I grew up in this area and still have family who live just down the road! The large grocery store was a Farm Fresh, which had the most amazing fried chicken. (The story about who got the rights to the recipe after the chain shut down a few years ago is an interesting one.) The city recently changed a bunch of the surrounding intersections to include indirect left-hand turns. It remains a pedestrian nightmare!
"Much of what we call NIMBYism is in fact a logical position based on the kind of places we have built."
There's something to this, but it's not everything. This theory would predict that NIMBYism would be less intense in places that are largely car-free (Lower Manhattan, for example). But the residents there complain just as much about new development as any suburbanite, although they may be less likely to mention parking. A lot of people just instinctively dislike change and growth.
True, and perhaps it's useful to distinguish between quotodian NIMBYism ("I think this change will make my life harder") and moral NIMBYism ("I think the current order is good and right, and you should not change it").
Nimbyist complaints in Manhattan are often as not aesthetic (the hideousness of new buildings). They'd have no problem with the same number of people in a graceful prewar building.
As someone who was born and raised in Manhattan, I can categorically state that NIMBYism is alive and well.
In Manhattan, the coin of the realm is air, light and unobstructed views.
Threaten any one of those values and you will have a fight. Apartment, co-ops, and condos are priced based on the access to any of the elements noted above. The reasons stated for resisting development may not identify air, light and unobstructive views, but I can almost guarantee they will be in the mix, see:
I don't think that's true. I've attended public meetings where people vehemently objected to perfectly nice new buildings going up on a literal parking lot. There's no reasonable level of aesthetic care that can satisfy NIMBYs.
"Churchill insisted that the shape of the old Chamber was responsible for the two-party system which is the essence of British parliamentary democracy: 'we shape our buildings and afterwards our buildings shape us.'"
I'm the sort who loves being out in public but also dislikes crowds. My ideal bar or coffee shop experience is when it's maybe half-filled. When I lived in a dense neighborhood, I could shape the rhythm of my life to be slightly off the crowded times (eg. go out to dinner on a Monday or Tuesday either earlier or later than the rush, or get up earlier before church on Sunday to enjoy a laid-back morning at the coffee shop). When I was in grad school, I would go to matinee art films downtown on weekdays and have the place to myself. Economies of scale end up providing opportunities for solitude that are actually sustainable.
For those who do like the fully-empty vibe, this is arguably easier to find in dense cities, too, because there are lots of good restaurants that make most of their money off of catering or delivery but almost always have small, unfilled dining rooms. (Tyler Cowen made an observation about this a while back).
So, even for us who crave the chill vibes, dense city living gives choices for finding quiet in public that suburbia does not.
I grew up in this area and still have family who live just down the road! The large grocery store was a Farm Fresh, which had the most amazing fried chicken. (The story about who got the rights to the recipe after the chain shut down a few years ago is an interesting one.) The city recently changed a bunch of the surrounding intersections to include indirect left-hand turns. It remains a pedestrian nightmare!
"Much of what we call NIMBYism is in fact a logical position based on the kind of places we have built."
There's something to this, but it's not everything. This theory would predict that NIMBYism would be less intense in places that are largely car-free (Lower Manhattan, for example). But the residents there complain just as much about new development as any suburbanite, although they may be less likely to mention parking. A lot of people just instinctively dislike change and growth.
True, and perhaps it's useful to distinguish between quotodian NIMBYism ("I think this change will make my life harder") and moral NIMBYism ("I think the current order is good and right, and you should not change it").
Nimbyist complaints in Manhattan are often as not aesthetic (the hideousness of new buildings). They'd have no problem with the same number of people in a graceful prewar building.
I have to agree with Dan.
As someone who was born and raised in Manhattan, I can categorically state that NIMBYism is alive and well.
In Manhattan, the coin of the realm is air, light and unobstructed views.
Threaten any one of those values and you will have a fight. Apartment, co-ops, and condos are priced based on the access to any of the elements noted above. The reasons stated for resisting development may not identify air, light and unobstructive views, but I can almost guarantee they will be in the mix, see:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/27/nyregion/south-street-seaport-250-water.html?searchResultPosition=2
I don't think that's true. I've attended public meetings where people vehemently objected to perfectly nice new buildings going up on a literal parking lot. There's no reasonable level of aesthetic care that can satisfy NIMBYs.
Do you have a link to the Churchill piece you reference?
https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/building/palace/architecture/palacestructure/churchill/
"Churchill insisted that the shape of the old Chamber was responsible for the two-party system which is the essence of British parliamentary democracy: 'we shape our buildings and afterwards our buildings shape us.'"
I'm the sort who loves being out in public but also dislikes crowds. My ideal bar or coffee shop experience is when it's maybe half-filled. When I lived in a dense neighborhood, I could shape the rhythm of my life to be slightly off the crowded times (eg. go out to dinner on a Monday or Tuesday either earlier or later than the rush, or get up earlier before church on Sunday to enjoy a laid-back morning at the coffee shop). When I was in grad school, I would go to matinee art films downtown on weekdays and have the place to myself. Economies of scale end up providing opportunities for solitude that are actually sustainable.
For those who do like the fully-empty vibe, this is arguably easier to find in dense cities, too, because there are lots of good restaurants that make most of their money off of catering or delivery but almost always have small, unfilled dining rooms. (Tyler Cowen made an observation about this a while back).
So, even for us who crave the chill vibes, dense city living gives choices for finding quiet in public that suburbia does not.