Why neighborhood organizations matter: part 2

Neighborhood organizations serve as an important check on City overreach.

Why not all NIMBYism is bad

Often, neighborhood organizations' objections to a City proposal or development are rejected as NIMBYism, suggesting that any neighborhood opposition is uninformed or simply reactionary (as compared to all City decisions, which are inherently enlightened and well informed).

Robert Moses was never elected to public office, but through political influence gained control over several critical planning agencies in New York City from the 1920s through the 1960s, and is often credited with shaping the New York City we know today. But his policies often had a negative impact on low-income residents and communities of color. As an example, the construction of highways through many low income neighborhoods that took place under his direction displaced hundreds of thousands of residents.

While some of the first urban freeways were built in New York City, the Twin Cities later experienced much of the same pain of displacement due to highway construction--think Rondo Days in St. Paul, which recognizes the sacrifice of the Rondo neighborhood in St Paul for Highway 94.

The City of Minneapolis is not without its share of planning faux pas. In the 1970's, the City drew a white line around a circle of buildings in the Loring Park neighborhood, signaling the eventual demolition of numerous older brown stone apartment buildings and displacing hundreds of residents in order to build high-end condominiums, hotels, and of course the Minneapolis Convention Center. While the related creation of Nicollet Mall closed off one end of Nicollet, the siting of a K-Mart across Nicollet Avenue at Lake Street effectively suffocated businesses along Nicollet from Grant Street down to 28th St.

Needless to say, residents had little voice in any of these decisions.

We pay neighborhood organizations to bite the hand that feeds them.

During my time at NRP and NCR, we often quipped that "we pay neighborhoods to bite the hand that feeds them." By this we meant that neighborhood organizations played a critical role in giving residents a way to push back against City over-reach. The City does not always plan effectively or appropriately, nor do developers.

Neighborhood reactions are not always right either. But by their very existence, they force City officials and planners to think carefully about community impacts earlier in a planning process rather than later. Without neighborhood organizations, there is little check on or accountability for City authority.