'NIMBY' Too Gentle a Word: How About 'New Urban Luddites'?

Richard Florida sets the stakes for this discussion of land use politics thusly: "NIMBYism has grown substantially over time, and it now erupts in opposition to all manner of new development. This behavior isn’t just selfish; it’s destructive. By limiting density and clustering, NIMBYs hold back the urban innovation that powers growth."

Those stakes are why Florida prefers to call NIMBYs by a new term: the New Urban Luddites. According to Florida, "New Urban Luddism is codified in the enormous and complex thicket of zoning laws and other land use regulations that restrict the supply of housing in many cities," but simply rescinding land use regulations isn't the solution to the challenges posed by New Urban Luddites. "What our cities need is not just deregulation, but a reformed land use system that, together with broad changes in the tax system, increased investment in transit, and a shift from single-family homes to rental housing, can help create the kinds of density, clustering, and talent mixing that the urbanized knowledge economy requires."