NIMBY's create urban sprawl

In a number of past posts we have stressed the importance of "making the rules so your rival's won't," taken from Richard Shell's Make the Rules or Your Rival's Will, as an element of strategy. Now we hear that NIMBY's (Not In My Backyward) are becoming more important to the local zoning battles that are fought between rival hospitals, between rival supermarkets, and between Union and non Union firms. Most interestingly, they push development further out, exacerbating the problem of sprawl. From the Tennessean:

A survey ... found that 78 percent of Americans believe there should be absolutely no new development in their hometown. ... that 78 percent of Americans believe there should be absolutely no new development in their hometown. Once public officials believed buildings created jobs, tax dollars and votes.

Now, public sentiment argues that construction will create traffic, degrade the environment and ruin the quality of life. Pro-growth officials are punished at the polls, Saint said.

The demographic profile of a NIMBY, according to Saint, is a politically moderate, college-educated suburbanite between the ages of 45 and 65 with a household income of $100,000 or more. A supporter of development, meanwhile, tends to be a rural resident with an associate's degree and an annual income of $35,000.

If correct, that's bad for anti-sprawl activists. The key to urban redevelopment is getting builders to put stores, housing and other intense development close to places where people already live. But according to Saint, it's on a city's fringes where developers are least likely to face stiff opposition.