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I am a serious NIMBY and proud of it! What is more important than what goes on in your neighborhood? I understand that some development has to occur after I move it but it should be related to the current zoning and environmental issues. If a piece of vacant property is zoned for one acre lots and the rest of the neighborhood is large lots why should a property owner be surprised when neighbors get angry when the developer tries to to have it rezoned for apartments? If a property is full of 150 year old trees why can't we fight to save the property and have it bought as a park? We want to keep our neighborhood like we bought it and I will fight rezonings as hard as I can.
If urban planners truely embrace new development, they would love Houston.
No zoning means lots of new developments where zoning and reviews dont delay them so the rate of new developments in Houston is higher than most cities on average. However my experience is planners do not like Houston....
... after all , how can anyone but a planner know what kind of change and new development is good? Planners like new developments because it means work for them... most planners like in the city there fore planners like new development? The assumptions must go something like that I imagine......
Planners also seem to invent terms like a secret handshake to make for high intellect sounding coffee talk. (they do not have a monopoly on this practice for sure!)
Case studies? No. Observational. Most, not all, urbanites I know LOVE new development. And why wouldn't they? It means good stuff to them.
Most, not all, suburbanites I know HATE it when a new subdivision goes in near them. It makes perfect since when you think about what it means (lots of negative impacts, no positive ones).
Where's my evidence? I don't have hard data - i can only point to anecdotal evidence. For example there are websites out there where urbanist gather to discuss and celebrate new buildings and increased density. I can't think of any forums where suburbanists come together to cheer and discuss more sprawl.
I've actually observed the opposite. It seems like developments in cities have much more opposition. I think this comes down to the fact that the neighborhoods in the cities are more historic. People have been living there for longer and have gotten used to the environment, so are opposed to it changing. Suburbs are mostly new, and usually people have not been living there long enough to have the same feeling. I also see much more housing developments going up in the suburbs, than apartments/ townhouses downtown.
Baltimoreans have been described as "provincial" more times than I'd like, but there is quite a bit of truth to it. They are fearful of change, even in the areas that are in the most need of it. A lot of this comes from distrust that has lingered since the "urban renewal" days. Poor, emotionally hurt folks (of which we have many) also tend to fear big changes.
So, neighborhood level organization and unity is required to get any sort of impactful project off the ground. The neighborhoods which lack this are sort of doomed to linger. It's only when a critical mass of interested folks buy-in that things can change.
Is that gentrification, or is it stabilization? I tend to think it's the latter, but in my city there is no shortage of affordable housing. I might feel differently if I lived in SF or NY.
On the other hand, large scale, shady, quasi-governmental eminient domain products such as the development around Johns Hopkins Hospital are 100% gentrification. Home
From what I've observed, the key variables in determining the strength of NIMBY opposition to new development are neighborhood income and single family homeownership. There are plenty of urban neighborhoods where single family homeowners dominate neighborhood associations, whether or not they're actually the main population of a neighborhood. If a neighborhood is historic all this intensifies.
I think this is about who has the expectation/sense of entitlement to an unchanging neighorhood. Residents in a downtown tower know that the city is going to change around them, they have less expectation that it will stay perfectly untouched.
It's fun to throw bricks at planners, but aim those bricks at the people who are really in charge. The folks who approve the plans and approve the Zoning Ordinance are your elected City Council. Increasingly, City Councils also approve individual projects, especially large ones. If the Council doesn't get into projects, they'll be handled by a Planning Commission appointed by the Mayor and/or the City Council. Most, if not all, of that Commission's members won't be planners--they'll be political friends and allies of the folks in power. Planners can propose, but Planning Commissions and City Councils dispose.
From what I've observed, the key variables in determining the strength of NIMBY opposition to new development are neighborhood income and single family homeownership. There are plenty of urban neighborhoods where single family homeowners dominate neighborhood associations, whether or not they're actually the main population of a neighborhood. If a neighborhood is historic all this intensifies.
I think this is about who has the expectation/sense of entitlement to an unchanging neighorhood. Residents in a downtown tower know that the city is going to change around them, they have less expectation that it will stay perfectly untouched.
It's fun to throw bricks at planners, but aim those bricks at the people who are really in charge. The folks who approve the plans and approve the Zoning Ordinance are your elected City Council. Increasingly, City Councils also approve individual projects, especially large ones. If the Council doesn't get into projects, they'll be handled by a Planning Commission appointed by the Mayor and/or the City Council. Most, if not all, of that Commission's members won't be planners--they'll be political friends and allies of the folks in power. Planners can propose, but Planning Commissions and City Councils dispose.
While I agree with the rest of your post, I think this first paragraph should be amended to say home ownership in general, not just SF home ownership. Condo and townhouse owners are all worried about their property values, too.
Maybe single family homeowners are more likely to oppose denser development (such as townhouses) right next door while townhouse dwellers aren't going to oppose something similar to what they already live in?* Those living in a row house, would be less bother be another one nearby than a high rise.
*Unless the residence oppose all development, but usually denser development (higher than existing) gets opposition than less dense.
Maybe single family homeowners are more likely to oppose denser development (such as townhouses) right next door while townhouse dwellers aren't going to oppose something similar to what they already live in?* Those living in a row house, would be less bother be another one nearby than a high rise.
*Unless the residence oppose all development, but usually denser development (higher than existing) gets opposition than less dense.
Re: the bold- True, in many cases. They bring up the impact on schools, etc. If you've been to one of these public hearings, you've been to all of them.
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