This article examines how opponents to human service facilities in San Pedro, CA employed a romanticized construction of a close-knit European immigrant community to veil white privilege and exclude ‘special needs’ housing clients. Special needs’ clients were conflated with non-white residents in line with racist stereotypes of dependency.
Understanding and overcoming the NIMBY syndrome
Written for planners, advocates and service providers, this paper focuses on understanding and overcoming NIMBY opposition to the siting of human services facilities. It examines the nature of community opposition (arguments and tactics), factors determining community attitudes (client, facility, and host community characteristics) and a guide to alternative strategies for community relations (community-, government- and…
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Housing Homeless People: Local Mobilization of Federal Resources to Fight NIMBYism
This article examines how a non-profit agency in Albany, New York mobilized federal resources to successfully challenge NIMBYism and local exclusionary zoning policies for a proposed housing development for homeless people. Specifically, the author argues that the agency’s aggressive position on housing discrimination along with their utilization of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban…
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Government Responsiveness: A Democratic Value with Negative Externalities?
Through an examination of the siting of unwanted facilities, including homeless shelters, in two Swedish cities, this paper argues that residents’ political resources affect the siting of facilities. Since public consultations for locally unwanted land uses (LULUs) are required in Sweden, societal inequalities are reproduced through political responsiveness. The authors thus question participatory decision making’s…
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Overcoming Community Opposition to Homelessness Sheltering Projects under the National Homelessness Initiative
Through an examination of 14 case studies, this paper seeks to understand and overcome NIMBY opposition to sheltering facilities in Canada. The author argues that NIMBY opposition is often based on fears and prejudice that need to be addressed through awareness raising and by engaging opponents. It outlines various best practices and makes recommendations to…