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NIMBY Wars. The Politics of Land Use
Not long ago, few places ever said no to new real estate development. Growth meant jobs, tax revenue and progress. Smoke a cigar with the building inspector, pick up your permit, and invite the mayor to the groundbreaking photo. Then came smart growth, anti sprawl, environmental movements, historic preservationists and NIMBYs (those who said not in my backyard)At the same time, savvy business operators realized that using land use regulations to keep competitors out could protect profits far better than cutting prices after a rival's new store opened. NIMBY Wars shows how the arena of local land use regulation has been politicized and describes in explicit detail what developers - and their opponents - must do to win. Land use politics is a completely new and different discipline from the old-fashioned 'local fixer' method or the press release approach to project approval. Its practioners make no effort to peddle influence, or to waste time trying to educate; people who resolutely oppose a project. They do not treat the public as a market; to whom they sell; the project, and they do not harp on the developer's vision of the benefits that the project will bring the community. Instead, practitioners of land use politics practice politics - the process by which citizens decide who gets what. Land use politics is based on citizen advocacy, not professional lobbying or presentation. The difference is considerable, and the benefits of this approach are many. NIMBY Wars distills more than 25 years of experience in the trenches of land use battles, both for and against projects as varied as a hospital and an oil refinery. Readers will learn exactly what works and what doesn't work when it comes to influencing local decision-makers faced with a controversial development proposal. Even veterans of real estate development permitting will be surprised by the sophistication, cutting-edge tactics and effectiveness of the strategies described in NIMBY Wars.
226 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 13, 2014
The middle of this book is an argument about why any seeking to build something controversial should hire the authors, rather than relying on attorneys or local politicians to get their project approved. Having said that, I did learn a little bit from this book. In particular:
*The authors show that a project can be approved if the developer is willing to invest the resources needed to get local support. For example, any project involving new construction might get union support (if the construction is going to involve union labor). Business groups are more likely to support projects that will spread the tax burden away from them. A developer may get public support by promising to build amenities for nearby residents; for example, the authors gained public support for a client's office building by promising to donate nearby land to the city for a park. Of course, many of these amenities may make development more expensive, adding to some regions' high housing costs.
*Sometimes, Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY) opposition is really not from neighbors at all- especially in the retail context. Sometimes, the competitor of a proposed new store will secretly create and fund a citizens group in order to defeat the project. So if you read about anti-Wal Mart agitation, be aware that it really be coming from some other big box retailer!
*The last chapter uses a survey to show the unpopularity of new development in English-speaking nations- though (somewhat to my surprise) offices and multifamily housing are supported by about half the poll respondents. The most unpopular land uses are landfills, casinos, heavy industry, and Wal-Mart.
*The authors show that a project can be approved if the developer is willing to invest the resources needed to get local support. For example, any project involving new construction might get union support (if the construction is going to involve union labor). Business groups are more likely to support projects that will spread the tax burden away from them. A developer may get public support by promising to build amenities for nearby residents; for example, the authors gained public support for a client's office building by promising to donate nearby land to the city for a park. Of course, many of these amenities may make development more expensive, adding to some regions' high housing costs.
*Sometimes, Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY) opposition is really not from neighbors at all- especially in the retail context. Sometimes, the competitor of a proposed new store will secretly create and fund a citizens group in order to defeat the project. So if you read about anti-Wal Mart agitation, be aware that it really be coming from some other big box retailer!
*The last chapter uses a survey to show the unpopularity of new development in English-speaking nations- though (somewhat to my surprise) offices and multifamily housing are supported by about half the poll respondents. The most unpopular land uses are landfills, casinos, heavy industry, and Wal-Mart.
September 12, 2011
Interesting, but this book something of a very prolonged statement of the obvious: land use decisions are political! Really???
This is by some consultants -- guns for hire -- who use grassroots campaign techniques to support their clients who may be developers or opponents of projects (sometimes competing businesses). They use basic community organizing and political campaign techniques to support their clients' positions, including organizing grassroots community groups. They cite their success at defeating NIMBYs -- but also at defeating big box retail projects that would affect their clients (usually other big box retail). It's a bit cynical and more than a little manipulative -- but the tactics and techniques they use are nothing new. They're really making the case to developers that they need to do this sort of campaign and not just assume they can go before the city council and make their case and win, even after going through the motions of a community meeting or two. I think developers in the South Bay have known this for a long time, so maybe this isn't their market.
They conclude the book with a couple dozen case studies of successful advocacy or opposition to projects. Interesting, but they'd be more interesting if all of the projects they opposed had not been big box retail and also if they'd given an example or two of times they've lost.
NIMBY Wars was also of interest to me because I'm sort of doing what they do as a volunteer consultant for a community that's advocating an urban village plan and conversion of an abandoned railroad right-of-way to a trail or linear park -- and we're doing a lot of the things these consultants do. But it's not a NIMBY war, just basic community organizing.
My experience with that (and decades of community work) made me wonder how the consultants managed to gain trust when they just show up in a community and start organizing. I can't see how community folks would readily accept outsiders organizing them -- and not see through to the fact that the outsiders are paid professionals. Guns for hire.
This is by some consultants -- guns for hire -- who use grassroots campaign techniques to support their clients who may be developers or opponents of projects (sometimes competing businesses). They use basic community organizing and political campaign techniques to support their clients' positions, including organizing grassroots community groups. They cite their success at defeating NIMBYs -- but also at defeating big box retail projects that would affect their clients (usually other big box retail). It's a bit cynical and more than a little manipulative -- but the tactics and techniques they use are nothing new. They're really making the case to developers that they need to do this sort of campaign and not just assume they can go before the city council and make their case and win, even after going through the motions of a community meeting or two. I think developers in the South Bay have known this for a long time, so maybe this isn't their market.
They conclude the book with a couple dozen case studies of successful advocacy or opposition to projects. Interesting, but they'd be more interesting if all of the projects they opposed had not been big box retail and also if they'd given an example or two of times they've lost.
NIMBY Wars was also of interest to me because I'm sort of doing what they do as a volunteer consultant for a community that's advocating an urban village plan and conversion of an abandoned railroad right-of-way to a trail or linear park -- and we're doing a lot of the things these consultants do. But it's not a NIMBY war, just basic community organizing.
My experience with that (and decades of community work) made me wonder how the consultants managed to gain trust when they just show up in a community and start organizing. I can't see how community folks would readily accept outsiders organizing them -- and not see through to the fact that the outsiders are paid professionals. Guns for hire.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews