YIMBY

English

Alternative forms

• yimby

Etymology

Coined as an antonym for nimby.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jɪmbi/

Phrase

YIMBY

1. Acronym of yes, in my backyard.
   • 1993, BioCycle - Volume 34, Issues 1-6, page 34:

     YIMBY encompasses home composting, "grass cycling" and landscape alteration.

   • 2000, Greg Kramer, Sim City Three Thousand Unlimited:

     Buildings that actually boost local land value are, therefore, called "YIMBY" or "Yes In My Back Yard." These beneficial neighbors include Police Stations, Schools, Parks, etc.

2. Acronym of yes, in many backyards.
   • 1990, Thaddeus C. Trzyna, Ilze M. Gotelli, The Power of convening, page 46:

     YIMBY does not promise to eliminate risk; it simply spreads it among all those involved. Yesterday, we reiterated several times that equity is critical to any solution, and in this regard YIMBY provides a practical and equitable standard

   • 1991, Joseph F. DiMento, LeRoy Graymer, Confronting Regional Challenges: Approaches to LULUs, Growth, and Other Vexing Governance Problems:

     The concept of YIMBY, or "Yes-In-Many-Backyards," was introduced in the early 1980s in Southern California as a guiding principle to distribute unwanted hazardous waste facilities among all the counties participating in the Southern California Hazardous Waste Management Project (later transposed into a joint powers authority).

   • 2019, Daniel Mazmanian, Beyond Superfailure: America's Toxics Policy For The 1990s:

     In the early 1980s in southern California, the concept of YIMBY (yes in many backyards) was introduced as a guiding principle for distributing unwanted hazardous waste facilities among all the counties participating in the Southern California Hazardous Waste Management Project, which later was restructured into a joint powers authority. The YIMBY philosophy asked each county to take responsibility for its fair share of the waste problem, though not necessarily to manage all of its own wastes.

Noun

YIMBY (plural YIMBYs)

1. Someone who endorses development (especially the construction of more housing) near them.

   Antonym: NIMBY

   The local YIMBYs came out in favor of the project.

   • 2001, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard).:

     In my constituency, however, we have the YIMBYs—which stands for “yes in my backyard”. We want an airport at Finningley.

   • 2003, National Parks - Volume 77, page 35:

     Wltll respect to conserved lands, a reversal is occurring—NlMBY (not in my back yard) is being replaced by YIMBY (yes, in my back yard). I am one of thousands of YIMBYs who choose to live near Acadia National Park.

   • 2017 July 5, Alana Semuels, “From 'Not in My Backyard' to 'Yes in My Backyard'”, in The Atlantic‎^[1]:

     The city council decided not to consider the measure at that meeting, which the YIMBYs considered a victory.

   • 2019 June 28, Patrick Sisson, “YIMBY in action: How pro-housing policies became a political rallying cry”, in Curbed‎^[2]:

     Opponents paint YIMBYs as being in the pocket of real estate interests: naively helping rich developers at best, or outright shills at worst, with funding from tech millionaires.

   • 2019 September 19, David Boraks, “YIMBYs say yes to urban density and affordable housing”, in The Charlotte Observer‎^[3]:

     YIMBYs also typically oppose the exclusionary nature of NIMBY campaigns that can lock out people of color and low incomes from certain neighborhoods.

Adjective

YIMBY (comparative more YIMBY, superlative most YIMBY)

1. Supporting nearby development (especially the construction of more housing).

   Antonym: NIMBY

   From a YIMBY perspective, the high-rises are good for the city.

   • 1992, Solid Waste & Power - Volume 6, page 28:

     But some communities have found that a YIMBY attitude (Yes, in my back yard)— with proper quality assurance controls— can pay good dividends.

   • 2014, Patrick Devine-Wright, Renewable Energy and the Public: From NIMBY to Participation:

     Responses to both the PCED and YIMBY surveys identified a need for a variety of mesures to lower the financial and other barriers to the wider consumer uptake of microgeneration systems.

   • 2017 July 5, Alana Semuels, “From 'Not in My Backyard' to 'Yes in My Backyard'”, in The Atlantic‎^[4]:

     YIMBY candidates for local Bay Area offices suffered defeat at the ballot box last November.

   • 2019 June 28, Patrick Sisson, “YIMBY in action: How pro-housing policies became a political rallying cry”, in Curbed‎^[5]:

     YIMBY political groups still have no blanket national organization.

   • 2019 September 19, David Boraks, “YIMBYs say yes to urban density and affordable housing”, in The Charlotte Observer‎^[6]:

     YIMBY groups support denser development with more housing — especially affordable housing.

Derived terms

• YIMBYism