‘NIMBY’ to Neighbour

The Coalition has created a series of NIMBY to Neighbour fact sheets. Take a moment and discover learn about the impacts of affordable and social housing projects in neighbourhoods.

What is NIMBY?

NIMBY is a protectionist attitude that drives exclusionary and oppositional tactics often used by community members and/or groups facing an unwelcome development in their neighbourhood.

Often, NIMBY is rooted in the perceived conflict between a proposed development and that of the lifestyle or investment expectations of existing residents and can range from concerns of the perceived behaviours of residents to traffic and design issues.

What is the Purpose?

The intention of these documents is to highlight the facts relating to common NIMBY concerns that arise from public engagement through the project approval phase of development. There are typically six common themes that emerge when talking about issues related to NIMBY and each will be explored in this series of Fact Sheets. This information is designed to better inform the ongoing conversations between project proponents, elected officials, community members and the media to encourage collaboration and dialogue between stakeholders in support of the development of additional housing options throughout the region.

  1. Property Values Often residents are concerned that the introduction of affordable housing into the neighbourhood will have a negative impact on the surrounding property values.
  2. Crime and Safety Often residents are concerned that affordable housing will host unsavory characters that could increase the threat of property and/or person crime, thus undermining the feeling of safety.
  3. Density Residents often comment that more affordable development will increase density, make the streets more congested and create additional strain on the urban infrastructure.
  4. Neighbourhood Character There is a perception among some residents that affordable housing will be built from low quality materials and that it will not be aesthetically pleasing or well integrated. The feeling is that this would undermine the neighbourhood character.
  5.  Stigma Residents sometimes feel that with additional affordable housing options will come an influx of residents from other communities that may not share similar values or social norms.
  6. “Fair Share” Some residents comment that their neighbourhood may already have its fair share of affordable housing and that it is time for developers to look elsewhere.