Star tech investor Marc Andreessen wants America to build again—just not housing in his backyard

Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, cofounder of Andreessen Horowitz, has become a prominent advocate of YIMBY, or "yes in my backyard," housing policy. In an essay he wrote in 2020, he argued that the things America builds in large quantities, such as computers and TVs, fall in price, while things it does not build, such as housing, schools and hospitals, rise in price. He called for breaking the escalating price curves for housing, education and health care so that every American could realize the American dream, and said "the problem is desire," adding that "we need to *want* these things." He also expressed frustration with urban architecture, asking, "We should have gleaming skyscrapers and spectacular living environments in all our best cities... where are they?"

According to reporting by The Atlantic's Jerusalem Demsas, reviewed by Fortune, Andreessen's personal position in his own community differs from his public stance. Andreessen lives in Atherton, California, which Property Shark data showed has been the most expensive zip code in the U.S. for five consecutive years, and which topped Bloomberg's Riches Places annual index for four years until 2020. In June, Andreessen and his wife, Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen, signed an email to the town objecting to multifamily overlay zones proposed for Atherton's Housing Element. The letter stated, "I am writing this letter to communicate our IMMENSE objection to the creation of multifamily overlay zones in Atherton," and warned that the zones would "MASSIVELY decrease our home values" and increase noise and traffic. The comment was published on July 14 by Atherton's planning department, which reported that nearly all comments it received opposed the overlay zones.

The episode highlights broader pressures in the Bay Area, where, according to the reporting, pro-housing city council candidates have dropped out of races because they cannot afford to live locally, and Atherton has struggled to staff its fire and police departments because civil servants cannot afford housing and are deterred by long commutes. Andreessen did not respond to requests for comment from The Atlantic or Fortune.