June 5, 2022

"To distinguish themselves from NIMBYs, the current generation of housing activists has adopted new 'back yard' variants (YIMBY, 'Yes in my backyard'; PHIMBY, 'Public housing in my backyard'; YIGBY, 'Yes in God’s backyard')..."

"... to declare how they are for things (everything, subsidized housing, building on church parking lots) that a NIMBY presumably is not.... [Governor Gavin Newsom said] 'NIMBYism is destroying the state.' .... Encoded in YIMBY ideology is a belief that the best thing to do with NIMBYs is discard them. But since the successes of one generation become the burdens of another, they should first understand them.... Susan Kirsch was partial to 'Small Is Beautiful,' which was published in 1973 by the economist E.F. Schumacher. The book cast doubt on a growth-at-all costs mentality.... 'Part of how it influences me is I think greater self-reliance and self-resiliency are qualities that keep a community or culture strong,' Ms. Kirsch said of the book. 'And the trends we have now, with being able to have efficacy in your own life, is part of what I think is being diminished.'... Environmental activists came to define themselves by what they could stop.... Marin County, a woodsy enclave that sits across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, enacted some of the strictest growth control measures in the country — proudly.... Today Marin County is the most segregated county in the Bay Area."

From "Twilight of the NIMBY/Suburban homeowners like Susan Kirsch are often blamed for worsening the nation’s housing crisis. That doesn’t mean she’s giving up her two-decade fight against 20 condos" by Conor Dougherty (NYT).

I didn't notice that the acronym "NIMBY" had come to refer not only to the attitude but to the person with that attitude.

But according to the OED, the usages go back to 1979 and 1980. The oldest example of NIMBY to refer to the person was in Forbes: "Home builders and city planners have a new name for an old enemy—the ‘Nimbys’..those who want no construction that might disturb the character and real estate value of their neighborhoods."

Disparaging those who want to preserve the aesthetics of their neighborhood is an old game. Notice how the homeowner's sensitivity is portrayed as insensitivity. These people lack empathy. They're part of the mechanism of systemic racism. 

ADDED: Here's the Wikipedia article for "Small Is Beautiful: A Study of Economics As If People Mattered." 

In the first chapter, "The Problem of Production", Schumacher argues that the modern economy is unsustainable.... Schumacher's philosophy is one of "enoughness", appreciating both human needs and limitations, and appropriate use of technology. It grew out of his study of village-based economics, which he later termed Buddhist economics, which is the subject of the book's fourth chapter.

Have you heard of "Buddhist economics"

The most fundamental feature of Buddhist Economics is seeing "people interdependent with one another and with Nature..." 

Sri Lankan economist Neville Karunatilake wrote that: "A Buddhist economic system has its foundations in the development of a co-operative and harmonious effort in group living. Selfishness and acquisitive pursuits have to be eliminated by developing man himself."...

Buddhist economics holds that truly rational decisions can only be made when we understand what creates irrationality. When people understand what constitutes desire, they realize that all the wealth in the world cannot satisfy it. When people understand the universality of fear, they become more compassionate to all beings. Thus, this spiritual approach to economics doesn't rely on theories and models, but on the essential forces of acumen, empathy, and restraint....

I will restrain myself from divining how that translates into mediating the dispute between condo-builders and the owners of aesthetically pleasing one-family homes.

52 comments:

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Hollywood first. Meryl Streep -super first.

Sebastian said...

"Notice how the homeowner's sensitivity is portrayed as insensitivity. These people lack empathy. They're part of the mechanism of systemic racism."

That's bad enough. But the sin of all sins is refusing to submit to prog rule, to the vision of the anointed. Hence the vilification by the prog propaganda apparatus.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Come on, Those giant walled Hollywood star mega-mansion compounds... perfect place to lean your tent up against.

RideSpaceMountain said...

A YIMBY is a NIMBY that, like a liberal, hasn't been mugged by reality yet.

I consider myself a rationalist NIMBY. My Y is contingent on a thoughtful explanation and consideration of the arguments against my N. Unlike our system of jurisprudence, projects, changes to my city's comprehensive plan, adjustments, rezonings, and PUDs are guilty until they prove themselves innocent (btw I sit on my city's planning & zoning commission).

What I dislike and what I think everyone dislikes, and what I think a lot of people confuse for NIMBYism, are CAVE (Citizens Against Virtually Everything) people. There is such a thing as a good high density project. Moreover as a planning & zoning commissioner I am obligated to follow the law and the city's comprehensive plan (comprehensive plans are the actual law on current and future land use, not the zoning map), and that means certain projects and uses are by default approved regardless of how many Citizens show up with pitchforks and torches...and there are many.

P.s I highly encourage anyone to become more involved with their community's land use commissions, oversight boards, boards of adjustment, or utility committees. It is an underappreciated and extremely important civic function that can make a huge difference in the shape, flavor, and future of the place you live. Moreover, P&Zs are almost always chronically dealing with vacancies and disfunction in most places because they're not the 'sexy' part of civic government. Don't be that person that complains about urban planning. Do something about it. Join your commission.

ConradBibby said...

This is a good example of how the left is either completely ignorant or completely dishonest about how the real world works. All other things held equal, a neighborhood that's adjacent to a low-income housing project will have lower property values than a neighborhood without. Labeling people as "NIMBYs" (or racists or whatever) for not wanting their real estate to decline in value is obviously unfair, because it's not just those people who don't want to live next to a low-income housing project; it's everyone. Trying to shame people into welcoming a public project that will easily cost them, individually, at least tens of thousands of dollars in home equity isn't going to work. But of course it fits in with the tried and true strategy of villainizing normal people who happen to stand in the way of leftist goals.

Yancey Ward said...

There are no YIMBYs, not really. What there are are ISEBYS "In Someone Else's Back Yard".

stlcdr said...

This is typically the result of the failed (sub)urban planners. But also, people are horrible.

1acre single family homes, should blend to smaller area singles, the possibly duplex and or condo complexes. But they often allow straight to apartment complexes which bring the denizens of scum and villainy.

But the planners ain’t doing much planning. Government (not) at work.

Spiros Pappas said...

Why not build affordable housing in impoverished areas?

Carol said...

The planning board decrees that all new developments must set aside significant acreage for open space. Everyone loves open space! So here's all this flat, unirrigated, buildable land growing weeds...when lots are becoming so dear.

Works for me! We're adjacent to two different common areas. Sucks to be looking for your first house right now though.

Planners' answer is that we should all be living in top of each other, in town. Wouldn't want to miss hearing your neighbors fighting or their four dogs barking.

That way we're not obstructing the planners' view from those cool homes they built out in the woods.

Milo Minderbinder said...

Housing activists just prefer vertical sprawl to horizontal sprawl. California's growth boundary regulation creates urban, highly-regulated development islands in which the prescient enjoy exponential growth in real estate values. If you want an education of how urban planners and housing activists have perpetuated inequity in housing just compare (as but one example) development regulations and per-square-foot housing values and rents in San Francisco or Los Angeles with Houston.

Leland said...

When people understand the universality of fear, they become more compassionate to all beings.

Does this mean, if I understand how people are fearful, then I can make others comply to all my wishes? Or does it mean, if I understand how people are fearful, I might feel more pity for them? Because I recognize that fear is being used to manipulate people, but I don't see that manipulation from a place of compassion or well meaning.

California, the state facing drought and a devastated economy that's removing dams and thus waters, because people didn't want them even in the back of their state.

gilbar said...

Marin County, a woodsy enclave that sits across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, enacted some of the strictest growth control measures in the country — proudly.... Today Marin County is the most segregated county in the Bay Area."

wasn't THIS, Always the point? Isn't NIMBY short for NNIMBY?

Temujin said...

I love that Gov. Gavin Newsom said that "'NIMBYism is destroying the state.". This from the man who owns 3 wineries in the very exclusive Napa Valley, 1 hotel in the very exclusive Lake Tahoe, a restaurant and retail store in Lake Tahoe, and 3 restaurants and a retail store in San Francisco.

I'm sure he'd love a low income apartment complex just outside of Odette Estate Winery. And he'd be the first to proclaim it's righteousness in being there. Sure. I don't know if it's an actual fact that Marin County is the most segregated county in America. I've spent a lot of time there. It has a huge Hispanic population and unless they don't count for diversity points in this exercise, Marin is not exclusively white. Yes, some towns in Marin are very White Liberal. And it's painful to listen to the conversations in restaurants or coffee shops of those towns. But there are also many towns in Marin that are a mix of many different peoples. It also happens to be among the most beautiful counties in America. Perhaps they're just interested in keeping it that way? Just a guess.

There is a fine line to constant growth vs keeping the nature and culture of your town or city intact. The reason you love it or the reason you moved there in the first place. Susan Kirsch is correct in stating that "'Part of how it influences me [Small is beautiful] is I think greater self-reliance and self-resiliency are qualities that keep a community or culture strong,'". I agree with her.

That said, the concept of keeping it self-reliant and keeping it local seems to cross into the desires of many on both the left and the right. But the idea of self-reliant diverges when it comes to food or politics. It seems that the Left- the screaming, media Left is constantly droning on for National rule on everything. Not local. They want their meat, fish, and vegetables to be local, but all rules and edicts to come from on high- from Washington. Not local. They don't trust their neighbors with having a say. The Right in the meantime, don't seem to care much where their meat, fish, and vegetables come from, as long as they have the choice to determine that for themselves and not that, or anything else from some National ruling.

gilbar said...

When people understand what constitutes desire, they realize that all the wealth in the world cannot satisfy it.

spoken like someone, with a LOT more money than i do. I'm re-rewatching HBO's "the gilded age", and just heard this dialog:
Rich Old NYer; "Money isn't Everything!"
Young Blondie; "It IS, when you haven't got it."

I have No Desires, for 'all the wealth in the world'
I just want more than i have now.

ps i've BEEN to Marin county. There are a LOT a shacks and shanties there; Shacks and shanties worth MILLIONS

Mikey NTH said...

This sounds like one of those articles that is trying to start a trend rather than report on a real trend. NIMBY isn't going anywhere in my opinion.

Lurker21 said...

the successes of one generation become the burdens of another

Good observation that ought to considered by people who think that going back to Roosevelt or Reagan is the answer today.

Marin County, a woodsy enclave that sits across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, enacted some of the strictest growth control measures in the country — proudly.... Today Marin County is the most segregated county in the Bay Area.

That explains why they are so passionately Democrat. They can't face the fact that they are the people who according to their own mindset would be the enemy.

Roger Sweeny said...

Too many people deny trade-offs. If you don't want to "disturb the character" of neighborhoods but also want to make it hard to build elsewhere (to "preserve open space", etc.), you are inevitably making housing more expensive and less convenient than it would otherwise be. Too many people pretend otherwise.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Here to staff it... https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/06/buried_news_customs_and_border_protection_ordered_to_recruit_single_moms_as_asylum_seekers__in_mexico.html

Michael said...

Housing activists are renters

JAORE said...

BANANA
Build absolutely nothing anywhere near anything.

Used to deal with them in my past (working) life.

Don't miss it.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Worst offender is the California Coastal Commission, the nimbiest of the NIMBY type, which vetoes every improvement needed along our coast, but only after long costly delays to any entity unlucky enough to “come under review” of the CCC. Israel gets over 50% of their drinking water from seaside desalination plants. We can’t even get one built in SoCal.

wendybar said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
wendybar said...

It's like the Kennedy's in Cape Cod when they protested the very Wind turbines they are forcing on everybody else. NOT IN THEIR BACK YARD though. https://www.danspapers.com/2019/09/kennedys-used-their-power-to-kill-wind-farm/

Skeptical Voter said...

I'll give you a case of extreme NIMBYism. It's called BANANA. Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything. It's what happens when NIMBYs put the pedal to the metal. And I've seen it in some parts of Southern California.

Some of it is done with the absolute best of intentions with people who signal "Damn the consequences, full speed ahead". Right now lots of communities in California have banned the future installation of any new natural gas connections. No stoves, no furnaces, no hot water--if the sun don't shine on all those solar panel, and the wind don't blow on the windmills. Eat your cold rations, put on a sweater and freeze in the shower.

ga6 said...

Say "activists" who never experienced Cabrini-Green, Lathrop Homes first hand.

Joe Smith said...

And all of this YIMBYism using the power of the state and public money.

Joe Smith said...

I've all for Section 8 housing, but let's start in Atherton, Beverly Hills, Martha's Vineyard, and Pacific Heights.

Fred Drinkwater said...

This is an issue right now because CA is going through another cycle of its statutory mandated affordable housing planning. Every city has quotas, and in this cycle the state is making heavy threats against uncompliant cites.
Of course, we're also having mandatory water rationing, unplanned power outages during winter storms, PLANNED outages during windy summers because of fire threat, and no doubt, another bad fire season.
Oh I forgot, no more gas connections for new construction in many places including San Jose, and shutting down our only nuke plant. Cuz importing electricity from other states is totes gonna work forever and is So Green.
But yeah, Come On In! It's The Golden State!

n.n said...

"but I'm progressive" was heard brayed in the distance.

n.n said...

Politicians do it... Democrats do it... Businesses do it... away from their homes or under armed guard. High density population centers for democratic leverage and capital profits is a form of labor and environmental arbitrage that underlies the Green revolution, sexual revolution, immigration reform, world war Springs, and wicked solution, too. The new-old-progressive religion with liberal harmonics.

Rory said...

"Susan Kirsch was partial to 'Small Is Beautiful,' which was published in 1973 by the economist E.F. Schumacher. The book cast doubt on a growth-at-all costs mentality...."

Always, the basic question is "What would the Soviet Union have wanted us to do at that time?"

Butkus51 said...

So when reading the NYT, what is the big clue as to which articles are complete fiction and those that arent?

Amadeus 48 said...

The most self-satisfied person I know lives in Marin County. He is VERY pleased with himself and with the life he lives there. Would you like to hear about his Tesla? He was an early adopter.

tim maguire said...

Yancey Ward said...There are no YIMBYs, not really. What there are are ISEBYS "In Someone Else's Back Yard".

YIMBY is just another cudgel activists will use to shame and pressure people who don’t want their community devalued by bringing in violent or otherwise incompatible elements. Here’s how it will go: “we did our part, now you do yours.” Except we decide what our part is AND we decide what your part is.

YIMBY is just NIMBY with better marketing.

Rabel said...

I've always understood the acronym to emphasize the hypocrisy in those who did not want "the thing" built in their "backyard" but were supporters of building "the thing" in general, just not in their "backyard."

Rusty said...

Brawndo! It's what plants crave!!!

Michael K said...

Buddhist economics holds that truly rational decisions can only be made when we understand what creates irrationality. When people understand what constitutes desire, they realize that all the wealth in the world cannot satisfy it.

I wonder if "Buddhist economics" includes dispensing with fertilizer and going all "organic?" Sri Lanka is about to find out of starvation is included in "Buddhist economics."

John henry said...

George Lucas tried to do low income housing in Marin County 5-6 years ago.

How'd that work out?

(hint: not well)

John LGKTQ Henry

Richard Aubrey said...

I like HAYBY. How About Your Back Yard.

It is important to pay attention to the zoning commission/landuse type of entities in your location.

Ours, so strict that contractors sometimes refuse to work here, busted its own rules for a huge medical development. Citizen objections went whizzing overhead(s).

Then, when they wanted a ballot to give themselves more flexibility to give themselves more flexibility, we defeated it grassroots wise although outspent 35-1.

When a goodly proportion of such folks are in the real estate business, it's worse.

cubanbob said...

Public housing should always and only be built in the most expensive neighborhoods. Living next to the very and super wealthy should impart the cultural values the poor need to stop being poor.

loudogblog said...

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...
"Worst offender is the California Coastal Commission, the nimbiest of the NIMBY type, which vetoes every improvement needed along our coast, but only after long costly delays to any entity unlucky enough to “come under review” of the CCC. Israel gets over 50% of their drinking water from seaside desalination plants. We can’t even get one built in SoCal."

Agreed. We have the worst drought in about 1500 years and the CCC torpedoed that desalination plant that Huntington Beach wanted to build. (Huntington Beach is not pristine, undeveloped beach areas. It's a major tourist attraction and it was very heavily developed before the CCC existed. A century ago, it used to be famous for oil wells as far as the eye could see. Just look it up on Google maps; you'll see.)

Plus, I read that Northern California is currently embarking on the largest dam destruction project in American history because the environmentalists want to "undo" the environmental damage that the dams did. And some of those dams are also hydroelectric power generators. Given the extreme drought and the rolling blackouts, this is madness.

Luckily, I don't live in a NIMBY area in Southern California. If I did, they might object to my 29 solar panels on my roof that generate about 70 MWh of clean electricity every sunny day.

Somewhere in WI said...

From a governmental standpoint , maybe a more left standpoint, could putting more citizens in rental units be a long term goal? First , it gets rid of individual pesky property rights landowners and puts the property in the hands of a few elite (read rich) people. Second if all the property is owned by a few rather than the many, the government can either be “bought” i.e leave us alone to abuse our tenants like in a big collage town. Or the government can use the power of the electorate to make it easier raise property taxes i.e. stick it to those evil landlords make them pay their fair share. So governing becomes easier it just depends on witch way the governing board wants to go.

Somewhere

PM said...

The Mill Valley 'situation' is across from a public park and soccer fields. The proposal is for 25 condos ranging from 800 sq ft to 2000 sq ft. Only six are subsidized housed. You can guess which ones those are. Sounds like a better deal for the developer than the neighbors.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Never met a YIMBY, have met a lot of YIYBYs*, though.



*YIYBY = Yes, In YOUR Yard.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Spiros Pappas said...

Why not build affordable housing in impoverished areas?

That would completely ruin the plan's real intention; build affordable housing in affluent areas and make it all Section 8 housing, thereby increasing the number of impoverished areas.

Also, NIMBY. If you're of the correct political persuasion.

John henry said...

Another reason I like homeowners associations.

America's most democratic institution.

Voluntary membership (don't buy a house if you don't like the rules)

Governance is very local by owners who have a direct personal interest

Frequent elections to the board (annual)

John LGKTQ Henry

n.n said...

build affordable housing in affluent areas and make it all Section 8 housing, thereby increasing the number of impoverished areas.

Also, redistributive change and democratic leverage, taxation and representation, respectively. America is neither a democracy nor a dictatorship with well established precedents.

Rollo said...

Waiting for HBIMBY to become a California thing. Homeless Bums In My Back Yard, please.

Yes I know, the homeless have their own troubles, but there's no point in attracting and encouraging them.

Bunkypotatohead said...

"When people understand the universality of fear, they become more compassionate to all beings."

When the new gov't funded neighbor threatens to bust a cap in my ass, I don't get compassionate. I get a realtor.
White flight never ends. Your great grandchildren will be fleeing to Mars. Hopefully Elon will leave the diversity here on earth when he starts his new colony.

realestateacct said...

Thank you for your service, RideSpaceMountain. My mother acted as attorney to a number of town and village zoning boards and participation was a true service to the community.

realestateacct said...

Actually a lot of Yimbys are people who want to put an accessory apartment in their house or a cottage in their backyard to get an income stream to pay their taxes and insurance in retirement. Some localities on Long Island have made changes to accomodate this - usually with restrictions requiring continued residence in the home.

Stephen St. Onge said...

        Something in the human soul revolts at science, which seeks to understand how the world works without judging it or attempting to change it.  Economics is a science, while “Small is beautiful,” and “Buddhist Economics” are lectures on morality.

        The human soul also revolts at honesty.  In this case, what can’t be said is: a lot of the “disadvantaged victims of systemic racism/‘the patriarchy’/capitalism/whatever want to live in places like the bad parts of Chicago, Detroit, L.A., and NYC.