Managing Local Opposition to Affordable Housing: A New Approach to NIMBY

Journal of Affordable Housing and Community Development, Vol. 12, No. 1, p. 78, 2002

44 Pages Posted: 3 Oct 2007

See all articles by Tim Iglesias

Tim Iglesias

University of San Francisco - School of Law

Abstract

The development of affordable housing and services for low and moderate income households has been plagued by local opposition (commonly referred to as the not-in-my-back-yard or NIMBY syndrome) for decades. Many affordable housing developers view local opposition is the most important barrier to development after insufficient subsidy. A hardening of racial and economic attitudes and increasing opposition to growth and development of all kinds suggest that local opposition is likely to remain and even get worse. Based upon the experience of two successful multi-year regional projects to confront local opposition in the San Francisco Bay Area, this article proposes a novel approach to local opposition called Managing Local Opposition (MLO) that combines proactive planning by the developer with legal strategies, community organizing and public relations strategies.

Keywords: housing, affordable housing, NIMBY, discrimination, legal strategies, managing local opposition, development, land use, low income, community development, growth, planning, zoning, race, class, community organizing, public relations, media relations

Suggested Citation

Iglesias, Tim, Managing Local Opposition to Affordable Housing: A New Approach to NIMBY. Journal of Affordable Housing and Community Development, Vol. 12, No. 1, p. 78, 2002, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1018536

Tim Iglesias (Contact Author)

University of San Francisco - School of Law ( email )

2130 Fulton Street
San Francisco, CA 94117
United States

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