NIMBYism in Practice

1. NIMBYism in Practice Dan Staley Planning Director City of Buckley dstaley@cityofbuckley.com

2. Structure • NIMBY/LULU Defined • NIMBY Contextualized • NIMBY Explored • NIMBY Understood and Utilized • NIMBYism Accepted

3. Defined [what] • Basis: • Property • Protection/safety/comfort • Unit of living – Fundamental in America • American Dream • A man’s home is his castle • Nesting • Europe difference • SFR vs. MFR

4. Defined: Unit of living

5. Defined: Unit of livingmine

6. Defined: Unit of livingours

7. Defined: Unit and Space

8. Defined (cont’d) • Voice can be heard – NIMBYism is Democracy in action 1. NIMBY is manifestation of democracy 2. Democracy is hard 3. Not working out NIMBY is not democracy

9. Context [where & when] • Parcel Unit and Economics • Exchange value, use value, amenity value • America: parcel as private, Europe: parcel as semi-private • Fact: many Americans buy land to sell for their retirement – how do you take this away from millions of baby boomers?

10. Context [where & when] • Parcel Unit and Economics (cont’d) • Rationalism, free markets, Pareto optima. • UGA good, outside UGA, bad (how do I get in UGA?)

11. Context [where & when] • Founding Fathers, yeomen farmers, property • Westward, ho! and Manifest Destiny • City Beautiful movement • Post-WWII • Chicken in every pot • Military service, FNMA, VA, “right to home” • Stock bubble and current ‘sure’ investment is land (as always)

12. Exploration [how & who] • NIMBY is a democratic process • Although an inefficient one • Better to first ask people what they want • Must hear their voice – no buy-in otherwise

13. Exploration [how & who] • NIMBY is a result of: • Power relations • Bay Power and Chesapeake Wind • Wish to retain property values

14. Exploration [how & who] • NIMBY is a result of: • Democratic voice • How can one’s voice be heard? • Unequal voices – some voices are preternaturally persistent (viz. Libertarians). • Some don’t get heard until property is at stake (viz. New Orleans)

15. Exploration [how & who] • NIMBY is a result of: • Marginalization: that’s not us (easy way out is marginalization)

16. Exploration [how & who] • Expectation: • NIMBYism will manifest itself • In what ways will it manifest itself? • Power relations • Property values

17. Understand and Utilize in Practice [why] • This doesn’t mean exploit • Preparation • Preemption • Utilization

18. Understand and Utilize in Practice [why] • NIMBY folks are just able to gain access and use the system (is this good or bad?) • Methods • Astroturf (define) • Access to power • Psychology & sociology to gain commonality with potentially affected • Framing: threat to x (galvanizing moment)

19. Understand and Utilize in Practice [why] • NIMBY folks understand power relations • Power relations: who gets, who pays? • Interpersonal • Political • How does galvanization work?

20. Acceptance of NIMBYism • Part of process – political and democratic • If you can address these concerns, you can address anything • It is better to have debate than mute acceptance

21. Acceptance of NIMBYism • Democratic process ensures (?) monarchy, etc at bay. • Groups (provided adequate leadership) usually ensure better decision-making in that creative process and checks & balances are thought of.

22. Conclusion • NIMBYism is normal human reaction to threat of their LU • There will always be NIMBYism (if not, heaven help us) • How do you accept the dissent/voice and incorporate that into decision-making

23. Conclusion • It’s all about leadership • If your plan can’t address NIMBY concerns, it’s probably not good enough to stand.

24. Thank you! dstaley@cityofbuckley.com

25. Q&A