May I Never, Ever Hear this Argument Again
Let me set the scene: We here at Washington City Paper are at a staff meeting or gathering of some sort. Up comes the topic of Cada Vez, a somewhat controversial U Street spot that appears in our coverage from time to time. Someone mentions that Cada Vez has been under attack from neighbors over the years for the usual litany of NIMBY complaints. Noise, trash, and so on.
Then someone on staff who will remain anonymous but who is listed as art director on our masthead snarks out. Come on, he inveighs. Those people move to U Street and yet they expect to have some kind of pastoral existence. Those weren’t his exact words, but they capture his sentiment.
They also capture a sentiment expressed by every anti-NIMBY at every ANC meeting since Home Rule. Anyone who’s been remotely involved in civic affairs knows how the scene. Citizens come and ask their elected reps to take some action against a liquor establishment or some other alleged nuisance, and then comes the blowback. Hey, what’d you expect, Mister, when you moved in here!
That argument alone accounts for a good chunk of the population loss that afflicted the District for decades. You get taxed to death, you get shitty public services, your car falls apart because of the potholes. That much you can handle. But then you complain that you can’t get to sleep before 3 a.m. because of the noise, and everyone screams that you should go to the ‘burbs.
Too many good people over the years have done exactly that—and we can’t even rival El Paso or Charlotte on population figures.
March 15th, 2007 at 12:10 pm
Charlotte is like 280 sqaure miles as opposed to DC’s 68, so not really a good comparison. Boston is a better size comparison.
March 15th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
A very interesting argument. Except, there is one fatal flaw. The population of DC is increasing. The 2005 census estimate (corrected) was 582,049 compared to the 2000 census estimate of 572,059. As someone who’s lived in DC for nearly 20 years it’s more than obvious that people are moving in, and not out of the city, without even consulting the census.
Sure, we get taxed to death, the public services suck, and all that. But guess what? It’s still worth it. For my 12 minute commute, and my easy access to city entertainment and conveniences. Maybe you think city life should be as safe and quiet as life in the suburbs but guess what? It’s not the suburbs.
I’m not opposed to dealing with true nuisances - but the anti-NIMBYers have a point too. I lived in Mt. Pleasant for a long time and all of the sudden people are complaining about parking, a stolen plant, an ugly storefront, cat calls from latino men hanging out in front of 7-11, and so on. Why move somewhere and suddenly be upset because you are living in - gasp - the exact neighborhood you chose to move in to?
March 15th, 2007 at 1:07 pm
The thing is, Jamie, sometimes it’s not people’s expectations of the neighborhood that are wrong, or that change, but rather that their surroundings do. Cada Vez is just such a case.
March 15th, 2007 at 1:31 pm
That’s fine, and as I said I think a true nuisance should be dealt with. But the general “argument” is that it’s not OK to shut down a NIMBY’er on the basis of they should have known what they were getting in to. I disagree, because there are a lot of people (read: new residents) who gripe an awful lot about things that are just facts of living in the city. The other point made was that these issues drive people away, and obviously that’s not true since the population is increasing.
My experience, generally, is that most of the noise on discussion groups, community meetings, etc. is EXACTLY this kind of stuff - complaints about city life, in general. Maybe the problem is that when people “cry wolf” so much about the facts of city living, that is, difficulty parking, petty crime, etc. that those of us who have lived here a long time get sick of hearing all the whining. So it becomes hard to hear the real “nuisance” issues above all the whining.
March 15th, 2007 at 2:09 pm
It sounds like we generally agree.