MSPyimby

Elections - City Councils and Commissions - Policies
nerdljos
City Center
Posts: 42
Joined: November 14th, 2013, 9:49 pm

MSPyimby

Postby nerdljos » May 18th, 2016, 11:05 pm

In the past few months a variety of YIMBY groups have been organizing in various North American cities to advocate for more housing, and to offer opposition to NIMBY groups that have sprung up (one local example has already invoked Hitler when describing city planning), and also to raise awareness of housing issues through the lens of a pro-density stance. Though the goal is local, the idea is to connect all this nationally. Gizmodo has a more thorough explanation of the movement here, and there is even going to be a YIMBY conference coming up this summer in Boulder, CO.

Anyway, the Twin Cities group is MSPyimby:
For whatever it's worth, I know the person who is working on this, trust his views on this, and am hopeful for its future.

twincitizen
Moderator
Posts: 6366
Joined: May 31st, 2012, 7:27 pm
Location: Standish-Ericsson

Re: MSPyimby

Postby twincitizen » June 6th, 2016, 7:03 am

While a noble cause, I remain skeptical that MSPyimby will ever have much more effect than piling up retweets among the group of people that are already on board (i.e. forum users, streets.mn writers & readers, etc.). Also, a joint organization covering both Minneapolis and St. Paul is inherently problematic, because they are completely separate governmental structures. Having a bunch of Minneapolites emailing St. Paul city councilmembers won't accomplish anything.

Furthermore, Minneapolis already has a group called "Forward Minneapolis" that has been advocating these exact same issues, choosing to wield their force wisely and selectively - i.e. only causing a stir (emailing councilmembers, email blasts, social media) for controversial projects that truly need to have public support shown. The local YIMBY crowd would be wise to remember that ~95% of every project that has been proposed in recent years has been approved unanimously by the City Council, and most of those with little to no public opposition whatsoever. It's simply not necessary to get all boosterish for every project that is going to be approved anyways - better to save the collective organizing energy for the rare project that does face organized opposition (past: 2320 Colfax; present: Alatus condo tower; future: any large project in The Wedge or Whittier)

Full disclosure: I am a member of Forward Minneapolis and one of the administrators of the Facebook page. Not trying to "defend my turf" or anything like that, but advising that there is already a group of actual people who have organized in real life on past projects (not just posting here, retweeting things, etc.)

mattaudio
Stone Arch Bridge
Posts: 7752
Joined: June 19th, 2012, 2:04 pm
Location: NORI: NOrth of RIchfield

Re: MSPyimby

Postby mattaudio » June 6th, 2016, 8:13 am

There's also a TCYimby twitter run by someone else.

Anton
Block E
Posts: 15
Joined: April 22nd, 2014, 10:26 pm

Re: MSPyimby

Postby Anton » June 6th, 2016, 10:13 am

Hey all, I'm running the MSPyimby site. Just sent an email to Forward Minneapolis about it. I figured a project like the Alatus Tower appeal is as good of a project as any to kick things off with:

http://www.mspyimby.com/alatus-towers/

The goal is to focus almost exclusively on housing, and to provide a place for information for people who might otherwise be swayed by more NIMBY arguments ("build it elsewhere" "apartments hurt property values" etc.). The housing and rental markets are so tight right now I'm actually a little surprised this hasn't been a bigger issue. I'll be sharing email templates that we'll send to the city regarding potentially contentious projects. Please send an email regarding Alatus if you haven't already done so. Even though Minneapolis has been relatively good about approving housing and development in the last few years, I want our council to know that we've got their backs when it coming to increasing our housing supply.


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