4 ms·

You know what I hear in this thread? Combined, posts have said that NIMBYs, a tiny minority, who always vote, show up to council meetings, and politicians list

by b112 4y ago

You know what I hear in this thread? Combined, posts have said that NIMBYs, a tiny minority, who always vote, show up to council meetings, and politicians listen to them, and yet everyone here trying to figure out what is broken. Well, nothing is broken, except non-NIMBYs dont care enough to do the same! The answer is simple. Show up to council meetings and vote! If you don't, you don't care as much as the NIMBYs, and the result is clear. Nothing is broken, it is called democracy.

seoaeu 4y ago
That’s not true. There’s lots of ways that things are rigged in favor of NIMBYs. For example, environmental review laws enable a NIMBY minority to file bogus lawsuits that add years of delays (during which time developers still have to pay mortgages on property that aren’t allowed to start developing).
bluGill 4y ago
> except non-NIMBYs dont care enough to do the same! Show up to council meetings and vote! The zoning meeting for my city is the same night as my kid has scouts. This is why I don't show up: I have other things going on in my life. Even if they did pick a night where there is nothing else, I really want to get into my shop and build something and this meeting is taking that time away from me. There is another problem: the people showing up for school board and causing problems are not the same as showing up for zoning and causing problems. And there is also the library and parks board, each either their own meetings I could show up for. Different groups show up for each, and I cannot counter them all.
- seb1204 4y ago
  I feel you. It comes down to prioritise a d you have made yours clean. As many others act the same there are only very few at the meeting to voice with your side. We only need to mobilize a few to go to one meeting....
bombcar 4y ago
And it happens and it works, I've seen YIMBY groups "win" but it has taken them years of continually working on the same thing to finally get it through. Sometimes it ends up going all the way to Congress: http://www.startribune.com/obama-gives-his-approval-to-bridge-across-st-croix-river/142717635/ http://www.startribune.com/obama-gives-his-approval-to-bridg... You can't YIMBY generic things like "more bike paths" or "better roads" you have to identify particular projects and build a group that will support it, and work on it for years sometimes. For lots of things, there are groups that can help out there, you just have to find them. And part of that "working" at it is listening to the NIMBYs so you can understand their concerns (even if the leadership of a NIMBY group is batshit, the people "on their side" at least resonate with some of them) and work to mitigate/solve them. And be prepared to take advantage of disasters to push your side forward.

by b112 4y ago

seoaeu 4y ago

That’s not true. There’s lots of ways that things are rigged in favor of NIMBYs. For example, environmental review laws enable a NIMBY minority to file bogus lawsuits that add years of delays (during which time developers still have to pay mortgages on property that aren’t allowed to start developing).

bluGill 4y ago

> except non-NIMBYs dont care enough to do the same! Show up to council meetings and vote! The zoning meeting for my city is the same night as my kid has scouts. This is why I don't show up: I have other things going on in my life. Even if they did pick a night where there is nothing else, I really want to get into my shop and build something and this meeting is taking that time away from me. There is another problem: the people showing up for school board and causing problems are not the same as showing up for zoning and causing problems. And there is also the library and parks board, each either their own meetings I could show up for. Different groups show up for each, and I cannot counter them all.

seb1204 4y ago
I feel you. It comes down to prioritise a d you have made yours clean. As many others act the same there are only very few at the meeting to voice with your side. We only need to mobilize a few to go to one meeting....

bombcar 4y ago

And it happens and it works, I've seen YIMBY groups "win" but it has taken them years of continually working on the same thing to finally get it through. Sometimes it ends up going all the way to Congress: http://www.startribune.com/obama-gives-his-approval-to-bridge-across-st-croix-river/142717635/ http://www.startribune.com/obama-gives-his-approval-to-bridg... You can't YIMBY generic things like "more bike paths" or "better roads" you have to identify particular projects and build a group that will support it, and work on it for years sometimes. For lots of things, there are groups that can help out there, you just have to find them. And part of that "working" at it is listening to the NIMBYs so you can understand their concerns (even if the leadership of a NIMBY group is batshit, the people "on their side" at least resonate with some of them) and work to mitigate/solve them. And be prepared to take advantage of disasters to push your side forward.