cutter, sprawl-style development with little regard for the community, culture, and infrastructure of the village” but which at least has a mix of units including 2- and 3-bedroom townhouses and, in the future, 20-30 units of affordable housing to help break up the monotony and disregard,
vs.
“poorly vetted cookie-cutter, sprawl-style development with little regard for the community, culture, and infrastructure of the village” and also all the properties are based on identical 4- and 5- bedroom houses that start at $350k.If you want to argue those stakes, the plan with affordable housing included is less cookie-cutter, less sprawl, more adapted to a range of interests.
If you’re against all contemporary suburban development you should either move out of middle America or the suburbs or put up the money yourself because at the moment no town like that is going to give up adding $40M+ to their tax base.
The cookie-cutter sprawl-style development is happening either way. The only question was whether any of it was going to be set aside for poor people.
I mean…that’s just not true, haha.That’s just how the developer is having the media frame it, to get folks who don’t know how any of this works in a self-righteous fury on their behalf.Congrats!
This is literally the argument every NIMBY makes. “I’m not against affordable housing, just so long as it strictly adheres to what’s already there, thus making it unaffordable housing to all those that don’t already live here.”
I’d read the full article, haha.The residents are trying to tank the whole development…which only had 3 of the 143 units dedicated to “affordable housing” in the first place.
It is entirely possible, it’s just incredibly unlikely unless Chappelle has some sort of rapid onset cognitive disorder that is making him suddenly bad with words. Because the objection he raises in the video makes it sound entirely like his wishes should be obeyed because of the amount of money he spends in the town. He could have raised some sort of substantial objection here, but instead he only offers to speak privately with one of the council members. He might have already made his arguments in detail somewhere else (Though nothing particularly compelling has floated up online), but if so a speaker as skilled as he has shown himself to be in the past should know to reiterate his points at the podium, and not just make threats. So maybe he has dementia, but it looks a lot more likely that he’s just a huge fucking asshole.
i think this all probably falls into ‘old guy doesnt like seeing change’ particularly if its the town hes from. im not saying that makes it ok but i can understand the mentality, i am curious to know more about what lead to this and if he hasnt had other conversations with the developers and whatnot.Ive also never thought of Dave chapelle as a skilled speaker
Most of the better comedians are de facto great orators. Not specifically in the MLK or Churchill sense, but in that they have to know exactly how to place a word, and which word in particular. Writing a joke is its own skill, but being a comedian and commanding a room goes beyond that. For all his current faults, Chappelle was a master of his craft twenty years ago, and would not have achieved the success he did if he wasn’t specifically a brilliant speaker. Even his 8:46 special, while not particularly funny, was clearly performed by someone who knows exactly what word to say, at the exact right pitch and volume. I’ve watched some of his new stuff, and I don’t think it’s very funny at all. But the larger reason why some of his fans can’t see it, is because he still has that speaking presence, and even without good jokes, it has the same rhythm as his old funny material. In fact, that’s a basic problem that some people have with a lot of comedy these days, is that comics got better at presenting their jokes, and worse at actually writing them.It’s perfectly within reason to think that he’s old and doesn’t like new things, but I think that since his objection has explicitly ended the affordable housing segment of this project, the distinction is without difference. It’s very much of the “I’m not a Republican, I just only ever vote for Republican candidates” flavor of technicality.
The writer doesn’t do a good job of summarizing what actually happened, because it complicates the self-righteousness, haha.The developer submitted a proposal for 143 lots, 3 of which would be allocated to affordable housing.Chappelle opposed it. It didn’t go through.Now the developer plans to submit a new proposal, without the 3 units of affordable housing.Chappelle opposes that, too.
I would still call myself a fan of his comedy, he’s a legit great comedian, but yeah, the more recent trans stuff is a bit inexplicable to me. The first couple of specials it just came across to me as good natured ribbing, and it was a small bit, but it seems he got caught up in an argument and it became didactic and it was just too much. I didn’t, and still don’t, think he’s transphobic in any kind of hateful way, just a bit of a clueless older guy that doesn’t really get it, and admittedly, he’s not really trying to. I’m hoping he does get past it, and just moves on with his comedy.
no
$300,000 is not affordable? I am not trying to criticize or anything, but the average price for a single family home where I live is 1.2 million. My condo cost more. I’m in shock, is what I’m getting at. Wish I could move.
Sounds like Toronto….
Nope.
Yup…. Pretty much. Where I live in Toronto housing for single family homes starts at $1.3-$1.4 million now. It’s insane. $300k -900k sounds like a bargin to me
In many parts of the country, yes.
For real, as a SoCal resident, $300k for a house sounds like finding a magical leprechaun. The most humble options around me are $500k condos or houses going for $850k or more. And none of them are particularly nice.But yeah, markets vary and so does “affordable,” so I believe them. Median income is $33k annual there.
A $500K condo in Los Angeles in a fucking dump.
Come to Toronto…. Single family homes start at $1.2-$1.4 million now…$300k -900k is a steal unfir7
In most of the Midwest, $300k will buy you a pretty nice house to a very nice house.
Not in any of the metro areas. Here in the Twin Cities, housing prices are constantly breaking records. Huge supply vs. demand issue. People are paying cash, and tens of thousands over asking. Some are foregoing inspections.
I did say most, not all – and there is the caveat that the pandemic has made housing prices crazy in some areas. But there are still plenty of decent houses in Chicagoland for $300k and in less populated areas, that will go a lot farther.
In a small Ohio town, yes. $300K in my medium-sized city is kind of on the pricey side.
$300,000 is not affordable?In rural Ohio, no.
I love all the comments from people commenting from places like NYC or San Francisco, who don’t understand that prices are relative.
SO I live in NY and I’d KILL for a house at 300kAlso side note : there ARE houses for 300k in NY (and on LI where I live and which is super expensive). They’re just in areas kindly known as “the hood” where crime, drugs and what have you are pretty rampant. On the plus side you might get lucky and the area gentrifies in which case you’re in the money, you’re in the money…Also Nassau County is turning into Queens which is turning into Brooklyn which went from a super shithole to this gentrified (in spots) and super expensive area. So buy quickly!
i ran to jersey, i cant afford anywhere in ny id want to live-and im too old to move into a bad neighborhood and hope it gets better.
and of course you’d kill for a house for 300k-my point was that to someone in Dustbowl Ohio, or wherever this story takes place, thats probably a lot of money.
That first line was meant sarcastically and you’re right of course. Your cost of living and living wage is vastly different based on region. As an example if I make $140K in NY/LI, I’m doing okay. Not great, but not paycheck to paycheck unless I really live outside my means. Whereas if I moved to North Carolina like so many folks seem to and can keep that salary, I’m doing very well. Trick being how to keep your salary at that rate, which is why everyone who has a good pension/retirement at a steady rate flees NY it seems.Sorry about the New Jersey, of course. 🙂 That being said, did you only want to live in NYC/5 Boroughs? Cause then I get it.
You said all of this with no irony. That’s the amazing part.
The sad part is the first sentence is ironic in how many times I see fellow NYC and LI residents post that. Repeatedly. The second part is also sadly true because I live on LI which is pretty fucking red for a blue state and you better believe I live surrounded by NIMBY folks. And anti-Vaxx idiots. And folks who wish they could somehow enforce segmented areas based on creed and skin color.
Lay off
Lot to unpack there, bro. North shore sucks!
When I lived in California I met plenty of people who worked remotely, paid out the nose for housing, but the idea of moving to a more affordable part of the country was just unthinkable for them. There was this sense that everything was too expensive in California, but places that were cheaper weren’t California, which was worse.
I totally understand that you think $300k isn’t much for a home. It’s nothing where I currently live (Eugene, OR) right now either. It is, however, an absolutely ENORMOUS amount of money for a home in a little redneck town in Ohio that had 1 stoplight and 1 sheriff and 1 fire truck manned by volunteers who are mostly still in high school. Average family income in this town is probably <$45k.
I understand affordability differs by area. But the disparity is what I find shocking.
The median household income in Yellow Springs is around $60k/year, so yeah, a $300k house is going to be beyond the means of most people who live there. Housing in Ohio is cheap compared to many places in the country, but incomes can also be quite low.
In Ohio the current AVERAGE cost is $194,000. So no, $300k is not affordable.
Like it or not, part of that 1.2M pricetag is a recursive convenience fee for keeping people out – you know, the people that need affordable housing. Those people, by and large, don’t live in places like your town. Again: recursive. Closed loop. Circled wagons. Most of the benefits of segregation without having to feel like you have anything in common with David Duke.
Well its all relative. That place isnt Manhattan, it’s Buttfuck, Ohio, or wherever.
No it’s not affordable when most people who need affordable housing pay rent to live in an apartment.
1.2 million for a single family home is insane. If I’m paying that kinda money in the Chicago burbs I’m getting a McMansion. At least a couple years ago, pandemic housing market is has made things crazy
I just moved from Long Island to Upstate, NY and $300K would buy an incredible house with land. I just bought a big, 4 br on an acre of land for $200K. This same house would be in the upper 6 to low 7 figures on Long Island.
Real estate varies wildly. I live in Athens, GA and previously was in Indianapolis, IN. Neither of these cities is exactly buttfuckville, nor are they major cities; just a mid-sized college town and a fairly large but culturally insignificant (i.e. not trendy, not densely populated) state capital. In Indianapolis I lived in a modest 1400 sq ft ranch for 120,000. Here I live in a two-story, 1700 sq ft place which I got for 130,000—although with the recent real estate value spike, I could sell it today for about 100K more than that.All three numbers though are notably lower than 300,000, and by no means are these low-end houses for their respective cities. They are right in the meaty part of the curve. 300,000 in my neighborhood, today, would get you a lot of house. 500,000 would get you the one quasi-mansion on my block, the one with a wrought iron gate, its own access road, and a pretty sweet riverfront view. 1.2 million would get you one of a handful of ACTUAL mansions in this city.
Of course, to live and buy a home in a bigger, hipper city than these, you probably get paid more (maybe a lot more). Thankfully, salaries tend to be cost-of-living-sensitive. I hope yours is. But they probably also aren’t sensitive enough, considering your mortgage is likely to be 5x mine or more.
In Nashville $300K will get you a shack, but the issue is that it’s cheap compared to what other homes cost, but it’s still hell of expensive compared to the wages a lot of people make. You have to keep in mind how much wages have remained depressed compared to how much housing costs are on the rise, so it’s too bad you have to pay $1 million for your condo, but the fact is that you apparently can pay $1 million for your condo, which is more than someone people can ever even hope to dream of.
The typical home price in Ohio is around $182K.
In Ohio? That’s a lot of money.
A 1.2 million dollar single family home would get snapped up in an hour, and likely with a bid a few 100k over the asking price, in much of the SF Bay Area.
This is why discussions of “affordable housing” get so bogged down. The definition of “affordable” changes from place to place.
The thing about Yellow Springs, Ohio, is that it’s a very small town and not a huge city. So yes, $300k is a lot for a house there. You pay more to live in major cities. Come on everybody. This is not a groundbreaking piece of information.
This may shock and surprise you, possibly disgust you, but median incomes vary WILDLY from area to area. Also, people under the poverty line exist.
I mean for three hundred grand in most of the country you can buy a house and have enough money leftover to get yourself on an episode of HGTV. Always hilarious how blind people are to cost of living being as different as it can be state to state or even between counties.
Yah believe it or not socioeconomics, demographics, etc. differ from one geographical area to another…was your post supposed to be sarcastic or are you really that dense?
300,000$ for a house (or condo) in a place like rural Ohio is not the same as 300,000$ in a City
dave chappelle is just a normal guy who controls a small town like a supervillain.
Officially graduated to 80s Disney live action film villain.
He and Eric Trump can team up, the hero is a teenager and his dog.
Really the only way to resolve this dispute is a dance competition.
its wild to me that Dave is the supervillain here and not the developers. The developers are always the supervillain.
He may not be the Lone Locust of the Apocalypse, but I do think of him when I look to the night sky.
Chapelle is such a prosthetic penis.
Man he really has done a great job tanking his reputation. Fighting with trans people and poor people isn’t a great image!
Imagine how a poor trans person feels! I mean, financially disadvantaged, not “poor trans person…”
Honestly, we know he’s an asshole but it would not surprise me if he has good reason to oppose this beyond not wanting poor people in his backyard. Real estate is a super-shady and cutthroat business.
Imagine what kind of assholes he’s raising out there? His kids have to be fucking diiiiiiiiicks.
It’s a shame his audiences didn’t know what an egomaniac jerkoff he was all along, or how most of the sketches they still remember him by were written by talented writers he treated like garbage.
Im starting to wonder how much did he write Clayton Bixby.
Chappelle’s claim that the town council was trying to making him “audition” is the kind of smug peevishness that seems to characterize his personality these days. By “audition,” he meant that the town council did not automatically give him what he wanted, and instead treated him like he was one of many citizens of the town whose views they should listen to.
“Chappelle’s claim that the town council was trying to making him “audition” is the kind of smug peevishness that seems to characterize his personality these days”
It’s like when he made those high school kids go to an assembly so he could yell, “You don’t fucking know me!” at them.
It’s a different tone, but it reminds me of way back at the beginning of Betsy DeVos’s tenure, when a quote from a 1997 op ed she wrote surfaced: “My family is the largest single contributor of soft money to the national Republican Party. I have decided to stop taking offense at the suggestion that we are buying influence. Now I simply concede the point. They are right.” Quid pro quo is pretty much rampant everywhere anyway, but recently a lot more people seem to not even want to bother with the light theatrics of hiding it that they used to maintain. Dave maybe doesn’t even have any specific problem with the development. I mean, probably he doesn’t want poor people around him, or thinks it will ruin the vibe of his swanky club or whatever, but that’s not the root of the problem. It’s that he’s putting money into the town, and so they should do only what he wants.
I’m impressed he was able to make his little tirade/speech without sucking down a pack of Marlboros in between hits from his vape pen. Dude is destroying his voice with his nicotine addiction.
However, in a 2017 survey, Yellow Springs residents made it clear that housing in town was too expensive. So when Oberer Land Developers purchased a 52-acre plot of land for a housing development of “townhouses and duplexes in exchange for a park and a plot for affordable housing,” writes Slate. Starting a sentence with so for no good reason is bad enough, but at least finish it.
I see you shiver with antici
So what you’re saying is you don’t like it when.
They accidentally the whole thing!
Thank fuck! I read it half a dozen times trying to figure out if I was wrong!
You still read the articles?
Sometimes…not always…
I DON’T HAVE TO JUSTIFY MYSELF TO YOU, YELLOWFOOT!!!
You expect to hear this from wealthy, entitled assholes, so this tracks.
Hes become the OJ Simpson of comedians minus the murder part.
Maybe he’ll be cool if Billie Eilish apologizes to him.
The population of Yellow Springs is tiny as fuck, about 3700 people. It’s hard to believe that area needs 140+ brand new single family homes priced at a third of a million bucks and up.
I think they’re (rightfully) worried about becoming an exurb of Dayton. But I think they’re wrong to identify the “affordable” housing as the the problem. It’s the $300k+ houses that are going to gentrify the place and make it some Mangnolia homes shiplap modern farmhouse nightmare.
The author of the article is the only one identifying the “affordable” housing as the problem. The proposal is to build houses, condos and townhomes totaling 140 units with starting prices in the mid-$2ook’s. Then donate a 1.75 acre plot where they will build 20-30 “affordable housing” units. Mid-$200k’s in Yellow Springs, OH is not affordable. The town has 3,800 people and a median income of $30k. This is not a good deal for them.
…which is exactly why they’re trying to kill the whole development, haha.Only three of the 143 units were designated for affordable housing.
Joanna Gaines has a lot to answer for.
As a native Daytonian, my first thought was, “Wait, aren’t there, like, 12 people in Yellow Springs?” I seem to remember it being a nice enough little town, but not one ripe for development.
I would think that Dave’s presence there is what’s attracting more people to begin with.
Maybe, but if you’ve ever been to Yellow Springs, I would think it would take a lot more than a guy from Comedy Central living there to make me want to move out there. When I still lived in Dayton, Yellow Springs was pretty much farmland, some hippies, a tiny college, and an ice cream place that was perfectly fine but maybe not worth the 30-minute drive people insisted on making.
Nope, never been there, and it was just a guess on my part. I do think Dave is way more than just a guy from Comedy Central, it’s not like it’s Doug Stanhope or something (hey, I like him too, but Netflix isn’t offering him 60 million plus to do stand-up specials). I would say it’s somewhat comparable to Jon Stewart, they both transcended their basic cable roots.
Certainly true, and the Stanhope comparison is a fair one. I was just thinking about how starstruck you would have to be to move 30 minutes out of town (and Dayton ain’t one of those places where “30 minutes out of town” is more town) because you might see Dave Chappelle at the Kroger.
Oh man, I learned in my 20s that “ice cream you have to drive to another town to eat” is literally never better than the ice cream available nearby.
Everything is being developed now. Patchogue, Long Island was a complete shithole. The kind of shithole where you shouldn’t walk around at night, or the day, for that matter. I hadn’t been through there for a few years and drove through it last year. Holy shit! They developed the living fuck out one part of the town and were looking to do more. Little side roads were crammed with condos and speed bumps every 20 feet. It was ridiculously gentrified. The locals have tons of yard signs begging to stop the development. But that’s ok, it’s still a dangerous shithole on the other side of town.
It’s wild, man. I live in Woodbridge, Va, and the amount of half-million dollar McMansions built over the last two decades has been insane. It’s a running joke me and dude I work with always say to each other. It’s like, Where are these people coming from?
Housing is an investment!
Real estate values never go down!
You should take the absolute largest mortgage you can get so that your house will be the most competitive on the resale market!
We have learned nothing in the last fifteen years!
Yeah, we talk about a shortage of affordable housing when what we have is a spectacular glut of nonaffordable housing.
I live just north of you in Bristow. The single family houses in my neighborhood are going anywhere from high 500’s to almost 900K. Hell, I am getting close to be able to sell my townhouse for $500K. It is worse up here. Every house that sold in my neighborhood sold last spring/summer went for $15k to $30k over ask. Fucking nuts. It is not just cars, gas, and steaks going up in price.
Heh. They’re getting priced out of housing closer to DC. When we lived in Alexandria, the only way to get a home bigger than our little 2BR 1950s townhouse was to either be a LOT richer or to go out a lot further. Which we did, ending up on the other side of Richmond. But the worst part was we had to move because our property taxes went up enough to put us on the edge of payment issues.
Even harder to believe it needs a new restaurant and comedy club.
You’d think he was building a hospital the way he’s carrying on.
Yep. They voted down the plan that gave 3 affordable housing units, and next they’ll vote down the plan with 0 affordable housing units.
OK Gen-Xer. Simmer down old man.
Mighty white of him
The 2022 version of the race draft has seen a huge upset.
Fer’ shizzle!
He looks like a bloated sack of shit.
He’s a piece of shit for opposing this.But at the same time: “an additional 1.75 acres to be donated to the community for affordable housing to be built later” is a damn joke. That’s almost nothing.
It looks like the Dayton News link did not make it into the original post according to the flyer the councilperson distributed, the duplexes and townhomes would have started at $200k and the 1.75 acres would allow for 20 to 30 more affordable units. I’m guessing apartments, but I do not know.https://www.daytondailynews.com/local/video-yellow-springs-votes-no-on-housing-plan-after-chappelle-others-speak-up/WFSD7UXAYVECLOFCZPWU4IV4FE/
3 of the 143 units were going to be affordable housing, haha.They’re basically trying to build a Tarrytown in Hinesburg, for Burlington commuters (or Sturbridge for Worcester commuters, or Canandaigua, for Rochester commuters, or, or, or) then using the media to portray resident objections to the creation of a massive housing estate in a town of under 4,000 as opposition to “affordable housing.”
Hey, you can stack a lot of empty shipping containers and old boxcars on 1.75 acres!
What I haven’t been able to figure out since first hearing this story is how a restaurant in an old firehouse and a comedy club in a small college town is a $65m a year business. I’m guessing that Chappelle is counting his annual income as the business, not just the two commercial ventures and while that’s great for him, it doesn’t really benefit the town.
Yeah, it’s very much not. Also $65M is not even close to his annual income, it’s closer to his entire net worth (the internet says he’s worth about $50m).
Finally, I don’t even know that you can compare them that way. Local towns tend to get way more from property taxes than they do from sales tax.
Right, he referred to himself as a “$65M company,” so it would be like Microsoft opening a B&B and a coffee shop and Satya Nadella crowing that he’ll pull his $2 trillion company out of town if they let more gross poors live there.
I think it’s becoming clear that the guy is full of shit, and $65 million is a made-up number.
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“So when Oberer Land Developers purchased a 52-acre plot of land for a housing development of “townhouses and duplexes in exchange for a park and a plot for affordable housing,” writes Slate.”So when..what? Why lead with “so when” if you’re not gonna finish the thought? I never thought GHP would drive me away from The AV Club but with writing like this, I have no choice..
rich scum gonna NIMBY
To be fair, some of the developer’s ideas were a bit out there:
Fascists hatin again. Would have been good nazis back then.
The whole development deal, cloaked as an affordable housing plan, is anything but affordable. Three out of 143 lots would have been for ‘future’ affordable housing. The rest of the homes were to be priced between $250K and upwards of $600K. In Yellow Springs, and in many other places, that is not considered affordable housing. Instead, it’s an accelerant on the homogenization of Yellow Springs.”That’s the whole statement and the part where it says only 3 lots would be considered affordable is the key part. Why was that left out the post ?
$65 million for a restaurant and comedy club in a small town? Sounds like a stretch….is he even worth that altogether?
Any other time, the headline would be “Dave Chapelle Stands Up To Evil real Estate Company”. All the leftists are just still pissed at him over the TERF bullshit, and they’re gonna pounce on him no matter what.
Shut up, you’re wrong and stupid.
No, im right, and i dont have the SLIGHTEST doubt im smarter than you. Not that thats a huge accomplishment, or difficult at all. Perhaps you should take your own advice, and shut up.
“Any other time, the headline would be “Dave Chapelle Stands Up To Evil real Estate Company”.”
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA because Chappelle has shown that he’s here to help the little guy, right?
BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Holy shit, that’s fucking funny. You’re funny.
Nah, plenty of us are sick of all NIMBY bullshit, no matter who it comes from.
I see Chappelle has decided to just dynamite what’s left of his reputation.
What an asshole.
Translation: “MY PROPERTY VALUE WILL GO DOWN!”
Fuck Dave.
Isn’t it grand we live in a country where $300,000 is considered affordable.
One could say that this issue is far too nuanced and complex to immediately demonize Chappelle over, but since he is a transphobe he deserves whatever hate he gets for any possible reason.
Reports of this story are all over the damn place. Is he opposing the whole thing? Is he only opposing the less than 2 acres that would be set aside for affordable housing?
>Obviously, the way many communities plan and execute “affordable housing” is another conversation altogether—usually relying on lotteries to place residents or prices that are still outside the budgets of people who need places to live. It’s a flimsy bandaid for a gash that’s becoming more infected every day.This seems like an incredibly unnecessary aside. Is your solution a cap on rent? Because that has plenty of other problems.
Chappelle is getting surprisingly adept at playing a rich old White guy. He needs to run out and buy some Billy Joel albums.
I spent my teenage years living in Yellow Springs and graduated from high school there. I can say with a bit of confidence that the majority of the town would agree with Chappelle. Any sort of urban sprawl would be met with resistance. Its a pretty small town, hence why its referred to as a village. I remember urban sprawl protests when I was in HS in the 90s in regard to the sale of the Whitehall Farm. Its a quaint place and even the addition of these 143 family homes would make quite a difference. Growing up in the Dayton area its pretty shocking now to see how many farms and wooded areas have been bulldozed over to build tract housing more or less, especially along I-675. I don’t think its surprising at all the a small town, especially as unique as Yellow Springs, would want to avoid that and retain its sense of character.
I’m beginning to think this Chappelle guy is an asshole.
“I’m rich, bitch!” has taken on a new, sullen tone.
“By the sounds of things, he’ll still get that—but with much wealthier new neighbors.”Evidently the starting point on the “low-income” housing was mid-200s. For the single-family only plan it was mid-300s. S. If a single-family home starts at 350, then how is a duplex at 250 not a complete rip-off? That doesn’t seem especially affordable to me.
Oh the irony ….. Goes to show that when someone becomes wealthy…. Their outlook and opinions change about their surroundings and who they want to see around them. All of a sudden he doesn’t want affordable housing….. Around him…. LOL
Man, fuck NIMBYs