NIMBY ALERT: Richest Neighborhood in Raleigh Fighting New Townhomes
By Brent Woodcox
Some cases of gross NIMBYism are just so egregious and selfish as to be almost a caricature of the entire NIMBY movement. What is happening right now with a new plan to put townhomes in the Hayes Barton neighborhood in Raleigh fits the bill. In fact, this example of classism was so shocking as to make the rounds on YIMBY Twitter as a cautionary tale. If Raleigh city councilors succumb to the pressure of neighbors to stop this development, our city will be a national laughingstock known for catering only to our city’s richest residents and denying middle class citizens the opportunity to find shelter within Raleigh.
Of course, this lead to the same old NIMBY champions coming to the defense of the people who live in million dollar McMansions who are claiming that their neighborhood is historic and therefore must be shielded from the poors who couldn’t afford to live nearby.
As disgusting as it is to see people who are justifying their NIMBYism by saying that they have outsized political power because they live in homes that are valued north of $1 million and make political contributions (talk about saying the quiet part out loud), there will always be a constituency for this type of elitism among some former city councilors. One of which is Stef Mendell, she of the being defeated in her first re-election campaign as an incumbent 67%-33%, a truly embarrassing showing in which this very neighborhood in question soundly rejected her policies.
The other thing to know about this neighborhood in addition to the idea that it is historic in age only because it has been paved over multiple times and nearly every original house razed to make room for some new gaudy monstrosity is that many of the people who live here come from money. These are not people who earned their place among the elite of Raleigh and live in the city’s most exclusive neighborhood. Many of these folks are trust fund babies born with a silver spoon in their mouths who inherited daddy’s company and daddy’s money and daddy’s house. That’s if they have even worked a day in their lives. This is NIMBYism for NIMBYism’s sake. Elitism for elitism’s sake. If these townhouses are built, these people are still going to be filthy rich. They are among the top 1% of the top 1%. This won’t even be a rounding error on their balance sheet. This is about having “F%^& you” money and using it to say to all other Raleigh residents, “F%^& you! I’ve got mine!”
If this city can’t figure out how to move middle class and upper middle class people into townhouses near rich people because the rich fear they will somehow suffer some indignity from having to live next to non-millionaires, then I don’t see how this city council can claim to have any commitment to building an equitable opportunity to have access to housing for everyone living in Raleigh. If Raleigh City Council bows to the pressure and stops the townhomes, they will prove they are a council for spoiled rich brats and not for the rest of us.