Us Against Them: Nimby Fights Get Us Going

Nimbyism--organizing to oppose local development--is “rampant” in Maryland and nationwide, and it has roots deep in our psyches that go way beyond trying to preserve idyllic suburban enclaves, experts say.

Nimby. If you haven't heard of it, it stands for "not in my back yard."

“So much of the animosity comes from people who feel they’ve lost control of things,” said Roger Panetta, a history professor at Fordham University who has studied such issues for more than 20 years. “They fight over those little battles very intensely because they see them as harbingers of more change.”

The sour economy hasn’t helped either, Panetta said.

“In times of economic difficulties, people are going to be super sensitive to that,” he said. “And they have behaved that way because, frequently, when those intrusions came into the community, people fled.”

These “little battles” have played out across the suburban D.C. and Baltimore region this year with, at times, ferocious dedication. Hundreds of residents , , hosted —and have even , complete with signs and slogans, in efforts to block or modify projects in their neighborhoods.

The protests over development in the region come amid national indicators that public distrust of government is growing: 89 percent of Americans distrust “government to do the right thing,” according to a recent New York Times/CBS News poll.

“You can’t just trample on people’s families, homes and living,” said longtime Eldersburg resident Bob Leatherwood to discuss an unauthorized walking trail in his neighborhood. That sentiment seems to sum up the Nimby zeitgeist.

Protests in our area include:

• The fight in Reisterstown and Owings Mills. Hundreds of residents organized to oppose a water tower being built in their neighborhood. They said they were concerned the two million gallon water tank, needed in part to meet demands, would hurt property values. Residents prevailed. Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz of possible locations in residential areas.

• A spat among residents in Eldersburg recently broke out over a rogue trail built by an activist behind the backyards of several homes. It after in which homeowners complained about the proximity of the trail to their homes and the lack of community input on its location. County officials are now in the midst of

• There is an ongoing battle over a proposed intermodal railroad facility in Elkridge. There are more than 300 where CSX and Maryland Department of Transportation are interested in building a train-truck cargo transfer station. Residents have said they are concerned about property values declining, their quality of life deteriorating and health issues arising as a result of the large-scale operation that would service more than 900 trucks a day.

What’s the best way to say ‘No comment?’

Nimbyism, according to Wikipedia, is a “pejorative” term and some local and state officials didn't want to touch it, declining to comment on whether neighborhood opposition to development has increased.

"Thanks for the [interview] request, but I think I’m going to pass,” wrote Department of Planning spokesman Andy Ratner in an email.  “I don’t have a strong feel for the topic.”

One Howard County planning official mistakenly cc’d Patch on an email to the Howard County spokesman, Kevin Enright, with this response to questions on whether Nimbyism was more fervent than in the past:

“Kevin:  So, what’s the best/appropriate/acceptable way to say ‘no comment’?” she wrote.

Ultimately, Bill Mackey, the division chief of comprehensive and community planning in Howard County’s planning department, said he’s seen a decrease in development or government construction projects submitted in general during an ailing economy.

“If there were any projects that might have raised the sort of concerns that you’re hearing about in other jurisdictions, we haven’t seen that here,” he wrote.

‘People don’t like change’

Janet Wagner, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Maryland, said Nimbyism is “rampant.”

And she agreed with Panetta – people are mobilizing to protest development in their backyards due to a larger sense of distrust in society’s institutions.

“I think is that there is distrust in both government and business to act in the best interest of the public,” said Wagner, who teaches at the university’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

Also, “certainly, people don’t like change,” she said.

Individual Nimbys, often educated residents in the suburbs who are increasingly adept on social media, are powerful and do often get developers and governments to make concessions, she said.

“The United States is a very noisy democracy,” she said. “When a developer, when a business decides to develop a property, they know there’s going to be pushback. Look at Walmart, they get pushback every time.”

Asking “what kind of community do we want?” is critical to preventing the vitriol that generally rises when a project meets Nimby status, Panetta said.

And, it’s never really about the individual project. It’s the potential for one project to lead to another, and then another, he said.

“These issues are all Trojan horses,” Panetta said. “People imagine in them multiple, other sequential problems.”

- With reporting from Elizabeth Janney and Valerie Bonk.

Had any Nimby activity in your neighborhood? Are you a Nimby and proud of it? Respond in the comments.