Posts Tagged ‘NIMBY’
NIMBY, I Hardly Knew Ye
Last week I stepped back in time a bit to revisit the idea of NIMBYs (Not In My Back Yard opponents to development) and consider anew whether their tenacious aversions earn them the lauding of heroes or the disdain we reserve for villains and scoundrels. As I said then, in many cases, NIMBYs have kept…
Read MoreNIMBY Nation: Mad as hell and I don’t blame ‘em. For now.
Five years ago I felt like NIMBY activism was at a crossroads. Would it flame out, further becoming a cartoon of a once valid endeavor, or would it find its footing as torchbearers of meaningful collaboration towards community change? Those thoughts are republished below. Next week I’ll follow them up with a look at where…
Read MoreMunicipal Placemaking Mistakes 03: The importance of a meaningful vision
In our last post in this series, we covered the three steps of placemaking. The first of these steps, crafting a meaningful vision, is the most straightforward, yet it is also the most underleveraged. It is underleveraged because communities do not understand its political implications. As a result they do not adequately invest in getting…
Read MoreFair Trade Placemaking: Are you being compensated for your choices?
Over a decade ago Andrés Duany of DPZ taught me that, more times than not, NIMBY opposition stems from a sense that proposed development is not of equal or greater value to what would be lost. Tony Nelessen, the inventor of the Visual Preference Survey, confirmed this lesson a few years later when he came…
Read MoreYIMSEO: Yes In My Sphere of Emotional Ownership
Last year about this time I wrote on the subject of NIMBYs and laid out a challenge to the NIMBY nation. It’s time to stop talking about what you don’t want, I said, and start talking about what you do want. In short, it’s time to develop the criteria under which a Not-In-My-Back-Yarder will say…
Read MoreNIMBY Nation: Mad as hell and I don’t blame ‘em. For now.
You know, I gotta give NIMBYs their due. In many instances, their tireless efforts have kept the world from becoming a worse place, and that’s no small feat. But, sadly, it’s not their only accomplishment. They’ve also kept the world from becoming a better place. Welcome to the problem with NIMBYs. Their reactionary nature can’t…
Read MoreGettin’ Paid: Placemaking and the Importance of Compensation
Over a decade ago Andres Duany of DPZ taught me that, more times than not, NIMBY opposition stems from a sense that proposed development is not of equal or greater value to what would be lost. Tony Nelessen, the inventor of the Visual Preference Survey, confirmed this lesson a few years later when he came…
Read MoreWrestling with Jane, Robert and Andrés
Recently, I have been intrigued by newly emerging books and articles critical of Jane Jacobs’ legacy on our built environment. Fifty years ago, she was the community activist who ‘saved’ New York city’s Greenwich Village and went on to become the post-modern icon to inspire citizens and urbanist to this day. She was ranked first…
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