It’s taken a long time, but there’s been quite a shift in the face of the traditional Not In My Back Yard or NIMBY as they’re affectionately known.
Decades ago, the acronym was used almost exclusively to describe the upper-middle-class and wealthy Americans who would come pouring out of hilltop, island, or gated communities to protest planning for something being built they felt was going to adversely impact either their real estate values or their cherished upper-crusty school systems.
It also gave rise to the exasperated, eye-rolling BANANA – Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone – thanks to the infrastructure gridlock caused by the NIMBIES and their political power when they got their dander up. It didn’t matter what was needed at the time or how minimally intrusive the plans were. If well-heeled NIMBIES decided it offended their tender sensibilities, you might as well…
