What Are "NIMBY's"???

Perhaps it is wise to consider the ultimate "ANTI-NIMBY" in order to define the term: Robert Moses. These are the "progress is our most important product" people, and don't stand in its way because we'll all be better off if you do it the way I say.

Think the pendulum is swinging towards responsible consideration of environmental and sociological impacts away from the "damn the complainers, full speed ahead" mentality of the 50's and 60's, and maybe that's a good thing.


Ocala Mike

Perhaps it is wise to consider the ultimate "ANTI-NIMBY" in order to define the term: Robert Moses

OTC, it was Moses and his ilk that helped along the rise of the NIMBY as a force—in particular, the NIMBY resistance to the Lower Manhattan Expressway.

This may be satire, but it is a perfect example of the kind of NIMBY-ism that has cost the Boston-area its fare share of LRT lines in recent decades.

Arborway wrote:This may be satire, but it is a perfect example of the kind of NIMBY-ism that has cost the Boston-area its fare share of LRT lines in recent decades.

Arborway is one but you can add the old Lexington Branch to the equation and I’m not talking about the Red Line extension. That line would be suitable for commuter rail.

Tadman wrote:This is geographically OT, but here's a neato NIMBY story:

In South Bend, my hometown, there's a former Michigan Central branch owned by NS, but not used for 15 years - it was originally a through route that became a branch under PC. The last customer was the coal power plant at Notre Dame. Now the University receives coal by truck at the ND coal yard, and a GE center cab shuttles the coal a mile to the powerplant by rail. A local entrepreneur wanted to reactivate the line, and was willing to pay with his own money to start this railroad. He had about four customers, and didn't ask for any gov't money. What did the city do? The mayor told people that we would be reactivating "Dangerous railroad crossings". Translation: "there's an election coming up and I need a cause!"

Many governments buy their local railroad when it goes under to keep businesses in town - witness WSOR, WNYP, CSS, etc... In fact, we've already got a state supported railroad in South Bend - the South Shore. It's not like people aren't aware that a railroad is a public good, we just have a mayor that BS'd a bunch a NIMBYs into believing a railroad is a dangerous social ill. Never mind the coal trucks continue to roll to ND over public highways, rather than private fixed steel guideways...

Tadman: I’m curious to know what happened; is it still an ongoing fight or was it killed?

I-95 has a 'missing link' thru Hopewell and Amwell, NJ the ONLY portion of I-95 not built due to NIMBY. The way it ended up I-95N [if you don't leave onto a side route] turns into I-295S and the un-initiated could drive past Phila into NJ and follow the road back around all the way to Delaware if they didn't pay attention to the little signs pointing out the side routes to the NJ TPK which has apprpriated the I-95 name...