NIMBY

Unfinished tower in Tenleytown, Washington, D.C. that was later removed as a result of complaints from the neighborhood

NIMBY (/ˈnɪmbi/, or nimby),[1] an acronym for the phrase "not in my back yard",[2][3] is a characterization of opposition by residents to proposed real estate development and infrastructure developments in their local area, as well as support for strict land use regulations. It carries the connotation that such residents are only opposing the development because it is close to them and that they would tolerate or support it if it were built farther away. The residents are often called nimbys, and their viewpoint is called nimbyism. The opposite movement is known as YIMBY for "yes in my back yard".[4]

Some examples of projects that have been opposed by nimbys include housing development[5] (especially for affordable housing[6] or trailer parks[7]), high-speed rail lines,[8] homeless shelters,[9] day cares,[10] schools, universities and colleges,[11][12] bike lanes and transportation planning that promotes pedestrian safety infrastructure,[13] solar farms,[14] wind farms,[15] incinerators, sewage treatment systems,[16] fracking,[17] and nuclear waste repositories.[18]

Proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository,[19] 130 km (80 mi) northwest of Las Vegas, was approved by the government and then opposed by the citizens of Nevada. Federal funding ended in 2011.
  1. ^ "Definition of Nimby". Macmillan Dictionary. Archived from the original on 21 July 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  2. ^ "Cambridge Dictionaries Online – meaning of NIMBY". Archived from the original on 21 July 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  3. ^ "Oxford Dictionaries – definition of Nimby". Archived from the original on 29 July 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  4. ^ "Forget YIMBY vs. NIMBY. Could PHIMBYs Solve the Housing Crisis?". KQED. Archived from the original on 28 April 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  5. ^ Matthew Holehouse (23 July 2014). "Boris Johnson: Nimbies pretend to care about architecture to block developments". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  6. ^ Axel-Lute, Miriam (17 November 2021). "What Is NIMBYism and How Do Affordable Housing Developers Respond to It?". Shelterforce. Archived from the original on 15 October 2023. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  7. ^ "Westlake council approves moratorium on manufactured homes in portion of city". 28 April 2022.
  8. ^ "Fast rail critics 'rich nimbys'". BBC News. 28 June 2011. Archived from the original on 9 June 2023. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  9. ^ Andrew Galvin (28 August 2015). "Anywhere but here". OC Weekly. Archived from the original on 30 January 2016. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference VancouverSun2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ "In Berkeley, it's the NIMBYs versus the university". Le Monde.fr. 17 March 2022. Archived from the original on 28 February 2024. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  12. ^ "UC Berkeley forced to cap enrollment after NIMBY lawsuit". Morning Brew. Archived from the original on 28 February 2024. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  13. ^ Vargas, Theresa (5 February 2023). "Perspective | Meet Nimbee, the mascot who scorns bike lanes, development and change". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on 30 March 2023. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  14. ^ Chediak, Mark (29 July 2021). "California Nimbys Threaten Biden's Clean Energy Goals - Ranchers, farmers and environmentalists are coming together to oppose what would be the largest solar plant built in the San Francisco Bay area, a project local officials say is critical to the state meeting its climate goals". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on 25 September 2024. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  15. ^ Boyle, Kevin J.; Boatwright, Jessica; Brahma, Sreeya; Xu, Weibin (1 August 2019). "NIMBY, not, in siting community wind farms". Resource and Energy Economics. 57: 85–100. Bibcode:2019REEco..57...85B. doi:10.1016/j.reseneeco.2019.04.004. ISSN 0928-7655. S2CID 159139028.
  16. ^ "Charlestown City Council tables sewer ordinance after public backlash". WLKY-TV. 2 December 2019. Archived from the original on 25 September 2024. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  17. ^ Patrick Wintour (4 August 2013). "Fracking will meet resistance from southern nimbys, minister warns". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 20 January 2020. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  18. ^ James Kanter (7 November 2007). "Radioactive Nimby: No one wants nuclear waste". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  19. ^ "Eureka County, Nevada – Yucca Mountain.org". www.yuccamountain.org. Archived from the original on 21 April 2020. Retrieved 25 April 2020.