Dennis Hincamp says Logan, Utah, where he lives, has an identity crisis when it comes to development, swinging wildly between pro-growth to NIMBY. He sees this as indicative of the relative youth of many cities in the American West.
"Most cities east of the Rockies have had several hundred years to mature into their current personality," argues Hincamp. "None of these places are anywhere near Logan, Utah."
Hincamp equates the chaotic development policies of Logan to a tempermental teenager:
"Policy moods swing wildly between pro-development mayors and ones who want to go back to family-friendly neighborhoods. We want to restore the downtown, but we keep building more big-box stores on cheap land near the city boundaries. We put in parking meters, then rip them out, like kids throwing tantrums. We're like teenagers who change their hair color to fit their mood. We just don't know who or what we are yet."
FULL STORY: The adolescent West
How an ‘Aversion to Change’ Worsens the Housing Crisis
A long-standing tradition of opposing multifamily housing construction continues to hamper housing production even as demand for affordable options grows.
The YIMBY-NIMBY Debate Gets 'Uninteresting'
Labels like "YIMBY" and "NIMBY" may be crude—but so what? One of them wants to solve America's housing crises. The other does not. Un-housed and under-housed people cannot wait for a perfect ideology to come along, writes Josh Stephens.
What Is NIMBYism and How Do Affordable Housing Developers Respond to It?
NIMBYism is often expressed as concerns about crime, congestion, schools, property values, and “quality of life.” But when developments are built these fears rarely come to pass.
Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?
In Both Crashes and Crime, Public Transportation is Far Safer than Driving
Contrary to popular assumptions, public transportation has far lower crash and crime rates than automobile travel. For safer communities, improve and encourage transit travel.
Report: Zoning Reforms Should Complement Nashville’s Ambitious Transit Plan
Without reform, restrictive zoning codes will limit the impact of the city’s planned transit expansion and could exclude some of the residents who depend on transit the most.
Judge Orders Release of Frozen IRA, IIJA Funding
The decision is a victory for environmental groups who charged that freezing funds for critical infrastructure and disaster response programs caused “real and irreparable harm” to communities.
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