On Traffic: To start, consider that while traffic congestion tops the list of complaints associated with new development, zoning laws continue to mandate car-dependence. Especially in the suburbs, residential uses are almost always forbidden from co-locating with shopping or employment centers preventing reasonable access by foot or bicycle. In addition, parking minimums force developers to reserve massive amounts of land for cars regardless of what the actual demand for parking may be. Most of our zoning codes are designed to encourage as much driving as possible. It should come as no surprise when towns of even low density find themselves dealing with frustrating traffic congestion.

On Rising Cost and Taxes: The enforcement of auto-dependency also comes at a tremendous cost, fueling another point of NIMBY contention: development often consumes more resources than it contributes. Suburban municipalities religiously zone the vast majority of their land for car-dependent single-family homes and strip development. But basic property tax analyses show that these types of development produce, at best, a fraction of the property tax revenue that more traditional, mixed-use developments produce. Not to mention the cost of constructing and maintaining vast road networks to serve such low densities continues to inflate housing prices and consume municipal budgets.

On Open Space: Finally, suburban zoning typically requires a minimum lot size of half an acre, one acre, or more. This isn’t a major problem in rural communities where demand for land and housing is low (for now). However, in places with access to expanding job markets like Silicon Valley or suburban New Jersey, land is rapidly built-out, prices begin to skyrocket as demand outpaces supply, and residents lament the loss of open space. This is not an example of market failure, but of government that insists on forcing development to consume enormous amounts of land, leaving little for greenspace.

The good news is, all of this can change. And in some of our larger cities, it has. In early 2017, Buffalo became the first major U.S. city to completely eliminate parking minimums. Earlier this year, a study of downtown Seattle found 4,500 fewer single-occupancy vehicles on the streets per day during a period in which downtown added 60,000 jobs. Imagine if every city could accommodate that kind of growth while reducing traffic. There’s no reason similar changes can’t happen on a much smaller scale throughout the suburbs, easing some of the biggest NIMBY concerns. However, it will take an entirely new approach to regulating land use.

With some basic zoning reform, we can get to a place where new development doesn’t automatically mean more traffic, higher taxes, and less open space. But the government has to get out of the way and allow developers to pursue more cost-effective, spatially-efficient development patterns. It’s not easy to build widespread support for something as unsexy as zoning reform. Luckily, we have dedicated, passionate groups of people all over the country making a powerful case for change. For that, NIMBYs, we thank you.

(Top photo source: Johnny Sanphilllippo)