A Student of the Real Estate Game (ASotREG)

My Observations of NIMBYism

Apr 16, 2022 | Development, Multifamily

After 12 years of living in cities, my family bought a house and moved to the suburbs in 2021. We settled in a classic North Jersey train line town, with idyllic tree-lined streets and vibrant downtown. It’s a great place to raise a family.

For the most part, we’ve loved living here. It’s a family-oriented community, has a walkable downtown with shops & restaurants, and provides easy access to NYC, Philly, the Jersey Shore, and the Poconos.

We couldn’t be happier with our decision.

However, there is one observation which has frustrated me; the anti-housing opinion of the outspoken community members, better known as NIMBYist. This is most notable online, with community members taking to social media to complain about the perceived overdevelopment of the town.

Here are a few of the comments on a recently approved tastefully-designed apartment building with 32 market-rate and 8 affordable units on a major commercial street right near the heart of downtown and the train station.

  • The politicians are greedy and new development is out of control. Elected leaders don’t listen.
  • Over-development is ruining the small-town feel and character of the area.
  • The environmental destruction is destroying the quality of life.
  • The renderings are ugly.
  • This will cause more traffic to our already congested streets and schools.

The general sentiment is overly negative toward this and any proposed development.

The reality is that it’s difficult to do infill development without disruption. Additional development brings more cars and people and generally changes the feel of an area. There will always be opposition to change.

I’m not taking a side to the argument, but instead recognizing the challenges developers face, the overwhelmingly negative sentiment toward any development, and the hypocrisy of many opinions.

Here are just some of the considerations that should be factored into the dialogue:

  • Housing affordability issues are driven primarily by under-supply. We desperately need more housing types such as apartments, duplexes, and fourplexes. The lack of this housing typology has been coined the missing middle.
  • NIMBYism in general is one of the primary reasons we’re short on needed housing by about 3 million units.
  • The public opinion, whether it be the media, social media, or public hearings are not the voices of the majority.
  • People have their own self-interest in mind and are generally resistant to change. There is a belief that development will affect their home values negatively.  
  • Time kills deals. Delaying projects 6-12 months can be the death of a deal.
  • Public scrutiny is important, but it should not lead to killing viable developments that will bring much-needed housing to communities.
  • Every deal should be subject to a schools and traffic test. If it doesn’t pass, it shouldn’t get approved.
  • The wealthiest areas with the highest home prices (and most lawyers) are the communities where it’s most difficult to build.
  • Community members oppose all housing, but they are especially outspoken against affordable housing.
  • Owning a piece of dirt does not entitle you to choose your neighbors.
  • Townhomes, apartments, duplexes, senior housing etc. are more affordable than single-family homes and do not negatively impact the value of single-family homes.
  • Additional density can have broad benefits; new shops and restaurants, improved walkability, reducing the number of car commuters, more diversity etc.

I’m new to this community, so I won’t pretend to understand the local dynamics, but the anti-housing sentiment is common virtually everywhere. When you own in a community, you no longer care about affordability.

Community members operate under the guise of community-level interest, but I don’t buy it. Most people are operating based on their own self-interest (understandably), protecting their property values. There’s nothing wrong with that, but let’s call a spade a spade.

It’s hard not to be bullish housing when communities oppose any new development so strongly.

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I've written over 250 articles. Use the search below for any topic having to do with Real Estate and investing.

Try these: passive investing, asset management, real estate