NIMBY

NIMBY (ˈnɪmbi, or nimby), an acronym for the phrase "not in my back yard", is a characterization of opposition by residents to proposed developments in their local area, as well as support for strict land use regulations. It carries the connotation that such residents are only opposing the development because it is close to them and that they would tolerate or support it if it were built farther away. The residents are often called nimbys, and their viewpoint is called nimbyism. The opposite movement is known as YIMBY for "yes in my back yard". Some examples of projects that have been opposed by nimbys include housing development, high-speed rail lines, homeless shelters, solar farms, incinerators, day cares, sewage treatment systems, fracking, and nuclear waste repositories. Developments likely to attract local objections include: Infrastructure development, such as new roads and motorway service areas, light rail and metro lines, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, airports, power plants, retail developments, sales of public assets, electrical transmission lines, wastewater treatment plants, landfills, sewage outfalls and prisons; Waste facility development, e.g. exploration of disposal sites for nuclear/radiation waste; The extraction of mineral resources including ore, aggregates and hydrocarbons from mines, quarries and oil wells or gas wells, respectively; Renewable energy generators, such as wind farms and solar panels; Businesses trading in goods perceived as immoral, such as adult video, liquor stores, and medical cannabis dispensaries; Accommodations perceived as primarily benefiting disadvantaged people, such as subsidized housing for the financially disadvantaged, supportive housing for the mentally ill, congregate living care homes (as for the developmentally disabled), halfway houses for drug addicts and criminals, and homeless shelters for those with no fixed address; Services catering to certain stigmatized groups (for example, injection drug users), such as methadone clinics, syringe exchange programmes, drug detoxification facilities, supervised injection site; Large-scale developments of all kinds, such as big-box stores and housing subdivisions.