Not In My Backyard!!

When I first started my career in planning, I was naive (and in many areas I still am) about the reality of the development process. I am also a strong believer in making sure the public is aware of what is going on in local government and gathering their input as part of the process. While this is unique and powerful process, it also opens up the door to restricting what may be in the best interest of the community.

An article published on in the April 2012 edition of Boston Magazine discusses the impact such a process can have on a city. In Boston, before any development is approved it must first go before a citizen advisory committee. This presents an opportunity for many of the anti-development citizens to come out in protest of the development stretching the approval process out for months and costing the business that much more to receive approval.

The article points out that a few citizens have the power to completely shutdown a development because there is some aspect of it that they do not like – whether location, aesthetics, or the development type. “This has to change. If it doesn't, Boston could lose its competitive edge." the author notes.

One of the reasons cited most often for opposing any development is fear of the unknown. What will this development look like in the end? Will the developers follow through on their promises? What will this development do to the surrounding businesses or neighborhood? We must work together with the developers to help calm the fears of those who are anti-development.

A question I often ask to gage if a project is good for our community is “If this development was near another business or if this development was next to another neighborhood would you be excited about it?” Often times stepping back from the issue and questioning if the development is in the best interest of our community is a much better approach than simply not doing to project. After all, we don’t want to turn down a positive development for our city and loose our “competitive edge” as the author was concerned for Boston.

Just as we as humans go through growing pains during our teenage years, so too do cities. We must realize that the pain will only be temporary and that, while not ideal for our individual situation, a development will help our community grow and become stronger. What else should we be doing to help calm concerns of new development? Let’s talk about it!