Since it has been coming up a great deal recently, in a variety of locations, for many different reasons, I suppose it's time to declare that I do not like NIMBYs. That's an acronym for "Not In My Back Yard," and it represents a group of people who meet any project, whatever the goal, with that declaration, even if they have no reason to be upset.
One can kind of understand the mind of the wild NIMBY, for it is what happens when life is run out of fear, and there is no time to consider the possible upside. Everything they protest is due to their conviction that the new development, the new projects, the new anything will somehow decrease their standard of living. They wish to live in a bubble, protected from anything that might possibly harm them, though not a literal bubble because that would probably reduce property values.
That fear is why they protest things that seem innocuous to those of us in the community who are sane and level-headed. For instance, when an average person sees a relatively inexpensive housing development, they might think it is a good thing, for there is currently a compressed real estate market and more homes in the city is probably a good thing. Others might get excited, for they want to buy a new house and have been having difficulty actually finding a good one in the city that fits their family. For a NIMBY, this is the apocalypse, because it means a bunch of new people who could potentially poke a hole in their tiny bubble.
They use excuses like the people are in a different socioeconomic class and somehow won't be able to get along with their neighbors, even if that's plainly nonsense. They'll say inexpensive homes will reduce property values even if they plainly won't, given that it's a new development and these stay rather nice looking for a long time. They'll question whether the kids will fit in at school, even though the price of the parents' house has never been a big concern for most children.
Deep down, however, it's fear, a worst-case scenario that will never play out but they're constantly paranoid will ruin their lives. An optimist might say that a bunch of new families, potentially with young kids, could rejuvenate the local school, since it's new kids and new parents who might want to get involved in events and school activities. Or, they could just be like the average new neighbors, and quietly fit into town with little fuss. You don't know until they've moved in and a NIMBY can't handle that.
It's not just housing, anything new shatters the world of a NIMBY. New businesses could create traffic or attract people they don't like. New public facilities could cost them all their money and they will never use them, because they are hiding under blankets in their basement. Things like transitional homes for youth could cause hooligans, instead of helping kids get on their feet, which is their actual purpose. It's a world view caused by a fear of all things.
If we listened to the NIMBYs, nothing would happen and everything would stagnate. So I propose they get ignored, shoved into the corner while the sane among us discuss realistic scenarios and view the world as rational with a touch of optimism. It's a much more relaxing perspective.
