NIMBY’s Gone Wild

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Since I have been selling real estate, there have always been NIMBY’s (Not In My Back Yard) show up at planning commissions and protest against high-density developments based upon emotions gone wild instead of looking at the merits of the specific submission by the developer.  I am not naive enough to think that every proposed high-density development plan is manna from heaven.  There are definitely bad plans served up for our consumption.  But when a good plan is submitted and dismissed out of hand as the second coming of the devil, I feel I need to point out the fallacies of the NIMBY mantra.

Assumption #1:  Higher-density developments overburden public schools and other public services and require more infrastructure support systems.

The United States Census Bureau has determined that for every one hundred, single-family detached homes built, there are 64 school-aged children that live there.  Compare that number with 21 kids living in the same number of apartment units.  For some reason, people incorrectly assume that with an increase in housing units there is also an increase in the number of people who live in each unit.  In addition, by building more housing in a smaller area there is less need for lengthy water and sewer lines, expensive sidewalks and curbs, and linear feet of roadway.

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