Yes, in my backyard: Turning NIMBYism into an opportunity
Abstract
Community opposition to development has become a defining constraint on project delivery across the US. NIMBYism (‘not in my backyard’) is no longer confined to dense urban markets or politically sensitive land uses. It now affects industrial facilities, data centres, energy infrastructure and affordable housing in markets that were once considered reliably pro-development. For corporate real estate professionals, developers and economic development practitioners, understanding and managing that opposition has become a core competency. This paper examines NIMBYism as a material business risk and provides a practical framework for identifying, measuring and mitigating it. It explores the historical roots of community opposition, the forces accelerating it today, and the distinct forms it takes across different project types and geographies. Readers will leave with a working typology of opposition, tools for assessing community sentiment before a project is announced, targeted strategies for each type of NIMBY resistance, and criteria for deciding when to engage and when to walk away. The paper also examines the emerging YIMBY (‘yes in my backyard’) movement, with particular attention to how advocates in California converted persistent local opposition into structural policy change, and what that model means for industrial development practice. The goal is practical: equip real estate and economic development professionals with the judgment and tools to protect project feasibility, reduce timeline risk and build the community alignment that capital-intensive projects increasingly require to succeed. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
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Author's Biography
Sarah White is Principal and Vice President of Site Selection at Global Location Strategies, where she leads complex location strategy engagements from initial scoping through to final site recommendation. With 17 years of experience in site selection and economic development, she advises capital-intensive companies on high-stakes location decisions and helps economic development organisations understand what corporate decision makers are prioritising. Sarah’s career has been shaped by both sides of the site-selection process. She began at the South Carolina Department of Commerce’s Coordinating Council for Economic Development before spending a decade at McCallum Sweeney Consulting and Quest Site Solutions, where she advised industrial clients and economic development organisations across North America. That dual vantage point informs how she approaches community dynamics, incentive structures and the regulatory environments that determine whether projects succeed or stall. Sarah is a frequent speaker to economic development and corporate real estate audiences on topics including location strategy, development risk and the growing influence of community opposition on investment decisions. She brings practitioner-level perspective to each engagement, drawing on direct experience navigating the entitlement processes, stakeholder dynamics and political environments that define project outcomes today.
