Rebutting Every NIMBY Argument You've Ever Heard
The secret to supporting housing in hard places
Last Saturday was my three-year anniversary as a paid professional advocate for affordable housing. To celebrate, I want to share a piece of writing from my early days as a volunteer that I think has stood the test of time: A rebuttal to every NIMBY argument known to humanity.
As a young housing advocate, I believed that I could convince most people who opposed new development to support it with reasoned and respectful debate. Four years later, that perspective has stood the test of time.
Here’s an excerpt of the introduction:
“Not in my backyard” opposition to housing, called NIMBYism, has many causes, some of them valid and important to recognize. But decades of research suggest people are reasonable. Show them the facts, treat them with respect, and they will change their minds. This piece is my attempt to provide rebuttals to every anti-housing argument out there for future advocates to use.
It’s a helpful, though imperfect, article I still refer back to. I’d be honored if you read it. Maybe it can help you convince some NIMBYs in your own life.
With love and gratitude,
Jeremy
P.S. Did you read the story? If not, it would really mean a lot to me if you do!
P.P.S. Happy April Fools!
Yes, it was my three year professional housing advocate anniversary last Saturday and yes, I did used to believe I could convince most NIMBYs to love, or at least accept, new housing if I respectfully presented enough logic and evidence. I still believe treating people with respect gets you a long way in politics. And it certainly helps to have evidence for your beliefs because being correct tends to lead to more effective policy making in the long run than being incorrrect.
But man, it turns out logic or evidence or a track record of being correct don’t have much impact on many people. Some don’t even value respect. In the past, I have attempted compiling compendia of arguments with which to respond to housing opponents. Having those arguments on hand can be helpful in some circumstances. On net, however, I’ve found that appealing to shared values of natural allies and building trust over time with current skeptics matters a lot more than honing a perfect argument. Knowing when not to engage at all because nothing productive will come of it also matters a lot. (Many people, notably
, told me this early on and it still took me many moons to accept.)I will have a real article coming out tomorrow morning. Subscribe now and stay tuned.
goddamn it.