NIMBY
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
NIMBY (an acronym of Not In My Back Yard) is an acronym for the phenomenon in which residents oppose a development as inappropriate for their local area, but by implication do not oppose such development in another's.
NIMBY and its derivative terms NIMBYism, NIMBYs, and NIMBYists, refer implicitly to debates, of development generally or a specific case, and as such their use is inherently contentious. Also, it is a relatively recent term, the first printed usage of which the Oxford English Dictionary identifies as being in 1980 in the Christian Science Monitor, and the nuances of which are still disputed. The term is usually applied to opponents by advocates of a development, implying that those opposing the debated development, or at least their viewpoint in such regards, is narrow, selfish, myopic, or otherwise limited. As such, its use is pejorative.
The term has been applied in debates over developments in various situations:
- when a government or private party advocates development of residential or commercial property [citation needed]
- when parties advocate infrastructure development such as highways, power plants, electrical transmission lines, wastewater treatment plants, landfills or prisons)[citation needed]
- when parties build, operate, or advocate such of culturally unfamiliar functions, such as subsidized housing, cult-like or alternative lifestyle communes, or religious facilities[citation needed]
[edit] Points of debate
[edit] First order debate points
While use of a given argument is necessarily dependent on the specific development concerned, points which arise in a debate over proposed development may include:
[edit] In advocacy of a development:
- employment
- tax revenue
- marginal cost of remote development
- population growth is inevitable and new housing necessary
- safety
- environmental benefits of dense, mixed-use developments in/adjacent to already-developed areas
[edit] In opposition to a development:
- increases in local traffic
- harm to small business
- loss of property value
- degradation of the environment
- spoiling of a community's small-town feel
- strain public resources
- overwhelming of public schools
- disproportionate benefit to non-locals
- degradation of local quality of life
- safety
[edit] Second order debate points
Recriminating accusations may be made of the adversary's position generally. These may include:
[edit] Of opponents of a development:
- elitism
- parochialism
- drawbridge mentality
- that public services are demanded without regard to how government will pay for them
- opposition to diversity
- inevitability of criticism
- claims of preventing urban sprawl are misguided and unrealistic
[edit] Of advocates of a development:
[edit] Examples
In Alexandria, Virginia, people who opposed the original proposals for high-density development in Potomac Yard were faulted for demanding a Washington Metro station while simultaneously opposing the scale of development that would provide either sufficient funds for the station or sufficient ridership to justify its construction.
[edit] See also
es:NIMBY fr:Nimby ko:님비 it:Principio NIMBY he:NIMBY nl:NIMBY ja:NIMBY pl:NIMBY pt:NIMBY fi:Nimby
