Proud to be a NIMBY

[Jeannie]

I’ve hesitated to post this for awhile, since I was concerned about backlash. The kind of “well, you have YOUR home, so you’re selfish to be anti-development” comments. But I’ll forge ahead.
1. Growth is not always a good thing. A baby growing healthy and strong, for example, is a great thing. A plant growing and flourishing is great, too. A tumor growth is not. A growth in crime is not.
2. I am so sick of developers running roughshod over West Seattle and the rest of our city. The sale of the PCC is a perfect example. The sale is a done deal, and we don’t even know the future of our beloved PCC.
3. Traffic? Awful. The West Seattle Bridge is a nightmare during rush hour, and not much better the rest of the time. As West Seattle grows, the traffic has worsened exponentially. Even California Avenue gets backed up.
4. Uglification: Big, boxy soulless condos and apartments (“work/live” and “sustainable,” natch.) The higher-rise ones cast our streets in shadows, blocking out sunlight. Oh, and just try parking in the Junction! Ugly new and expensive box-houses popping up all over my neighborhood, as smaller homes with charm and character get torn down.
5. Pollution: More sewage, more cars, more air pollution.
6. More idiots who let their dogs run loose, more dirtbags committing serious crimes.
7. Threats to our green spaces.

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[anonyme]

Jeannie, you are not alone – not by a long shot. There is good change and bad, and there are always those who will label any resistance to any change as “nimbyism”. Not so. I call wanting to protect my home, my neighborhood, my community as being a good citizen. Change can be accommodated with some simple, good planning, which few developers (or politicians) are capable of or willing to provide. Unfortunately, the root of all the evils mentioned above is overpopulation – not just locally, but globally. And that is a problem our species will ignore unto extinction.

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[Wes C. Addle]

I agree with 1,5,6,7 & partially 2 :)

#3 could’ve been solved by now if not for NIMBY’s from years past.
#4 I would love to live in one of those new soulless boxes. They are nice, spacious, and efficient. Way more usable space.

I partially agree with #2. I’m not at all against development, but I am against the developers basically getting a free pass on everything.

As Anonyme states the real issue is overpopulation. We like to think of ourselves as a big city but we have roughly 650,000 people. Paris has 2.2 million people except Seattle covers twice as much land. We must have density and people have to get over the fact that moving forward we all can’t have huge yards and mega mansions. Paris has charm yet if Seattle was as dense peoples heads would explode. We are a greed-hungry nation and always have been. The future is going to be rough.

No backlash from me. Everyone has valid opinions. :)

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[Markymark]

Just be thankful you don’t live in Ballard….They built those podments there in droves with no parking…I have had friends invite me to meet them there for drinks etc..after work and good luck finding any parking in those areas. I suspect the prices of land here will price a lot of people out soon. I recently moved back here after leaving West Seattle in 1995 and was lucky to find the house I did before the prices hiked so bad and it was a strange fixer. But being an ex contractor helped me out considerably. be glad you live in West Seattle this is a very special place and most people that have lived here prior seem to find their way back…. my wife and I included. Cheers all. MarkyMark.

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[935]

Family and I went to dinner in the junction over the weekend. The free lots were full beyond full. There were at least 4 cars in each lot circling and at least 2 turning in as one exited….
That being said. family and I paid 5 dollars for evening parking in one of the many underused lots. We were able to go, have a nice dinner – watch some amazing UW football, converse freely and enjoy ourselves.
Went back to the car, and again, the lot we were in was entirely underused. Meanwhile, adjacent to one of the “free” lots, cars – the same number of which were still circling. Parking is AMPLE in the Junction. Just not FREE parking.
I do agree with 1, 3 and 4 though – however a partial on 4, because people need available housing options.
2 – PCC signed a lease. They knew the eventuality
5, 6 and 7 are a result of progress, I’d say encouraged progress. More people = more taxes

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[JoB]

the parking issue could be solved with park and ride lots and a bus/trolley that runs the length of california.. increasing accessibility..

as for those monstrosity houses.. the house next to me was torn down and like everyone else i was dreading the big box that went in next door. It doesn’t block as much sun as i thought it would .. it eliminated the overgrown raspberry patch that kept intruding into my yard.. i got new fencing out of it and i got great neighbors.

i have to say.. it didn’t turn out nearly as badly as i had thought it would

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[mark47n]

A point of order; PCC’s building will be demolished but PCC will be rebuilt there again as a part of a new building. At least that was the last I saw, here: here.

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[JTB]

In line with a comment on a different thread about property taxes, moving to rural locations is one way to get away from the unpleasant aspects of metropolitan living. Otherwise, staying engaged with neighborhood interest groups and delivering constant feedback to city committees and elected officials are the most effective ways of influencing quality of life issues.

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[West Seattle since 1979]

The problem is that a lot of people are moving here, so the city’s population is growing extremely fast. These people need to live somewhere. Because there wasn’t and still isn’t enough housing for them, rents and housing costs are rising and rising and pricing more and more people out of the city. So more housing has to be built to accomodate the new arrivals.

What could we do about this? Ask employers such as Amazon to quit expanding, or to move outside the city limits? Pass laws against people moving here?

Yes, growth could probably be managed better, and yes, some buildings are ugly as sin. But we still need to build more housing somewhere, unless we can stop job growth and stop people from moving here.

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