{"id":31964,"date":"2025-11-18T11:29:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T11:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/?p=31964"},"modified":"2025-11-18T23:35:40","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T23:35:40","slug":"njmbys-and-yimbys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/njmbys-and-yimbys\/","title":{"rendered":"NJMBYs and YIMBYs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Not in my back yard!\u201d are the words Vic saying to the GenZers at the conference table. Holly looked concerned and had the ArlNOW paper on the table with bold type “NIMBYs fight YIMBYs!\u201d on the banner headline. \u201cI think the middle is missing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miles was getting is second cup of coffee and sat down across from her. \u201cYour humor about a serious effort by the wise civic leaders in our two Counties to make new housing available across a wide spectrum of social groups is appreciated. It may provide a topic we can feed into TAHE down there.\u201d He pointed at the box with the glowing lights at the end of the table near the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMissing Middle\u201d said Splash. \u201cAlthough they aren\u2019t. Our teachers, firemen and cops are huddled out past the Manassas Battlefield, and getting to jobs here is a tough haul. You remember what it was like to get from the office on New York Avenue back across the river with a gazillion other irritated commuters. Plus, even the Millennials are having a tough time buying the sort of houses their parents did. And that is after the inheritances have been spent on those outrageous student loans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Splash clicked the controller on the table and the wide-screen sprang to life. \u201cThis image is what caused the commotion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah,\u201d said Rocket. \u201cThat is why a lot of the Bureaucrats lived over here where they could purchase a modest home with good schools and common sense management. And then protect the investment. Socotra House supported the NIMBYs when the Missing Middle was proposed to eliminate the old zoning standards and open up the neighborhoods to improvement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Splash clicked the remote again to display another image. \u201cHere you go. Progress!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group leaned forward to see what had occurred to some of the modest houses in Fairfax. Rocket waved at the screen. \u201cThat is the house that caused the latest battle between NIMBYs and YIMBYs. They applied for the permit to build the addition out to the property line. It was approved by the County, and construction began legally until the neighbors who live in the shadow of the three story addition took the matter to court.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Holly threw up her hands. \u201cSo, they want to tell the owner that he can\u2019t do something to his own house that is fully legal and approved by the Zoning Board?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t the only one. Dozens were approved and completed. Others, like this one, are sprouting up and making people nervous.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is the nature of change in the urban environment.\u201d said Vic. “NIMBY. That is how we kept our neighborhoods of single family homes in Fairfax County. I owned two houses out here. I kept my lawns neat and yards ready for inspection.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miles frowned, \u201cBut the nature of things now means we need to provide options for affordable housing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Molly threw up her hands. \u201cBy throwing up three story additions to single story houses? With no parking? If I decide to settle down, I have to live in an upper story added to a ranch-style house?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is no wonder more guys want to get married than the young women. That is a function of some other impending Missing Middles,\u201d said Vapor as he settled into a chair near the head of the table near to the glowing image on the screen. “Like the population rate declining that produces a need to import some.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat is the consequence of attempting the change one house at a time. The developers are going to have to find a new acronym for what they are trying to do. Something warm and approachable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe seem to be shuttling between a converted condo in Arlington and a vibrant multi-story building in the thicket of new high rise in Fairfax. This area was farmland thirty-five years ago. The problem now is that every inch of the county belongs to people who want to keep things the way they are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Splash stood up to go do something interesting besides architecture that irritated. “You mean were. It isn\u2019t a missing middle any more. It is going straight up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYIMBY!\u201d shouted GenZ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Copyright 2025 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Not in my back yard!\u201d are the words Vic saying to the GenZers at the conference table. Holly looked concerned and had the ArlNOW paper on the table with bold type “NIMBYs fight YIMBYs!\u201d on the banner headline. \u201cI think the middle is missing.\u201d Miles was getting is second cup of coffee and sat down […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31970,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-socotra"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31964"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31969,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31964\/revisions\/31969"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}