NIMBYism

Harvard Professor Naomi Oreskes' recently issued a plea to "stop hating on NIMBYs." But the righteousness of NIMBYism, or the "hatred" thereof, depends, in large part, on whether opposition takes place in an urban or rural setting.

November 10, 2014 - California Planning & Development Report

Harvard University professor Naomi Oreskes writes a defense of NIMBYism, asking that we rethink he use of the term by considering the community-protecting motives of many NIMBYs.

October 25, 2014 - The Washington Post

A look at how the previous approval of the Hines Bergamont Transit Village project was rescinded after pressure from community activists, by real estate developer and consultant Michael Russell.

June 15, 2014 - UrbDeZine

Liam Dillon tells the story of Cory Briggs, a notorious lawyer in Southern California famous for opposing projects under the auspices of the California Environmental Quality Act.

June 13, 2014 - Voice of San Diego

The market forces that push developers and landowners to build “more” and “bigger” have cropped up in some of the swankiest neighborhoods in Portland. So far, neighbors who oppose the projects are finding scant legal recourse to prevent the changes.

March 13, 2014 - The Oregonian

Senior citizen apartment complexes, a gas station, and 17 emergency communication towers are among the latest targets of staunch neighborhood opposition in the St. Louis area. What is the line between reasonable objections and "BANANAS" opposition?

August 4, 2013 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

A controversial affordable housing project proposed for Somerville, Mass. diffused community opposition by coordinating with the for-profit developer of an adjacent parcel. Could the partnership provide a template for moderating NIMBYism?

July 10, 2013 - Rooflines

For the last 30 years, China has led the world in economic growth at a hefty environmental price. Widespread protests have prompted the cabinet of China to mandate a "social risk assessment" for industrial projects, reports Keith Bradsher.

November 16, 2012 - The New York Times

Alex Steffen, a "leading voice in planetary futurism," muses on what he believes could be a way to move beyond NIMBYism and incremental urban planning, to provide an antidote to fundamentally broken city governance.

October 2, 2012 - Planetary Thinking

With cities such as Vancouver struggling with housing affordability, limited developable land, and residents resistant to change, Bob Ransford suggests we need open and honest debate about density and the big picture of development.

September 21, 2012 - The Vancouver Sun

Matt Bevilacqua talks shop with Emily Talen, whose new book explores the way land use regulation has shaped American cities and how it's all about to change.

July 5, 2012 - Next American City

Will Doig reflects on the scourge of public micromanagement that has "essentially become an official part of the urban planning process in many cities," and explores the psychology behind anti-development activism.

May 29, 2012 - Salon.com

In For A New Liberty, libertarian intellectual Murray Rothbard writes that leftist intellectuals had raised a variety of complaints against capitalism, and that "each of those complaints has been contradictory to one or more of their predecessors.”  In the 1930s, leftists argued that capitalism was prone to ‘eternal stagnation”, while in the 1960s, they argued that capitalist economies had “grown too much” causing “excessive affluence” and exhaustion of the world’s resources.  And so on.

March 7, 2012 - Michael Lewyn

Dennis Hincamp says Logan, Utah, where he lives, has an identity crisis when it comes to development, swinging wildly between pro-growth to NIMBY. He sees this as indicative of the relative youth of many cities in the American West.

July 5, 2011 - The Salt Lake Tribune

When it comes to Jane Jacobs, planners pick and choose what they find useful, says Roberta Brandes Gratz, missing Jacobs central argument for grass-roots, bottom-up planning. Gratz reviews a new book "Reconsidering Jane Jacobs."

April 25, 2011 - Roberta Brandes Gratz

Triple Canopy interviews architectural historian Kazys Varnelis about the importance of city data, the difficulty of building new infrastructure and how best to react to a stiflingly complex society.

January 1, 2010 - Triple Canopy

Environmentalists in Berkeley and Oakland are realizing that the inner-city development they protested in the past is actually more eco-friendly than the alternative.

July 6, 2009 - East Bay Express

Citizens in Weston, Massachusetts, one of America's toniest suburbs, continue to block a local college's effort to build senior housing, raise its endowment and provide scholarships for low-income students.

August 4, 2008 - The Boston Globe

Next American City nails NIMBYs for their vacation choices.

July 26, 2008 - The Next American City

Tyson's Corner, an auto-oriented suburb of Washington, D.C., reveals ambitious plans to become a dense, urban community. Officials are bracing themselves for tough opposition from locals. The Washington Post story includes a video report.

May 29, 2008 - The Washington Post