SYDNEY ¨C Sharath Mahendran, a 21-year-old student in Sydney, sees little hope he could ever afford a home like his parents did in the 1990s ¡ª a free-standing house on a quarter-acre (1,000 square meter) block ¡ª in today¡¯s Australia.
¡°Now someone like me would need a lot of help from my parents and then it would still take more than 10 years to save from a decent job. And even with those savings, I probably wouldn¡¯t be able to live where I want to live. I¡¯d live really far out.¡±
Mahendran has joined the Sydney YIMBY (Yes In My Backyard) group, a fledgling grassroots movement seeking higher density housing in opposition to those branded NIMBYs (Not In My Backyard) that fight new and large developments, particularly in gentrified inner-city areas.
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