Graphic Content: Am I a NIMBY?

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jim

Sadly the comments only bear out one thing and that is that no one ever admits to being a Nimby and that everyone has managed to rationalize thier position and justify thier cause . The reality is that we all want to be safe and comfortable and when either of these states are threatened we don’t like it and look for blame or oppose the change. Reality is things change andsometimes not always the way you want it to and you can’t always control it. The task then is to try and help everyone make the best of it in a s supportive non-adversarial way and from my experieince this usually works out better. This view is based on being involved in change in Ontario for almost 50 years.

I repeat no one ever admits to being a NIMBY just like I have never met a manager who claims to have a closed door policy
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9:00 am on December 30, 2012

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sparkler89

Wait a minute, solely due to the condo under construction across from my house and my extremely close proximity to a subway station, I am a NIMBY? I thought I simply lived contently across the street from a condo (less than 100 units) and in close proximity to a subway. Silly flow chart.
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2:32 am on December 30, 2012

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Leonard

I am a proud NIMBY – “Think globally, act locally” – If you do the dirty to the world, and I can see it or smell it, of course I’ going to oppose it.
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2:58 pm on December 29, 2012

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Sarah

I am a NIMBY. But sadly, this flow chart doesn’t have a path to the thing I am tired of having in my backyard – a public housing unit that the police attend several times weekly, where the residents sit out on the sidewalk and smoke crack, and that I don’t feel safe walking past. But yes, it was there before I was, so I guess it’s my fault. My fault for buying a house in an up-and-coming area, an urban spot that is going through gentrification. My fault for being one of the many people on my street who are trying our best to turn a once sad area into something pretty and safe and friendly. But if I say out loud, in certain company, that the transition will only be complete when Crack Towers (our affectionate local name for it) is torn down, then somebody will call me a NIMBY. So I guess I am. But I’m proud to be one, because I’m proud to care enough about my community to want those that don’t care about it to get the hell out and go live somewhere where nobody else cares either. It’s not like any of them are enjoying the beautiful things our ‘hood has to offer, like the access to the lake and the parks and the awesome farmer’s market we now have. They can be drunk or high on the sidewalk anywhere and it won’t make a difference to them. And the city could use the land that Crack Towers sits on – one of the most prime pieces of real estate in the city – for much better things, and for people who respect and care about living here. Whether you believe affordable housing is a privilege or a right, it should always come with a level of responsibility to keep it clean and safe and to contribute to the community you have the privilege of living in, rather than making it worse. If you can’t do that, don’t be surprised when a whole lot of NIMBYs suddenly start pointing the finger at you. Because we have rights too, you know. Go Nimbys!
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2:22 pm on December 29, 2012

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Turk182

Oh Sarah, I cheer for your opponents! May your property values plummet, oh dehumanizer! It is literally people like you…. Well, the city will succeed AND succeed for ALL of its residents, no matter what all the awful, neo-Fordites like you do to stop it. Yeah, I know, you never voted for him…

Please, move to Burlington, near the lake, where it’s really beautiful, and they also have parks and farmers markets, and tons of people that feel exactly the way you do. You’ll think, my God, I have reached the Promised Land! And property values are going up there, too — plus with all the extra space and the money you’ll save you can put in that backyard swimming pool you’ve always wanted. I’m telling you, Sarah, moving your family to Burlington is a win-win deal for all of us!
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6:48 pm on December 29, 2012
westside99

I wonder how many times you’ve actually spent time in these apartments or engaged the people who live there. Surely you’re not so silly as to think only crackheads live there (and there is a difference between living somewhere and hanging out there)…or perhaps you can only think in generalizations and tiny boxes. How do you think the parents who live there feel about the activity happening in *their* actual front and backyard? Your name for the buildings is not affectionate, but smug and typical. To suggest that those who live in affordable housing do not care about their living conditions and do not contribute to their community is beyond ridiculous.

Your attempts to make your community pretty and friendly won’t go far with such an ugly and elitist mindset. You need to consider your own privilege.

Sell while the market is hot and, as suggested, move to Burlington. It’s attitudes like yours that I don’t want in my backyard.
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10:05 pm on December 29, 2012
Sarah

Dehumanize? How dare you? Obviously, Turk, you have never been a woman walking down the street who has had men yell at her. Even worse when those men are high or drunk – not only are you dehumanized, but you are in danger. Don’t preach to me about how my wish to have such people gone from my street is dehumanizing. You have no idea, and your comments are ill-informed and offensive. In fact, Turk, I’m not concerned about property values. I’m concerned about people who think that living in the city means you get to be abused every time you walk down your own street. I’m concerned about people who think that city living has to involve giving up safety and the right to enjoy your own life to accommodate people who have no respect for the community or each other or themselves. Sorry to disappoint Turk, but I also ride a bike everywhere, I don’t own a car, I eat locally grown food, I work from home and I’d slash my own wrists before I’d vote for that buffoon mayor of ours. In short, I DO NOT belong in Burlington. I belong in this city as much as you or anyone else. Possibly more than you do, because unlike you, rather than get bogged down in blind political correctness, I actually go out and do things to improve the place I’m living for myself and my neighbours. I’m just as poor as any of the people living in Crack Towers, and I’m raising kids on my own, but I don’t use that as an excuse to disrespect everyone else, and to take advantage of the goodwill of others. And at least I am not afraid to stand up and say what many of the rest of us are thinking, rather than hide behind whatever cloak of political correctness you seem to be behind. Wake up, move to my neighborhood with your daughters and see how you feel then.
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10:25 pm on December 29, 2012
Sarah

And westside, yes I HAVE spent time in those tiny apartments. I HAVE engaged those people. I have had them into my home. I have taken their children, with mine, on outings. And that has changed nothing. The people in that building – including those parents – are still abusive, to each other and to passersby on the street. And I HAVE walked in their shoes, and worked my way out of them. So, until you have walked in mine, it’s probably better that you don’t make assumptions.
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10:35 pm on December 29, 2012
westside99

I asked, I didn’t say you had or had not done any of those things. No assumptions are necessary, you are demonstrating it all.
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10:46 pm on December 29, 2012
Sarah

westside – another assumption. Good for you. Must be awesome to be holier than thou. Or am I just assuming that?
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1:11 am on December 30, 2012
alecto

We have a “Crack Towers” (TCHC lowrise apartment) around the corner from us too, and yes its residents are frequently a pain, but these people need a place to live too. Would the neighbourhood be so much better off if a condo full of self-absorbed yuppie pricks or frat boys moved there instead? Maybe not.

I’d rather see “Crack Towers” interspersed throughout all of Toronto’s neighbourhoods rather than all concentrated into one area, which would then become an inferno of horror. One “Crack Towers” in a neighbourhood will not destroy its character. If it makes you uncomfortable, cross the street while you’re passing it. That said, my opinion would be much different if the Crack Towers was right next door to me.
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8:59 am on December 30, 2012

John Murdoch

Alas, the article’s premise is inaccurate. (Shocking to find inaccuracy in the newspapers today, isn’t it?)

The term NIMBY was originally used to describe the all-too-predictable citizen outrage over property takings by eminent domain. Specifically, for high-voltage power lines. “Of course everyone wants electricity,” said the earnest mom at the public hearing, “just Not In My Back Yard.” The term began as an electric utility industry inside joke.

(I design digital energy meters for the Smart Grid. And yes–thanks for asking!–I do have a high-voltage power line running through my yard.)
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12:53 pm on December 29, 2012

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Patch

I agree with comments such as “flowchart is rubbish…” Is there a point to this silly column – other than the graphics in the chart which are well done? Filling space on a slow news day I’d say.
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8:54 am on December 29, 2012

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Mark MacGuigan

Your flowchart is rubbish, and it’s neither funny nor entertaining. So what’s the point of this thing?
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1:08 am on December 29, 2012

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Blu_butterfly

This flow chart was stupid. And please tell me what fluoridated water has to do with being a NIMBY or not? Maybe I just don’t agree with government adding poison to my drinking water. Do a little research before you throw that out there…
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10:12 pm on December 28, 2012

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Anonymous

So you’re into drinking untreated water then blaming the government for not protecting you? If you don’t like “fluoridated water”, why do you put this poison on your teeth?
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6:41 am on December 29, 2012
College Park

Opposition to development and health paranoias often mingle: its an odd but consistent political reality. The flow chart is satirical (not to be confused with a documentary or essay) and is striking up negative responses because it is hitting the mark.
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2:47 pm on December 29, 2012

Vote NDP in the next federal-provincial election

Its time to BAN NIMBYism movements.

If we keep this up then we wont have certain services that the public depends on. The only reason to have the NIIMBYism is if the following were built near residential places.
-correctional facilities
-coal fired power plants
-oil refineries
-chemical plants
-landfills
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6:04 pm on December 28, 2012

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westside99

How is making a factory move civic concern when it screws over the people who work there? Move where? Away from other residential areas which can mean little to no access by transit? Or just to less cool areas?
How about a lane for affordable housing?

This is absolutely useless.
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10:42 am on December 28, 2012

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Denise

Hey, this is a good point, I had an affordable housing path for the condo q in the original version, but there wasn’t room on the page (designed for print, web a poor second cousin).

d.
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7:55 pm on December 28, 2012

Robb Black

I don’t live in Toronto but this flow chart makes no sense and is stupid.
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3:38 pm on December 14, 2012

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halvdansvarte

SNEFU
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10:01 am on December 29, 2012
Turk182

But Robb, I think that’s part of the point. Toronto by its very nature requires compromises that smaller cities, towns, and rural areas may not need or even think of. There’s a lot of room for windmills along lake Huron, not so many along Lake Ontario — but we still need electricity in Toronto, don’t we? And even our most conservative plans still have to fit another million people into the city within a few decades, so the density must go up significantly. More compromise.

This is true in the suburbs as well. Don’t think NIMBYism doesn’t hamper business in Mississauga, or Oakville, or Markham. The entire GTA — from end to end to end — must make massive changes in the coming years. Compromise MUST be the order of the day, NIMBYism be damned.

We should remember that The Grid is specifically geared to the core of the city. And that’s okay. The Star is a big newspaper, and is allowed to cover issues that matter to readers on both sides of Bloor. Likewise, the article on reviving hockey in Malton is a good read, even though I don’t live in Malton.
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6:29 pm on December 29, 2012

Varun

way to go d-bags. you insulted the most people with the least effort.
but yes. it does look suitably hip to draw up the flow diagram and sneer from the side
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11:13 am on December 14, 2012

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anon222

well done!
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6:14 pm on December 13, 2012

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Alex

What’s the justification versus 300 units being not Nimby and 100 being nimby.

Also would be good if this article mentioned the clean train coalition, the ultimate nimbys.
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8:15 pm on December 12, 2012

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jmw18

How selfish of the Clean Train Coalition, they want the line electrified so it can stop at multiple locations so lots of people can use it on a daily basis. How dare them try to make a difference in their community.
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7:42 pm on December 13, 2012
S.

How dare the Clean Train Coalition push the government into providing what they promised (i.e., electrified rail) instead of reneging on a plan that they made for political gain?

I mean, it’s not like electrified rails are going to make more stops and therefore serve the needs of both the community and surrounding areas. It’s not like Ontario needs a better, more comprehensive transit plan (so what if people commuting in from Mississauga have to stop at Union first and then have to take the subway up to Bloor?). When you think about it, electrification makes no sense. Why have multiple, smaller trains running daily in both directions, when you can instead have a huge behemoth half-filled with passengers running during rush hour only?

It’s not like electrified rail is more environmentally friendly. It’s not like diesel fuel has been linked to health problems or environmental degradation. I mean, it’s not like Europeans stopped using it for any rational reason. And besides, who wants to be like Europe?

It’s not like the Chief Medical Officer of Toronto has advocated against it. McGuinty says it’s fine…so it must be, right? Premier Dad wouldn’t push through an agenda despite widespread opposition, would he (nah. Full day Kindergarten makes so much financial sense)?

It’s not like the government has plans to increase the frequency of non-passenger diesel trains on the line. It IS kind of like moving in next to a two lane road and then having it converted into a multi-lane public highway. It IS like moving into a town with one garbage dump and then, 15 years later, finding out they’re planning to put in a second, larger one (oh, hi Vaughan).

From my understanding, Clean Train ISN’T against having the trains there (most of the residents moved in knowing full well that they lived near the rail path). However, they are against being lied to about plans for betterment, when the alternative is to actually decrease the health and well-being of the community and city at large. Even the status quo would be acceptable in light of plans to increase diesel train frequency.

For the record, I’m NOT a resident of Davenport nor a member of Clean Train. Just someone who’s interested in government accountability, good health, and seeing some sustainable practices finally implemented in this bloody province.
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1:44 pm on December 16, 2012
jim

if you want to get cancer from diesel exhaust (no joke and scientifically proven) why don’t you buy an effin’ house on the train line a-hole
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9:42 pm on December 28, 2012

Sean

Too bad the people who “will be so good at community meetings” invariably never actually attend community meetings.
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5:49 pm on December 12, 2012

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mushys pappy

What’s in my backyard? A 12 lane highway.
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2:41 pm on December 12, 2012

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Tom West

If it’s already there, then you’re not a NIMBY – because there’s nothing you wouldn’t want in your backyard rather than the highway.
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8:13 pm on December 12, 2012
MHF

I’m trying to process Tom West’s double negative and figure out what he intended to say.
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12:56 am on December 29, 2012

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