7 ms·

Everyone is a NIMBY in their own way, it's just a difference of how much annoyance you are willing to tolerate. Most people wouldn't want a noisy factory or a s

Everyone is a NIMBY in their own way, it's just a difference of how much annoyance you are willing to tolerate. Most people wouldn't want a noisy factory or a smelly dairy next door, for example, but those things have to be somewhere. Now imagine you spent a lot of money to get a house with a nice view. Suddenly Larry Ellison decides to build a skyscraper next door, which blocks the sun on your property every day. You can't even grow flowers anymore because there's not enough sun. Some of your trees die. Are you happy? Now imagine you spent a lot of money for your house. A housing company proposes changes to the neighborhood that will reduce the value of your house by 20%. In other words, you will be working and paying for years on a portion of your house that no longer has value. Are you happy? Well, maybe you can handle it because you're rich. So these are the kinds of things that go through the minds of NIMBYs.

manachar 10y ago
Funny you mention Ellison. That's pretty much what he's doing on Lānaʻi, though less the giant skyscraper and more the idea of remaking the island for his own purposes.
- ktRolster 10y ago
  Yeah, it (more or less) happened to him actually: http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303654804576343763766328484 http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB100014240527023036548045763437...
  - michael_h 10y ago
    How strange is it to be Larry Ellison? Actually, all parties in that dispute are weird. Dude expects the world to freeze around him (who knew that redwoods would grow), so he offers to double the landowner's investment, giving them an $8 million dollar profit...and they don't accept. Know what I'd do with $8 million dollars in real estate profit? Retire immediately.
    - ethbro 10y ago
      > so he offers to double the landowner's investment, giving them an $8 million dollar profit...and they don't accept. Being able to tell Larry Ellison to &#%@ off? Some things are priceless.
  - backtoyoujim 10y ago
    "You know, I don't do things like that. I'm a public figure." Jesus what a self-important thing to say while not outright denying it.
eli_gottlieb 10y ago
>Now imagine you spent a lot of money to get a house with a nice view. Suddenly Larry Ellison decides to build a skyscraper next door, which blocks the sun on your property every day. You can't even grow flowers anymore because there's not enough sun. Some of your trees die. Are you happy? I have trees now!? Flowers? Luxury! My current apartment doesn't get enough sun to grow plants that need sun. And we pay $2200/month for a two-bedroom apartment here.
- sk5t 10y ago
  You're arguing the hypothetical...
  - eli_gottlieb 10y ago
    No, I'm pointing out that the hypotheticals used to make NIMBY sound sensible apply very, very rarely, and also presume that the supposed beneficiaries of NIMBY have a higher initial, pre-urban-density standard of living than we actually do.
    - MaulingMonkey 10y ago
      So you live next to a noisy factory and a smelly dairy farm too?
    - ktRolster 10y ago
      I think you need to read the third paragraph, which is the more common case (although the other two paragraphs were based on real-life experience, too).
      - eli_gottlieb 10y ago
        Housing is supposed to be a durable good, not an investment asset.
        ktRolster 10y ago
kw71 10y ago
> Everyone is a NIMBY in their own way It certainly seems that many people want to be the last person to move into their neighborhood/area.
ezoe 10y ago
That's not NIMBY. In that case, my right of light is violated by a neighbor.
- Crespyl 10y ago
  We must pass a noble law...
hx87 10y ago
> Are you happy? Well, maybe you can handle it because you're rich. I'm happy, because for me housing is consumption, not an investment.
- cema 10y ago
  I think it would mean that either you rent (but someone else is still an owner and has to deal with the situation) or you don't care much about the property value (which means, in other words, you are rich).
  - hx87 10y ago
    > which means, in other words, you are rich Or it means I'm not planning to sell for a very very long time and thus appreciate the tax break a lower appraisal gives me. The same logic applies if I am a landlord--as long as the rent and thus cash flow stays the same, I don't particularly care about what some appraiser says the property is worth. Anyways, it seems to me that restrictions on construction are a lazy owner's way to maintain property values. After all, there is no better way to add value to and capture the revenue from my house than to add another 2 stories to it and rent it out. I do own the land underneath it, after all.

manachar 10y ago

Funny you mention Ellison. That's pretty much what he's doing on Lānaʻi, though less the giant skyscraper and more the idea of remaking the island for his own purposes.

ktRolster 10y ago
Yeah, it (more or less) happened to him actually: http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303654804576343763766328484 http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB100014240527023036548045763437...
- michael_h 10y ago
  How strange is it to be Larry Ellison? Actually, all parties in that dispute are weird. Dude expects the world to freeze around him (who knew that redwoods would grow), so he offers to double the landowner's investment, giving them an $8 million dollar profit...and they don't accept. Know what I'd do with $8 million dollars in real estate profit? Retire immediately.
  - ethbro 10y ago
    > so he offers to double the landowner's investment, giving them an $8 million dollar profit...and they don't accept. Being able to tell Larry Ellison to &#%@ off? Some things are priceless.
- backtoyoujim 10y ago
  "You know, I don't do things like that. I'm a public figure." Jesus what a self-important thing to say while not outright denying it.

eli_gottlieb 10y ago

>Now imagine you spent a lot of money to get a house with a nice view. Suddenly Larry Ellison decides to build a skyscraper next door, which blocks the sun on your property every day. You can't even grow flowers anymore because there's not enough sun. Some of your trees die. Are you happy? I have trees now!? Flowers? Luxury! My current apartment doesn't get enough sun to grow plants that need sun. And we pay $2200/month for a two-bedroom apartment here.

sk5t 10y ago
You're arguing the hypothetical...
- eli_gottlieb 10y ago
  No, I'm pointing out that the hypotheticals used to make NIMBY sound sensible apply very, very rarely, and also presume that the supposed beneficiaries of NIMBY have a higher initial, pre-urban-density standard of living than we actually do.
  - MaulingMonkey 10y ago
    So you live next to a noisy factory and a smelly dairy farm too?
  - ktRolster 10y ago
    I think you need to read the third paragraph, which is the more common case (although the other two paragraphs were based on real-life experience, too).
    - eli_gottlieb 10y ago
      Housing is supposed to be a durable good, not an investment asset.
      - ktRolster 10y ago

kw71 10y ago

> Everyone is a NIMBY in their own way It certainly seems that many people want to be the last person to move into their neighborhood/area.

ezoe 10y ago

That's not NIMBY. In that case, my right of light is violated by a neighbor.

Crespyl 10y ago
We must pass a noble law...

hx87 10y ago

> Are you happy? Well, maybe you can handle it because you're rich. I'm happy, because for me housing is consumption, not an investment.

cema 10y ago
I think it would mean that either you rent (but someone else is still an owner and has to deal with the situation) or you don't care much about the property value (which means, in other words, you are rich).
- hx87 10y ago
  > which means, in other words, you are rich Or it means I'm not planning to sell for a very very long time and thus appreciate the tax break a lower appraisal gives me. The same logic applies if I am a landlord--as long as the rent and thus cash flow stays the same, I don't particularly care about what some appraiser says the property is worth. Anyways, it seems to me that restrictions on construction are a lazy owner's way to maintain property values. After all, there is no better way to add value to and capture the revenue from my house than to add another 2 stories to it and rent it out. I do own the land underneath it, after all.