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This really drives me nuts. I live in a very liberal but also very NIMBY town. Just today I was informed of a new petition to resist a zoning change near the to

This really drives me nuts. I live in a very liberal but also very NIMBY town. Just today I was informed of a new petition to resist a zoning change near the town center, to preserve "historic character" that practically none of the signers gave a damn about before. Not a year has gone by, out of 24 I've lived here, when that same excuse hasn't been used to stymie more affordable higher-density development or new transit options. Similarly, there's a petition to impose strict rules on removal of trees. More than half the signers either had trees removed from their own properties already, or bought in on lots where that had happened recently. Seems like they didn't really give a damn about that issue either, until it no longer inhibited their own choices and actions. Then those very same people also complain about how the town center is dying, with half the space taken by banks because those are the only entities that can afford the sky-high rent. Not much "historic character" left, but at least no poor people either so they think that's OK. I fight them every chance I get. I point out that if you oppose every individual move to make something good happen, over and over again, then you don't really support it happening at all. But it's hard to win when people are so good (having been well trained at law school etc.) at hiding their real motivations behind high-sounding excuses like history or environmental concern. At least right-wing NIMBYism is honest about motivations.

panick21_ 4y ago
Is the town center historic or is it actually just a 1960 car-depended dead wasteland? Are there historical parking lots?
- notacoward 4y ago
  It actually is historic, "shot heard around the world" and all that, but the "historic" label is applied far more broadly than reason would suggest. For example, a couple of years ago there was a proposal to build several townhouses on a lot miles away from the town center. Nobody but neighbors ever saw the house that was there, which had fallen into serious disrepair because nobody cared. Then suddenly, when a higher-density replacement was proposed, those same neighbors got very interested in the fact that the original architect had achieved some slight fame in the 1800s, slapped the "historic" label on it, and blocked the development. AFAIK the property has fallen even further into disrepair since, and that's just fine with the NIMBYs. Effectively more space for them to enjoy, without actual burden of ownership. Everybody knew that it was a thin excuse, used cynically to advance the interests of a few, but the residents had demonstrated their ability/willingness to outspend any possible opponents so they got away with it. More relevantly, similar stories have repeated over and over here, with the effect that the town is actually in the state's crosshairs for its failure to meet affordable-housing or transit standards. Whatever beliefs the residents might loudly espouse, this is revealed preference at its most blatant.

panick21_ 4y ago

Is the town center historic or is it actually just a 1960 car-depended dead wasteland? Are there historical parking lots?

notacoward 4y ago
It actually is historic, "shot heard around the world" and all that, but the "historic" label is applied far more broadly than reason would suggest. For example, a couple of years ago there was a proposal to build several townhouses on a lot miles away from the town center. Nobody but neighbors ever saw the house that was there, which had fallen into serious disrepair because nobody cared. Then suddenly, when a higher-density replacement was proposed, those same neighbors got very interested in the fact that the original architect had achieved some slight fame in the 1800s, slapped the "historic" label on it, and blocked the development. AFAIK the property has fallen even further into disrepair since, and that's just fine with the NIMBYs. Effectively more space for them to enjoy, without actual burden of ownership. Everybody knew that it was a thin excuse, used cynically to advance the interests of a few, but the residents had demonstrated their ability/willingness to outspend any possible opponents so they got away with it. More relevantly, similar stories have repeated over and over here, with the effect that the town is actually in the state's crosshairs for its failure to meet affordable-housing or transit standards. Whatever beliefs the residents might loudly espouse, this is revealed preference at its most blatant.