Los Angeles voters will decide whether high-density developments should be harder to build

The Los Angeles City Council voted recently to let voters decide whether large, high-density developments should be harder to build.  

City residents will have their say on the Neighborhood Integrity Initiative on March 7. The measure would put a two-year ban on zoning changes necessary for many large-scale construction projects to advance.

Opponents call the question a blatant expression of NIMBYism that would worsen the city's affordable housing shortage. Advocates counter that the initiative would keep developers from calling the shots at City Hall, and prevent the traffic snarls and lower quality of city services that they say often come with giant projects.

Some opponents have also cited a fear of gentrification in opposing some recent large mixed-use proposals in the city.