Reassessing NIMBY: The demographics, politics, and geography of opposition to high-density residential infill

ABSTRACT

Planners often attempt to accommodate growth in already developed areas. Opposition to high-density (i.e., at a higher unit density than surrounding development) residential infill in developed areas is, however, a long-established force in land use politics. We hypothesize that opposition to this development, as well as 6 specific concerns with this development’s impacts, are likely associated with a variety of ideological, demographic, geographical, and political characteristics and that these associations can tell planners much about the character of this opposition. We use a web survey of verified voters in local elections (n = 772) in medium- to medium-high-density ZIP codes to find relationships between these characteristics and respondents’ feelings toward a hypothetical high-density residential infill development. Our findings expose the varied character of responses to this development: respondents of some characteristics—for example, those who strongly value their communities’ attractiveness, vitality, walkability, and bikability—are more likely to have specific concerns while remaining open to the development, indicating the possibility of constructive conversations with these groups. On the other hand, the concerns of other groups, notably those of conservatives, may result from unfamiliarity or even prejudice.

Notes

1. These voters resided in all but 13 states (Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, and Wyoming) that do not report local election data.

2. We define underemployed respondents are those who identified as unemployed, temporarily laid off, permanently disabled, or students.

Additional information

Funding

The authors thank the University Research Council at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, for providing a grant that made this research possible.

Notes on contributors

Andrew H. Whittemore

Andrew H. Whittemore is an Assistant Professor of City and Regional Planning at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research and teaching focus on planning history, land use planning, and zoning in the United States.

Todd K. BenDor

Todd K. BenDor is an Associate Professor of City and Regional Planning at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research and teaching focus on the impacts that human activities and development have on ecological and environmental systems.