Understanding the Varieties of NIMBYism

Richard Florida shares insights into a recent white paper published in December 2016 by Paavo Monkkonen, which "sheds interesting new light on the connection between NIMBYism and housing affordability. It takes a deep dive into, on the one hand, neighborhood opposition and land use restrictions, as well as housing supply and housing costs in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and California’s other expensive housing markets."

According to Florida, Monkkonen identifies in the white paper "four different strains of NIMBYism and their underlying motivations." That taxonomy of opposition, with more detail in the article responds to the following concerns: 1) traffic and parking, 2) strains on services, environmental preservation, and 4) neighborhood character.

Monkkonen also posits four strategies for surmounting the obstructionist effects of NIMBYs: 1) better use of existing housing policies, 2) inclusive planning, 3) better data, information, and nonpartisan analysis, and 4) and a shift in land use power to the regional level.

Not mentioned in Florida's analysis of the white paper (but another motivating factor for NIMBYism that often goes unrecognized) are communitarian interests (as opposed to self-interest, i.e., concern about property values), as described in a blog post by Prof. Lisa Schweitzer last year.