Tag Archives: NIMBY

Suburbanites today go online early to protest development they do not like. How different is this from 50 years ago?

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I recently read news about a developer wanting to build duplexes in a nearby suburb. I soon saw reactions on social media platforms to the proposal. One response suggested the land should be protected green space while another response said what the community really needed was affordable housing.

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These are not unusual reactions from suburbanites opposed to housing proposals in their community. What is different compared to reactions in the past is the form the reactions now take: quick responses online that can then reach other community members (and broader audiences). How different is this opposition compared to 50 years ago?

My own research on suburban development suggests suburbanites have opposed new housing and other kinds of development near them for decades. This occurred even as their community was growing rapidly and some of them had been part of that growth in recent years. Residents made arguments about the character of the community, traffic, water management, green or open space, local services, threats to property values, and who might move in.

But without online platforms to share their opinions, how did these residents go about voicing their concerns? One regular forum not used much today involved writing letters to the editor. In local newspapers, residents shared their argument in relatively few words. These discussions could go then back and forth multiple times as supporters and opponents of particular plans wrote in.

Presumably suburbanites talked to neighbors and others in the community. Social scientists have argued the social fabric of the United States looked different decades ago as more Americans were involved in local organizations. Americans may have had more close friends. These relationships would provide space to discuss local issues.

Local petitions could demonstrate the opinions of residents. People would collect signatures and present them to local officials. Decades ago, this would have involved going door to door or being in public spaces to get names on paper. The process looks a little different today through change.org or similar venues.

At the same time, the process by which these proposals move forward looks similar to fifty years ago. Developers talk with municipal leaders and staff. The plans of developers are vetted by zoning boards or plan commissions who then make a recommendation to a city council or village board. Residents and others have a chance to share their opinion in public in public hearings along the way or in some meetings when leaders and developers are discussing plans. There are often months, sometimes years, for conversation and deliberations to take place.

Do the loud voices online either for or against a proposal attract more attention than efforts of residents in the past? Either way, the majority of residents in a community do not publicly voice an opinion. They might vote a certain way based on such decisions or maybe even move to a different community based on what they think is happening. And these actions can be consequential; decisions about development helps shape a community for decades.

At least four Illinois municipal leaders in favor of giving up some local zoning control in order to build more housing

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The leaders of Sesser, Des Plaines, Lexington, and Oak Park, Illinois recently described why they support the BUILD plan proposed by Governor Pritzker:

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You are probably wondering why local officials are challenging the instinct of protecting local control. But here’s the reality: The housing market does not stop where our towns end. The housing market, and subsequent shortage, crosses municipal boundaries and affects communities across Illinois, from large cities to small towns. Yet the system for addressing it remains fragmented and reflects the larger problems that we are all facing — the fewer houses available, the more expensive those few become. That’s why we support a statewide solution to give us the framework to do the things that make sense for our individual towns. BUILD does not replace local control with a one-size-fits-all system. It does not override community character or dictate identical development across Illinois. It creates a tool kit for us to implement a housing vision for our individual communities that addresses our unique needs on an improved and more efficient, affordable and attainable timeline.

BUILD would mean more townhomes, two-flats, duplexes, cottages, bungalows — just regular types of houses that have historically formed the backbone of neighborhoods, made housing affordable and showcased the uniqueness of Illinois’ architecture. They are the homes that allowed working families, young people and seniors to live in communities they could afford. Somewhere along the way, these types of houses stopped being built. Regular, affordable houses have since become so rare that people think the only options are unattainable mega-mansions or luxury high-rise developments. It does not have to be this way.

BUILD would restore balance and establish a clear, statewide baseline that makes it possible to build regular types of housing in the first place. BUILD would establish minimum expectations and set a baseline to meet every locality’s housing needs, while preserving and enhancing the character of what makes each of our towns so unique. From there, we would retain control over how that housing fits in our communities through design standards, form and local context. We would still shape where housing goes, how buildings look and how development fits in our communities.

Several quick thoughts in response:

  1. This is an interesting mix of communities: two small towns, one in central Illinois, one in southern Illinois, and two Chicago suburbs. How many communities near them would agree with these arguments? Will there be a clear set of communities for and against this plan or will more quietly work behind the scenes?
  2. Each of the op-ed writers are leaders in their communities: three mayors, one village president. How many of their fellow local officials, elected or not, would agree with them? Pushing a little further, does this become an important local campaign issue for those running for municipal office?
  3. If there are some communities more open to the BUILD plan than others, would they end up with significantly more new housing units if the BUILD plan goes forward? Do they see the BUILD plan as the way to population growth and all that comes with that (status, construction jobs, etc.)?

And I would still be interested to know what kind of incentives would be needed for developers to take a big interest in cheaper or affordable housing in the four communities highlighted here…

Americans united in not wanting to live near data centers

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NIMBY responses to data centers are bringing Americans together:

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Lyon Township voted for Donald J. Trump in 2024, but party loyalties hardly seemed to matter. In an era when Americans are divided on everything — even the cars they drive and the TV shows they watch — data centers seem to have bridged the partisan divide.

Early evidence suggests that Americans — once agnostic — are now souring on them. Last month, Maine became the first state to pass a moratorium on data centers — only to have the governor, a Democrat, to veto it — and similar measures have been introduced in at least 13 other states and dozens of municipalities.

In Virginia, a recent poll found the public had turned sharply against data centers. The same is true in Wisconsin, said Charles Franklin, director of the Marquette University Law School Poll, which found that around 70 percent of people now say the costs outweigh the benefits.

Even more interesting, he said, the state’s deep partisan divide seems to have vanished when it comes to data centers.

I am a little confused why this is pitched as bridging political divides when there is a longstanding pattern in local American politics of residents resisting perceived threats to their property values and quality of life. If the American Dream continues to involve homeownership, often in suburban communities, residents will express concerns or protest strongly if a proposed nearby development will be near their homes.

Perhaps this is harder to see or remember when either only national politics are important or all local politics are seen as extensions of national politics. Local politics can often be about local interests. Locals are not necessarily opposed to growth and development – after all, growth is good in the American context – but they often do not want development that significantly changes their local experience.

At the same time, fewer Americans might be opposed to data centers in the abstract. If they want to use their AI powered devices and platforms, don’t these have to be built somewhere? This is common to NIMBY responses: people might acknowledge the need for a particular land use but few want it located near them.

Taking the NIMBY approach to taxes

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As someone who studies suburbs, I am familiar with NIMBY responses to proposed development: residents do not want it near their dwellings, even if they agree it probably needs to be built somewhere. I was reminded of this common response when I read a description of how Americans feel about taxes:

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Over the past decade, the share of Americans who believe that their income-tax bill is unfair has climbed by 14percentage points. A majority of Americans, in both parties and at all income levels, say that they are kicking in too much. The National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee, which teaches people how to conscientiously object to income levies, reports surging interest in its training sessions. Grassroots groups around the country are fighting to “ax the tax.” Most people want rates to go up—just not on them.

Someone should pay taxes, but not me. I like the government programs I participate in (if they even know they are government programs – see later in the article) but someone else should fund them. The money should come from someone or somewhere else.

What does this lead to in the long run? On the NIMBY development side, it tends to put a buffer around wealthier communities who have the resources and voice to fight against development they do not want. Would the tax case equivalent be that certain groups are able to avoid higher taxes being placed on them or certain groups are able to obtain tax cuts while others are not?

At the local, state, and federal levels, it will be interesting to see how different taxing bodies try to close budget holes. There have to be some revenue sources – or cuts? – to make ends meet.

How to stop your home from flooding (when the built environment makes it hard to avoid)

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These five tips for homeowners can help them avoid flooded properties. I have done a few of them myself.

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But there is only so much an individual homeowner can do if the built environment makes flooding more common. There are numerous causes: development on top of certain kinds of land and soils; numerous hard surfaces like roads; inadequate drainage at construction or more development after initial systems were put in; low-lying places compared to higher ground nearby. Having water in one’s house is no fun as it requires cleanup and repairs that can require a lot of time and money.

Several pictures used in this story seem to make this point. How much can be done for a house if the street right in front of the home is completely flooded? What can be done if roadways are shut down because of water? Where is all the water supposed to go?

These tips can help but a broader neighborhood or community-wide approach is needed to really address flooding issues. When new development is proposed near housing, NIMBY responses are common and water and flooding issues are often part of this. There may just be some truth in these concerns; changes to land might affect drainage and/or strain existing mitigation efforts. Water has to go somewhere and one homeowner may not really be able to address what is a larger concern.

Pledges from tech companies enough to quiet local opposition to data centers?

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Microsoft announced multiple “policy pledges” intended to address concerns residents have about nearby data centers:

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The tech giant said Tuesday it was making five policy pledges to ensure that its data centers are not a burden on people living nearby. The measures include replenishing water supplies, not asking for property tax breaks and making sure that Microsoft’s data centers don’t drive up electricity rates.

The plan “reflects our sense of civic responsibility as well as a broad and long-term view of what it will take to run a successful AI infrastructure business,” Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a company blog post…

The community anger crosses the partisan divide. Conservative activists in ruby-red towns in Oklahoma have been circulating petitions demanding the firing of officials who sign nondisclosure agreements to negotiate terms with tech companies. And progressive groups such as the Democratic Socialists of America and the NAACP have rallied around data center opposition…

Between April and June of last year, 20 projects valued at some $98 billion of planned data center projects were derailed in communities across the country, according to a report by Data Center Watch, a tracking project by the nonpartisan research firm 10a Labs. More projects were derailed in those three months than in the past two years.

Are these the primary or only concerns residents have? Imagine that Microsoft or other tech companies could make good on these pledges: no higher electricity rates, reasonable water usage, and so on. Would the concerns of residents fade away?

Maybe. I wonder if several other concerns might then pop up. Do residents trust tech companies? They might not like tech companies building much of anything. Or they might argue the land could be put to better uses. From what I can gather, data centers provide some longer-term but not many longer-term jobs. Perhaps a different kind land use could provide bigger economic opportunities for people living nearby?

Or is the primary issue in many of these cases that they are located close to residences? Homeowners, in particular, often react negatively to any nearby land use that could threaten their day-to-day life and/or housing values. Zoning is meant to help keep homeowners away from undesirable land uses. And undesirable can be interpreted very broadly.

Perhaps all of this will fade away with time. Data centers are popping up all over the place and many communities are facing this issue. Will this building pace continue or will it slow soon?

I also suspect there will be some communities that approve and/or welcome data centers even as others turn them away. A single metropolitan area can have dozens or hundreds of communities that companies can try to work with. Whether the communities that do approve data centers see long-term benefits remains to be seen.

Data centers as the largest construction project ever in Indiana

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Amazon plans to construct large data center facilities in northwest Indiana:

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Amazon plans to spend $15 billion for the largest construction project in Indiana history, building data center campuses in Northwest Indiana and creating 1,100 new jobs, officials said…

Sites for them have not yet been finalized, although AWS is in negotiations with multiple communities, he said Monday…

Not too many years ago, BP’s $3.8 billion Whiting Refinery expansion was considered the largest construction project in state history. The work at the refinery kept tradespeople working through the Great Recession, Ennis noted. Building data centers will keep tradespeople working in the region for years to come…

This project’s impact on the communities’ tax base can’t be calculated until the communities are chosen and incentives are finalized, but the impact will be huge. When Microsoft chose LaPorte for a $1 billion data center, Mayor Tom Dermody said it would effectively double the city’s tax base.

Indiana is not the largest state in size or population but it is not the smallest either: it is 38th in land area and 17th in population. So I think it means something that this would be the largest project in the state’s history. The amount of money, work, and land is worth noting.

The article mentions briefly that some Indiana communities have said no to data centers. Others seem interested (as noted above). I wonder if data centers and less desirable land uses will cluster in red states or certain communities where they are seen more as business opportunities rather than community liabilities. If tech companies say they need data centers, presumably some places will approve their construction.

In this particular case, what if some of the data center activity that could go in the Chicago suburbs located in Illinois ends up in northwest Indiana? Will some Illinois and Indiana communities look back and think they missed an opportunity or will they be grateful they had the foresight to say no?

When suburbs resist affordable housing proposals, what positive outcomes are possible?

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The Chicago Tribune describes concerns leaders and residents of two North Shore suburbs have regarding affordable housing proposals:

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Case in point: Evanston’s Land Use Commission narrowly voted last Wednesday to recommend denial of a zoning application to build a 31-story, 430-unit apartment building in downtown Evanston. The tower would be among the tallest in all of Chicago’s suburbs. All the apartments would be studios, 1-bedrooms and 2-bedrooms, with 86 of the units deemed “affordable.”

The commission isn’t the last word on the project; the City Council will have that final say. But the 4-3 vote against the project reflected divisions within the community about growth. Speaking at the commission meeting, Chris Dillion, president of Chicago development firm Campbell Coyle (which isn’t developing the 605 Davis project that was the subject of the proceeding), clearly was frustrated: “Downtown Evanston cannot be preserved for only those who already are here. We need to make room for everyone,” he said, according to the Evanston RoundTable.

A majority of commissioners nonetheless thought the project was too big…

In Highland Park, another lakefront community about 14 miles north of Evanston, a fierce debate is underway about the redevelopment of a 28-acre vacant tract once the site of a Solo Cup factory. Prominent Chicago developer The Habitat Co. has proposed building 232 townhomes.

A recent meeting of the village’s Plan Commission on the project featured pointed criticisms, jeering and disruptions from residents complaining about the usual things when substantial residential developments are proposed — traffic and the impact on schools. But one resident complained that because some of the units were envisioned as rentals, the new residents would be “transient” and not invested in the future of Highland Park, according to a Tribune report.

The commission didn’t vote on whether to recommend approval, but a majority of commissioners expressed misgivings. Habitat partner Kathie Jahnke Dale said that any major reduction in the density, which already had been scaled back from a prior proposal, would lead the developer to walk away, likely leaving the site “vacant for another 15 years.”

This resistance is not unusual. For decades, suburbanites in the Chicago and across the United States have often resisted proposed developments that would bring denser and/or affordable units to their communities. Leaders and residents bring up concerns about noise, traffic, density out of line with the surrounding area, threats to property values and local quality of life, and concerns about the residents who would live in new residences.

Given this consistent opposition, what positive outcomes are possible regarding suburban proposals for affordable housing? Some thoughts on the possible options:

  1. Approval of the proposal in its initial form. This is rare. But there must be examples that could serve as models that others could learn from. What factors in suburbs lead to approving needed affordable housing from the start?
  2. A significantly smaller proposal. This happens quite a bit with proposals for suburban development: the initial pitch from the developer is considered and in the discussion with the community, the number of units is reduced. Take the Evanston example above slated for 31 stories and 430 units. Given the concerns expressed, perhaps the community would be okay with 15 stories and 200 or so units. Or with townhouses as in the second example, the density is reduced a bit with more open space provided. These changes can lessen the affordable housing contribution made but at least some affordable housing units are added.
  3. I do not know if proposals that are rejected all together can be positive. Perhaps it encourages an ongoing conversation in the community? Perhaps turning down a reasonable proposal galvanizes local efforts to support affordable housing?

For new affordable housing to be constructed in suburbs, my sense is that significant support needs to come from local leaders and residents who can articulate how this will benefit the community. Since many suburbanites will see such proposals as a threat, what about them adds to the community?

The reasons Americans give for fighting against data centers in their communities

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As the number of data centers in the United States is growing, some residents are fighting back:

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Meanwhile, grassroots resistance to unchecked growth is on the rise. In Memphis, locals are trying to shut down an xAI facility powered by turbines they say are polluting the air in a historically black community that already suffers high rates of respiratory illness. A couple in Georgia told reporters their water taps went dry after Meta broke ground on a $750 million development in Newton County. In suburban northern Virginia, where the massive warehouses have become a fixture of everyday life, citizens complain that the developments are encroaching on neighbourhoods and homes at an alarming rate. In Prince William County, locals have even coalesced to try to change local ordinances and put an end to the incessant low-grade roar produced by data centre cooling systems.

In Alabama, residents in McCalla and in the City of Bessemer are united against Project Marvel. “We might be fighting an uphill battle,” David says, “but we’re going to fight it to the very end.” Locals have spent months pouring over academic reports and technical documents, trying to understand how data centres have been received in other communities and what risks might attend the development. They’ve also built a substantial coalition of allies in opposition to the project location, if not to the project itself, including Jefferson County Commission President Jimmie Stephens, State Representative Leigh Hulsey, and a wide range of environmental and other public advocacy organisations.

Generally, American communities think growth is good but they do reserve the right to try to have growth on their terms.

Reading this article and seeing online conversation opposed to data centers near me, I wonder which if these factors is more influential in the concerns people have:

  1. The environmental costs of data centers including high water and electricity usage plus possible pollution and noise.
  2. The sense that a community could find or approve better uses for the land rather than for a data center. How many jobs will actually be generated? Will the community actually see some benefits?
  3. A sense that tech and/or certain companies are dangerous or they could corrupt communities.
  4. Resistance to a potential change in local character that having a data center might represent.

Some of these are common responses in American communities to proposals for land use and others are more specific to data centers.

According to this article, there are already over 5,000 data centers in the United States. How many communities will say no to data centers and which ones will say yes?

NIMBY wins by reducing the number of residential units

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One observer discusses how NIMBY efforts reach their goals:

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Sometimes working together, sometimes working separately, NIMBYs have manipulated a web of local laws and requirements—such as exclusionary zoning, minimum lot sizes, and parking minimums—to reduce production of homes. As with any production cap, the result is higher prices for new residents and higher profits for incumbents, and a transfer of wealth and power from buyers and renters to existing owners.

The article places this in the context of antitrust efforts. Local residents and officials are able to operate a monopoly with local land and regulations, thus limiting any competition. Loosen the monopoly’s hold, others can promote and build housing, and housing prices might be more reasonable and more units are available to those who could not otherwise more there.

In the suburban context, one of the reasons Americans tend to like suburbs is because of this local control. They want to buy a home in a community, enjoy the benefits of that community, and then see their property values appreciate as they are there for a while. More housing units is perceived to do multiple things: (1) threaten the amenities of the community – through density, traffic, new residents, etc. and (2) threaten property values.

The author describes efforts in Washington state to counter local NIMBY efforts. It sounds like efforts at the state level changed what local communities could do. It remains to be seen how much local change will now occur and it is not clear how many states would be willing to go as far as Washington. How many local residents would support state-wide efforts that could overrule community interests regarding housing/