4 ms·

"not in my backyard" is exactly what you describe- the stereotypical liberal response of "yes, we should build affordable housing, but not HERE, where I live- p

"not in my backyard" is exactly what you describe- the stereotypical liberal response of "yes, we should build affordable housing, but not HERE, where I live- put it somewhere else, where I'm not affected by them- can you imagine all the crime that the Poors would bring to such a nice area". in other words, virtue-signalling about vague, general principles of increased development...buuut when that development actually impacts them, well! That particular project is just flawed for various reasons. The general idea is good! But it won't work here. It's the equivalent of the boss who totally supports unions but, you know, a union just wouldn't be right for our particular company culture. So, yeah, "yes in your backyard" is just the original definition of a NIMBY.

davidw 7y ago
This is an issue that actually doesn't align very well on the liberal/conservative spectrum. Most of the YIMBY folks I've met tend towards the liberal end of things, but there are also "market urbanism" groups out there that are fairly libertarian. I've had great conversations with local politicians of all stripes. There are both liberals and conservatives who are very NIMBY. In other words, it's not a very useful way to look at the issue in my opinion.
- XMPPwocky 7y ago
  Just to clarify- I very much do not mean "liberal" as "the opposite of conservative", here. Trying to map the high-dimensional "vector space" of political views onto a 1D line is very, very lossy, and definitely not useful outside of the very narrow context of general elections in a two-party system.
- krtong 7y ago
  Thank you. I'm so tired of reddit's influence on this discussion and this tireless effort to frame this discussion as nimby vs yimby, nimby being a pejorative term for local while yimby is a self-aggrandizing term for transplant who wished they had more purchasing power, and is social-media-savvy enough to realize if they want something they better make it sound like an existential crisis.
irq11 7y ago
Yes In Your Backyard is literally everybody. That’s the point. It isn’t ideological. Most folks love the idea of building when it doesn’t affect their own lives! Even most “YIMBY” supporters are actually “Yes In Your Backyard”, because nearly everyone has some local environment they want to protect. Don’t want a pork rendering plant or a sewage treatment center or a strip club next door to your home? Congratulations: you’re a “NIMBY” too! It’s a sophomoric epithet that makes you feel good and superior to fling around, but does nothing to convince people who don’t already agree with you. If you don’t understand this, you are doomed to fail to achieve your goals.
6gvONxR4sf7o 7y ago
> "yes, we should build affordable housing, but not HERE, where I live- put it somewhere else, where I'm not affected by them- can you imagine all the crime that the Poors would bring to such a nice area". The caricature doesn't really help things.

davidw 7y ago

This is an issue that actually doesn't align very well on the liberal/conservative spectrum. Most of the YIMBY folks I've met tend towards the liberal end of things, but there are also "market urbanism" groups out there that are fairly libertarian. I've had great conversations with local politicians of all stripes. There are both liberals and conservatives who are very NIMBY. In other words, it's not a very useful way to look at the issue in my opinion.

XMPPwocky 7y ago
Just to clarify- I very much do not mean "liberal" as "the opposite of conservative", here. Trying to map the high-dimensional "vector space" of political views onto a 1D line is very, very lossy, and definitely not useful outside of the very narrow context of general elections in a two-party system.
krtong 7y ago
Thank you. I'm so tired of reddit's influence on this discussion and this tireless effort to frame this discussion as nimby vs yimby, nimby being a pejorative term for local while yimby is a self-aggrandizing term for transplant who wished they had more purchasing power, and is social-media-savvy enough to realize if they want something they better make it sound like an existential crisis.

irq11 7y ago

Yes In Your Backyard is literally everybody. That’s the point. It isn’t ideological. Most folks love the idea of building when it doesn’t affect their own lives! Even most “YIMBY” supporters are actually “Yes In Your Backyard”, because nearly everyone has some local environment they want to protect. Don’t want a pork rendering plant or a sewage treatment center or a strip club next door to your home? Congratulations: you’re a “NIMBY” too! It’s a sophomoric epithet that makes you feel good and superior to fling around, but does nothing to convince people who don’t already agree with you. If you don’t understand this, you are doomed to fail to achieve your goals.

6gvONxR4sf7o 7y ago

> "yes, we should build affordable housing, but not HERE, where I live- put it somewhere else, where I'm not affected by them- can you imagine all the crime that the Poors would bring to such a nice area". The caricature doesn't really help things.