Not in my backyard: Zoning battles are heating up — and the NIMBY crowd has emerging opposition

Supporters of development and zoning reform have won several high-profile victories across the country this year, providing the latest twists in an ongoing housing fight that stretches to every corner of the United States. 

A Redfin survey in September found 78% of people support policies that promote building more housing, but just 32% said they would feel good about an apartment complex being built in their own neighborhood. About 20% would feel bad about it.

That goes for not only homeowners, but also renters in roughly the same proportions, the survey showed. 

“Personal preferences for things like a quiet neighborhood or old-fashioned charm are often at odds with building new housing,” said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather. “Even though so many Americans believe in building new, dense housing in theory, that ideology isn’t strong enough to outweigh their own desires — especially when they don’t stand to directly benefit from the building. That’s why it’s so difficult to overcome community opposition to dense new housing, even during a time when so many Americans believe in the Yes In My Backyard movement.”

About 83% of self-identified Democrats support policies to build more housing, according to the Redfin data, alongside 75% of self-identified Republicans. About 23% of Democrats would feel bad about a new apartment complex in their neighborhood, compared to 37% of Republicans.

Fairweather said the Republican-dominated South is building more houses than other regions, at least when it comes to single-family homes, with 570,000 permits in August alone. That’s more than twice as many as any other region and up 10% from the same time last year.

“There are YIMBYs and NIMBYs on both sides of the aisle,” Fairweather said. “That’s part of the reason it’s so difficult to push through policies that promote dense housing. “

To read more: https://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/news/2023/11/13/nimby-yimby-real-estate-development-pandemic-covid.html