New pro-growth group taking on old notions

The group consider themselves YIMBYs, an acronym representing Yes In My Backyard, or an alternative answer to the traditional call of “not in my backyard,” from those fighting housing development in their neighborhood due to concerns over threats to their existing quality of life. Critics have historically been recognized as NIMBYs.

Advocates claim acknowledging the merits of dense housing near train and bus lines built to promote walking, biking and using alternative modes of transportation will go far to effectively meeting the housing needs commiserate with the demand to live near the region’s wealth of jobs.

But as YIMBYs spend countless hours often at planning commission and city council meetings in Millbrae, Redwood City, San Mateo, Menlo Park or other Peninsula communities attempting to persuade officials and residents to accept what they consider smart growth, the bold initiative faces staunch criticism.

“You can talk all you want about balancing jobs and housing, but when you go forward with housing with little to no regard for infrastructure and the taxpayer cries out for quality of life and their voices get ignored, that is where my problem is,” said Lisa Taner, a San Mateo resident and opponent of the development supported by YIMBYs.

Considering the hefty economic engine driving Silicon Valley and drawing interest from all over the world to the Peninsula, San Mateo resident Noveed Safipour said he does not consider a reluctance to accept thoughtful development a viable choice.

“It seems that a lot of the folks who are resistant to smart growth want to believe that just by saying no to proposals, we’re somehow going to make the problems or challenges go away,” he said. “That disconnect is the big thing that results in the tension between the two groups.”

Leora Tanjuatco, policy director at the Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County, is a proud YIMBY spearheading the local initiative to rally against maintaining the status quo.

“The effort is to mobilize against the very entrenched homeowners with very much at stake,” Tanjuatco said.

Critics oppose smart growth

Regardless of venue, often Tanjuatco and her cohorts are met with many of the same objections from longtime residents who oppose dense housing due to concerns over a changing community character.

Development critics most commonly claim streets, neighborhoods and highways are already jammed with cars and building more homes will further worsen the issues, ultimately resulting in an unattractive community less likely to lure new residents and driving down property values.

Despite acknowledging the affordability crisis, Taner said more construction will only compound the issues which have already reached insufferable levels.

“Is there a real problem? Yes. Can you build yourself out of it? No. While we try to build our way out of it, are we impacting our quality of life? Yes, negatively,” said Taner.

Though dense transit-oriented development does not align with her vision for addressing the issues plaguing many struggling to afford living locally or commuting from far corners of the Bay Area to reach their Peninsula jobs, Taner said she cannot identify an alternative solution.

“I am anti-smart growth, because those are bad plans … do I have the answers? No. But I’m not running the cities. The people making the plans should be very familiar with the fallout from smart growth and they should be making the adjustments accordingly,” she said.

Isabella Chu, a Redwood City resident and development advocate, said she believes such arguments are misinformed and inadequate.

“The idea that unencumbered operation of a personal motor vehicle is more important than another person’s right to housing is a notion I’d like to challenge,” she said.

The type of development supported by YIMBYs take cars off the roads or neighborhood streets, as residents of housing near public transportation are less inclined to drive or even own a vehicle, said Chu.

Safipour echoed a similar sentiment and added there is no data supporting claims that such growth threatens the value of properties, especially in the highly desirable Peninsula housing market.

The movement grows

Chu added many of those who now oppose growth were the same people who benefited from moving to the Bay Area and purchasing property decades ago.

“Denying the very thing you have and had to younger people who were just like you, it’s tough to defend that position,” she said.

Safipour agrees and said he believes the YIMBY effort is more closely aligned with the open and accepting spirit which has traditionally defined the Bay Area.

“I’d like to be on the side of those who try to welcome people as best we can and I would hope that other folks in San Mateo and elsewhere would at least want to strive for that same idea,” he said. “Because we are all Americans and we are supposed to be a welcoming nation. California especially has a history of being welcoming to all kinds of people and I view YIMBYs as an extension of that tradition.”

He added the reluctance to embrace change was a primary driver to bring the Peninsula to the current and affordability crisis which the next generation of residents has inherited.

Chu, a data core manager for population health sciences at the Stanford University Medical Center, said she prefers embracing and guiding the evolving cultural local landscape to fending it off in a battle she considers futile.

“I think to an extent people will lose that fight because the world is changing,” she said, of opponents. “They can hold it off, and they have for a really long time, but eventually the world will change.”

Such a sentiment resonates with many young people frustrated with the lack of available avenues to start on the path toward home ownership, said Tanjuacto, who was called to advocacy after facing a similar hurdle.

The capacity of young professionals to relate to such a struggle is a key component of the YIMBY effort becoming more popular, said Tanjuacto, who has worked to recruit like-minded locals to public meetings while advocating for supportable projects.

YIMBY social events which used to be lightly attended now feature new members, said Tanjuacto, who believes the momentum will continue to grow in the months and years to come.

She said her hope is fueled by local officials who are showing more open-mindedness to the position of smart growth advocates than years past.

“I have a lot of confidence because of the amount of units we have in the pipeline right now,” she said.

Safipour too said he feels empowered as more development gains approval from local officials who are showing a growing willingness to look past the same arguments which previously could have successfully blocked a project.

“I do believe it is possible for the kinds of changes we need to see in the long term can happen. But it takes courage from our leaders,” he said.

To make progress, Chu said she believed a hearty dialogue between advocates and opponents will ultimately be the most effective strategy in breeding understanding between both sides.

But should the struggle continue, she believes YIMBYs will ultimately prove to be on the right side of history.

“Sometimes you just got to fight it out and may the best team win,” she said.

austin@smdailyjournal.com

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