A 6-acre housing development in the Twin Cities suburb of Mahtomedi exemplifies the battle being waged over the metro area's last pockets of open space.
"Over the years, land owned by Paul Montgomery served as a wildlife corridor and natural buffer between Montgomery and his neighbors, many of whom live on small lots on dead-end streets that were developed in the 1950s and thereafter. Neighbors respected Montgomery's privacy and stayed off the land, even as they enjoyed the peace, solitude and natural beauty of the open space. Today, Montgomery is retired and the time has come to sell the woods...Now, neighbors grumble about not the development of the site, but the way the development process is progressing. So go the battles in the metro; the claims of "NIMBY"-ism versus the maintenance of "privacy and solitude."
Thanks to Ryan Dunn
Read the full story: Builders face off with Mahtomedi residents over in-fill
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Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
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University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
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