Equal Non-Opportunity NIMBYs Oppose Habitat, Too (money, vote, problems, community)

[freemkt]

Markham Neighborhood Association President Donna Herron was a little surprised when she started receiving angry emails from neighbors.

Unsurprising was that a developer was planning to build, as infill and zoning topics have crept their way onto meeting agendas, but what she found surprising was the opposition to a Habitat for Humanity development. The nonprofit organization advocates for affordable housing and helps bring families into homeownership by offering opportunities to those unable to obtain conventional house financing.


At least these NIMBYs are consistent!

And, yes, this is 'local' but the principles and dynamics are universal.

oops, here's the link:

http://portlandtribune.com/pt/9-news...ig-in-portland

[Floorist]

When Habitat built a house on my block, they constantly parked across my driveway, there was trash all over the place. They had a BBQ lunch they sold at the house and one volunteer even pulled into my driveway to sell food out of their trunk. When I asked them to move so I could get out to go to work they got hateful. It was a nightmare for three months. Talking to the person running it got nowhere. The people who moved in get along with no one. Everyone else on the block gets together a couple times a summer for a cookout. But those people won't even speak to anyone else on the block.
They have built three houses down the street from my daughter's house and she has had the same problems.

[shadowne]

I thought Portland was full of crunchy granola bleeding heart liberals? Did they ever catch the Portland Pooper?

[GregW]

That is as good as an example of the differences between the cultures of the poor and the rest of us. They sell BBQ out of the house because they can't work for someone already selling BBQ in a proper zoned location. Those locations are already owned by the affluent folks in this suburb. The less affluent lived without law for so long they do not recognize the official or unofficial rules of the suburb and see no reason to adapt.


IMHO they either adapt to the surrounding culture or be thrown back into the slum they came from. When they earn enough money to buy into the suburb they can move there and abandon the culture they previously lived in. Just like any other immigrant community they have to adapt or go back.


Tough. Nobody ever said it was easy.

[freemkt]

Originally Posted by shadowne

I thought Portland was full of crunchy granola bleeding heart liberals? Did they ever catch the Portland Pooper?

People undergo dramatic philosophical changes when they acquire ownership of a home (whether bought with earnings or inherited without earning); they adopt a profound sense of entitlement and protectionism. Liberals, sadly, are not immune to this.

The relevant difference between a conservative homeowner and a liberal homeowner is that the liberal homeowner, at least, is happy to tax you in order to warehouse the poor in Someone Else's Neighborhood....while the conservative is unwilling to tax you, unwilling to let developers build in 'their' neighborhood, and expects the poor to vote with their feet by moving Somewhere Else.