{"id":4456,"date":"2025-07-13T00:41:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-13T00:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theworldinsight.com.au\/?p=4456"},"modified":"2025-07-13T00:41:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T00:41:10","slug":"the-fight-over-your-backyard-why-nimby-has-become-a-dirty-word","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theworldinsight.com.au\/?p=4456","title":{"rendered":"The fight over your backyard: Why NIMBY has become a \u2018dirty word\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>The Yes In My Backyard movement is lobbying for denser cities and more housing in places people want to work and live and YIMBYs want these homes built yesterday. But the NIMBYs haven\u2019t given up yet.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"u-dropcap\"><strong>on a cold June night in Sydney\u2019s eastern suburbs dozens of residents, most insulated by navy puffer coats and vests, have piled into the Double Bay Bowling Club to air their concerns at a housing forum.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>They\u2019re not happy that apartments are going up in their suburbs \u2014 some of Sydney\u2019s most affluent. They\u2019re concerned more people will clog the roads and strain infrastructure, especially in an area without a \u201cdecent supermarket\u201d. They\u2019re nervous a six-storey \u201cmonstrosity\u201d will block their sunlight. They\u2019re anxious the \u201crunoff from construction\u201d into the harbour will impact their children who \u201cenjoy sailing\u201d. They want legal recourse.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>A resident who owns multiple investment properties in North Bondi is struggling with interest repayments and land tax and worries the onus is on him as a landlord to make rent more affordable. They\u2019re angry \u201cexisting homeowners\u201d are being blamed for the housing crisis when the government is allowing migration.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"u-quote\"><strong>\u201cWe should move out and accept higher density and unliveable suburbs?\u201d one woman asks into the microphone. \u201cWell excuse me, it\u2019s not our fault.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The room murmurs in agreement.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>This small gathering of homeowners and politicians is just one of the many local fronts of resistance to the Albanese government\u2019s plan to deliver 1.2 million homes across the country by June 2029. The prime minister recently conceded it is \u201ctoo hard\u201d to build housing in Australia and promised to cut red tape to help boost supply. While many are saying no to development in their suburbs, there is a growing appetite for \u201chousing abundance\u201d helped by Australia\u2019s blossoming Yes In My Backyard (YIMBY) movement. YIMBYs want denser cities, they want more housing in places people want to work and live, and they want them built yesterday.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"configanon\" data-component=\"Anchor\" data-mount=\"true\"><\/div>\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__NnqTc ContentAlignment_marginBottom__4H_6E ContentAlignment_overflowAuto__c1_IL ContentAlignment_outdentDesktop__ijbiK\" role=\"group\" data-print=\"inline-media\" data-component=\"Figure\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/imageproxy\/105511276\">\n<div class=\"ContentImage_ratio__0yYeG\">\n<div class=\"AspectRatio_container__FC_XH\" data-component=\"AspectRatioContainer\"><strong><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\" src=\"https:\/\/live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au\/2a01ae21a2f40fea889951a9f4a98e92?src\" sizes=\"100vw\" alt=\"DIVIDER 1\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\" \/><\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<h2><strong>\u2018Not because of a New York Times bestseller\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>While rolling back regulations and boosting construction isn\u2019t usually associated with those on the left of politics, support for a \u201cliberalism that builds\u201d is gathering momentum globally. It has been helped by the popularity of\u00a0Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson\u2019s book Abundance, in which the authors attempt to reorient progressive politics around the provocation: \u201ccan we solve our problems with supply?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Treasurer Jim Chalmers keeps mentioning it, Competition Minister Andrew Leigh has quoted it and Productivity Commission head Danielle Wood even claims she read it \u201cbefore it was cool\u201d. So popular is the book in Australia\u2019s political capital that two Canberra bookstores told the Australian Financial Review they\u2019d\u00a0sold out.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Housing Minister Clare O\u2019Neil says her focus is \u201cabsolutely on building more homes\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"configsm1x1md1x1lg1x1\" data-component=\"Anchor\" data-mount=\"true\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"u-quote\"><strong>\u201cIt\u2019s been the defining motivation of our Labor government for the last three years \u2014 not because of a New York Times bestseller \u2014 but because we\u2019re working to correct a 40-year failure of governments to build enough of them,\u201d she tells the ABC.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"u-quote\"><strong>\u201cSo many of the housing issues people face are solved by improving our ability to build more homes at scale. Because more homes means more affordable housing \u2014 for renters, first home buyers and downsizers alike.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>In NSW, the government is attempting to build some\u00a0112,000 new homes\u00a0by overriding council restrictions to allow denser housing near public transport.\u00a0The state\u00a0posted the biggest increase\u00a0in approvals of higher-density housing (apartments, townhouses, terrace and semi-detached houses) in the year to May.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Just three of the\u00a0171 centres the Minns government is targeting\u00a0are located in Sydney\u2019s east where the housing forum in Double Bay is heating up.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Local state member Liberal Kellie Sloane, who is hosting the forum, asks how many people have been doorknocked by a real estate agent and a sea of hands go up. One woman, who lives on Rose Bay\u2019s Wilberforce Avenue where\u00a012 owners are asking for $165 million from developers\u00a0for their properties, says real estate agents won\u2019t leave her alone: \u201cI\u2019m very scared that I\u2019m going to be forced out of my home.\u201d A house up the road from her that \u201ccouldn\u2019t get a nibble at $8 million\u201d sold earlier this year for $16 million.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>In the 1.6 square kilometres that incorporate these inner-eastern suburbs of Edgecliff, Double Bay and Darling Point, population density has remained more or less stagnant for a decade, according to figures provided by Cotality to the ABC.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Up goes another puffy navy sleeve with a question.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Tom, an Edgecliff resident, says there have been a lot of \u201cfair comments\u201d about the need for infrastructure to support more housing but suggests the community could reflect on its history of opposing any infrastructure development. Woollahra residents objected to a train station (chasing an injunction\u00a0all the way to the High Court) and also\u00a0opposed a plan\u00a0to turn a derelict service station into a Woolworths and apartment block. Those in the front rows turn around to take a better squiz at the questioner.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Sloane identifies Tom as a member of YIMBY Sydney and thanks him for coming \u2014 \u201cwe\u2019ve got to build!\u201d \u2014 but she maintains the train station was a bad idea.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"configanon\" data-component=\"Anchor\" data-mount=\"true\"><\/div>\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__NnqTc ContentAlignment_marginBottom__4H_6E ContentAlignment_overflowAuto__c1_IL ContentAlignment_outdentDesktop__ijbiK\" role=\"group\" data-print=\"inline-media\" data-component=\"Figure\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/imageproxy\/105511284\">\n<div class=\"ContentImage_ratio__0yYeG\">\n<div class=\"AspectRatio_container__FC_XH\" data-component=\"AspectRatioContainer\"><strong><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\" src=\"https:\/\/live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au\/dc40ca52c7f37372c717ec6a3e8896ae?src\" sizes=\"100vw\" alt=\"DIVIDER 2\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\" \/><\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<h2><strong>A suspicion of developers<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Australia\u2019s most beloved, if fictional, NIMBY \u2014 The Castle\u2019s protagonist Darryl Kerrigan \u2014 reminds us of a time when the arguments for and against development were simpler: humble home owners taking on greedy developers, or environmentalists trying to save the trees.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>But Australia\u2019s sprawling YIMBY movement is gaining political power amid a national housing crisis when a mortgage or even affordable rent has become further out of reach. Last month the average house price in Australia surpassed $1 million (Sydney\u2019s median house price is\u00a0predicted to hit $1.8m next year). If you\u2019ve been lucky enough to overcome the average savings period for a deposit that now often extends beyond a decade, the\u00a0National Housing Supply and Affordability Council\u2019s\u00a0recent report found that by the end of 2024 it took half of median household income to service a new mortgage. Meanwhile low rental vacancy rates mean people are climbing over each other for the luxury of forking out 33 per cent of median household income to cover a new lease. Affordable rent, attainable mortgages and the ability to live closer to work, family and schools? Tell him he\u2019s dreamin\u2019.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>In Queensland there has historically been suspicion of development, says Travis Jordan of YIMBY group Greater Brisbane. He reckons the state\u2019s planning, environment and heritage laws were shaped in the 1990s in reaction to a period of questionable \u2014 and in some cases outright corrupt \u2014 relationships between politicians and developers when the concerns of communities and local councils were dismissed in favour of demolition and rezoning.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen, in office from 1968-1987, famously disregarded Brisbane\u2019s heritage. His connections with the \u201cwhite-shoe brigade\u201d of property developers and the midnight destruction of iconic Brisbane landmarks like the\u00a0Cloudland Ballroom\u00a0at the hands of the infamous Deen Bros loom large in the memories of Queenslanders.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"u-quote\"><strong>\u201cThe people fighting up-zoning are stuck in the \u201990s and they want their neighbourhoods to be stuck there too,\u201d Jordan says.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>NIMBYs tend to be home owners and home owners tend to be older \u2014 Jordan sees a generation in Brisbane who went from\u00a0fighting for \u201cgreen bans\u201d in the \u201980s and \u201990s\u00a0to fighting to\u00a0\u201csave our suburbs\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>He says opponents of density are contributing to a situation in which many people face a choice between renting in \u201cbarely habitable character homes\u201d with\u00a0poor energy ratings\u00a0or getting into the property market hours from their workplace and family.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"u-quote\"><strong>\u201cIn Brisbane, it\u2019s hard to look at the\u00a0townhouse ban\u00a0or how widespread our\u00a0character housing protections\u00a0are and think we\u2019ve got the balance right,\u201d he says. \u201cWe started by bringing in regulations that stop the worst harms and ended up with ones that \u2014 by the lord mayor\u2019s own admission \u2014\u00a0stop anything at all.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Jordan thinks that future housing is being held to standards that didn\u2019t apply to the very housing people want to safeguard.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"u-quote\"><strong>\u201c[NIMBYs will] wax lyrical about a street where every old home looks the same while whinging that every apartment looks the same.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"configanon\" data-component=\"Anchor\" data-mount=\"true\"><\/div>\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__NnqTc ContentAlignment_marginBottom__4H_6E ContentAlignment_overflowAuto__c1_IL ContentAlignment_outdentDesktop__ijbiK\" role=\"group\" data-print=\"inline-media\" data-component=\"Figure\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/imageproxy\/105511276\">\n<div class=\"ContentImage_ratio__0yYeG\">\n<div class=\"AspectRatio_container__FC_XH\" data-component=\"AspectRatioContainer\"><strong><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\" src=\"https:\/\/live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au\/2a01ae21a2f40fea889951a9f4a98e92?src\" sizes=\"100vw\" alt=\"DIVIDER 1\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\" \/><\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<h2><strong>\u2018The climate crisis is a housing crisis\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>In Queensland frequent flooding has left \u201cwhole neighbourhoods unlivable\u201d and people are accepting harder trade-offs, he says.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"u-quote\"><strong>\u201cFor a lot of people in Brisbane \u2014 especially renters and older people \u2014 the climate crisis is a housing crisis.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Jordan, a former Greens staffer, rents one of the state\u2019s iconic Queenslanders and says they were designed to suit the Sunshine State\u2019s tropical climate but have now become an impediment to climate-resilient homes.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"u-quote\"><strong>\u201cThey\u2019re by design near impossible to insulate and drought-proof. Can\u2019t cool down in summer and can\u2019t stay warm in winter,\u201d he says.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>New housing is often opposed on grounds of preserving something, whether it is heritage, privacy, or as one local mayor at Sydney\u2019s Double Bay housing forum described, the ill-defined and apparently static \u201ccharacter\u201d of the community.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>But for many conservationists, increasing density in cities and stopping the creep of low-density residential development over large areas of land is crucial to preserving something else: biodiversity.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>A 2023 report from the\u00a0Queensland Conservation Council\u00a0found that urban sprawl was fast-tracking the extinction crisis in the state. The council\u2019s urban sustainability lead, Jen Hasham, says urban sprawl is the \u201cbiggest threat to the unique biodiversity and liveability\u201d, particularly in South East Queensland where there is a\u00a0projected population growth\u00a0of more than 2 million people by 2046.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"u-quote\"><strong>\u201cWaterways are being impacted, wildlife, such as our beloved koalas, are being killed and displaced, not just by the initial developments but then the years of infrastructure that has to follow it,\u201d she says.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Conservationists are supportive of the grassroots YIMBY movement, Hasham says, and Australia needs to \u201cbuild up, not out\u201d but YIMBYs have found a mixed response from Greens politicians at all levels of government. In Perth the West Australian Greens leader Brad Pettitt\u00a0recently said\u00a0that his colleagues on the west coast should relinquish inner-city NIMBYism as \u201cwe need to get rid of red tape\u201d. In Sydney, Greens councillors have been voting against high density developments, most recently against the Inner West Council\u2019s push to have the state government rezone former WestConnex sites, on the grounds the housing wouldn\u2019t be 100 per cent public housing.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Nevertheless, this month the NSW government announced one of the sites, a slab of land on Sydney\u2019s Parramatta Road, would be transformed into 577 apartments, 220 of which will be set aside for essential workers at a discounted rate. (A\u00a02024 Anglicare Australia report\u00a0looked at more than 45,000 rental listings across a weekend and found just 1.4 per cent were affordable for a nurse, and 0.9 per cent for an early childcare educator.)\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Izabella Antoniou, one of the Greens councillors who has voted against development, says even if deregulation does lead to a greater supply of housing, it won\u2019t help affordability.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"u-quote\"><strong>\u201cWe have incentives such as negative gearing and land banking that continue to drive up prices and ensure housing is an investment not a human right,\u201d she says. \u201cTo deliver genuine affordability, we need targeted interventions such as rent controls, strong inclusionary zoning targets, and the mass building of public housing by governments.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Antoniou maintains that government intervention is the only way out of this housing crisis as \u201cprivate housing developers won\u2019t fix a system they\u2019re benefiting from\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"u-quote\"><strong>\u201cWe need to ensure we\u2019re building homes, not investment portfolios,\u201d she says.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>University of Melbourne social policy researcher Max Holleran says the YIMBY movement has come under attack from anti-gentrification progressives who, as Holleran puts it, argue these groups are \u201cmerely social justice shells concealing property interests\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Unlike housing activists in decades past, YIMBYs are not prioritising the fight to protect existing public housing stock and push against evictions but are instead what Holleran calls \u201csupply-side believers\u201d who are more preoccupied with building more of everything.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"u-quote\"><strong>\u201cThey\u2019re basically saying \u2018you\u2019re not going to get entirely inclusionary zoning in every neighborhood and you are going to have to work with the developers\u2019,\u201d he says.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"configanon\" data-component=\"Anchor\" data-mount=\"true\"><\/div>\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__NnqTc ContentAlignment_marginBottom__4H_6E ContentAlignment_overflowAuto__c1_IL ContentAlignment_outdentDesktop__ijbiK\" role=\"group\" data-print=\"inline-media\" data-component=\"Figure\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/imageproxy\/105511284\">\n<div class=\"ContentImage_ratio__0yYeG\">\n<div class=\"AspectRatio_container__FC_XH\" data-component=\"AspectRatioContainer\"><strong><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\" src=\"https:\/\/live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au\/dc40ca52c7f37372c717ec6a3e8896ae?src\" sizes=\"100vw\" alt=\"DIVIDER 2\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\" \/><\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<h2><strong>Resistance to the cult of supply-side economics<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>While no one at Double Bay\u2019s housing forum is arguing for more public housing, the question of affordability is raised repeatedly \u2014 how would a few luxury apartments in such a posh part of the city even help a generation of people locked out of the property market?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>YIMBYs are clear it isn\u2019t a one for one process but instead a game of musical chairs \u2014 the multi-million dollar apartments going up in Sydney\u2019s exclusive east aren\u2019t immediately helping your average Australian with a piddling house deposit. Instead wealthy people who can afford them will move out of older stock and the person who buys that home will\u00a0move out of theirs and so forth, speeding up the process of low quality stock at the back end of the line devaluing or getting redeveloped.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"u-quote\"><strong>\u201cThis is actually really intuitive,\u201d says Justin Simon, co-founder of YIMBY Sydney.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"u-quote\"><strong>\u201cNew cars start at around $30K and you have used cars right down the price spectrum but when production stopped during COVID-19, those new car customers had to buy used instead, and the price went up dramatically.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"u-quote\"><strong>\u201cThe same thing is happening when you don\u2019t build new units in Woollahra or [Sydney\u2019s] north shore: those people will buy a terrace in Ashfield instead, gut it and turn it into a luxury home. The family they beat at the auction has to move out to Liverpool, and the nurse who was living in Liverpool is now moving to Queensland.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"u-quote\"><strong>\u201cEveryone in this chain would have a better living situation and a shorter commute if we built an extra unit in the eastern suburbs \u2014 how transformative would it be if we built tens of thousands?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>YIMBYs often point across the ditch to Auckland where studies of a 2016 reform to allow more townhouses and apartments showed an increase in construction and\u00a0decrease in rents. Simon cites\u00a02019 research from the RBA, which found that every 1 per cent increase in housing supply eventually brings prices down by 2.5 per cent.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>But the notion that addressing supply will help the housing crisis has its critics. ANZ\u2019s chief economist has said focusing on new supply alone \u201cis\u00a0unlikely to materially improve affordability, even in the medium term\u201d. Australian\u00a0urban planning academics\u00a0have instead suggested winding back tax breaks like negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount to reinvest into social housing and\u00a0here at the ABC Michael Janda has written\u00a0that other policies discourage Australians to free up their capital and spare rooms (including the tax-free status of the family home).<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"configanon\" data-component=\"Anchor\" data-mount=\"true\"><\/div>\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__NnqTc ContentAlignment_marginBottom__4H_6E ContentAlignment_overflowAuto__c1_IL ContentAlignment_outdentDesktop__ijbiK\" role=\"group\" data-print=\"inline-media\" data-component=\"Figure\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/imageproxy\/105511276\">\n<div class=\"ContentImage_ratio__0yYeG\">\n<div class=\"AspectRatio_container__FC_XH\" data-component=\"AspectRatioContainer\"><strong><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\" src=\"https:\/\/live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au\/2a01ae21a2f40fea889951a9f4a98e92?src\" sizes=\"100vw\" alt=\"DIVIDER 1\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\" \/><\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<h2><strong>A shortage of planners but an excess of planning<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>But others say unlocking supply hasn\u2019t happened fast enough. Despite Labor\u2019s housing abundance rhetoric, the Liberal Party\u2019s housing spokesperson Senator Andrew Bragg isn\u2019t impressed and thinks Australia is yet to have a government that fully backs the YIMBY movement.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>A recent report from the\u00a0National Housing Supply and Affordability Council\u00a0found Australia is already likely to miss its target by about 262,000 homes.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"u-quote\"><strong>\u201cUltimately the numbers aren\u2019t moving,\u201d Bragg tells the ABC. \u201cI think one of the reasons is that, because too many developments are still being kiboshed and I would say that a lot of the agencies, including federal agencies, have not been effective in actually getting houses or supporting the development of housing.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"configsm1x1md1x1lg1x1\" data-component=\"Anchor\" data-mount=\"true\"><\/div>\n<p><strong>YIMBY Melbourne\u2019s Jonathan O\u2019Brien says it can be easy to focus on the headline-grabbing behaviour of NIMBY councillors but behind them sits teams of professional planners. New analysis released today by YIMBY Melbourne, in a new \u201cpro-growth\u201d\u00a0online journal Inflection Points, claims the number of planners Australia-wide has increased dramatically over the past three decades but key productivity outcomes \u2014 including the number of home completions \u2014 have only worsened.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"u-quote\"><strong>\u201cWe\u2019ve gone to planning meetings where there have been 40 rejections for a single subdivision and we\u2019ve had members who have been the sole person speaking in favour of that subdivision,\u201d O\u2019Brien says. \u201cLegacy planning is essentially like a set of normative claims, like \u2018this should go here and this should look like this\u2019 but it doesn\u2019t actually make anything happen \u2014 things usually happen despite planning, not because of it.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>O\u2019Brien says there\u2019s not a shortage of planners but an excess of planning. YIMBY Melbourne\u2019s analysis found there are almost nine times as many planners today as there were in 1986. For every planner in 1986, we built more than 50 homes, we now build fewer than 10 homes per planner.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"configanon\" data-component=\"Anchor\" data-mount=\"true\"><\/div>\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__NnqTc ContentAlignment_marginBottom__4H_6E ContentAlignment_overflowAuto__c1_IL ContentAlignment_outdentDesktop__ijbiK\" role=\"group\" data-print=\"inline-media\" data-component=\"Figure\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/imageproxy\/105511284\">\n<div class=\"ContentImage_ratio__0yYeG\">\n<div class=\"AspectRatio_container__FC_XH\" data-component=\"AspectRatioContainer\"><strong><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\" src=\"https:\/\/live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au\/dc40ca52c7f37372c717ec6a3e8896ae?src\" sizes=\"100vw\" alt=\"DIVIDER 2\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\" \/><\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<h2><strong>The fight for the missing middle<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Canberra\u2019s YIMBY movement took off almost a decade ago with memes \u2014 specifically a Facebook page called Bush Capital Memes for Action-Oriented Teens (in reference to Canberra\u2019s bus operator Action).<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Greater Canberra organiser Howard Maclean says it became a place for people to talk about the city\u2019s urbanism and established transit in particular as \u201creally core\u201d to how Australian YIMBYs think about housing policy.<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__NnqTc ContentAlignment_marginBottom__4H_6E ContentAlignment_overflowAuto__c1_IL ContentAlignment_outdentDesktop__ijbiK\" role=\"group\" data-print=\"inline-media\" aria-labelledby=\"105492148\" data-component=\"Figure\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/imageproxy\/105492148\">\n<div class=\"ContentImage_ratio__0yYeG\">\n<div class=\"AspectRatio_container__FC_XH\" data-component=\"AspectRatioContainer\"><strong><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\" src=\"https:\/\/live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au\/39dc67cdb053647b835de1e5eb9f7b6a?src\" sizes=\"100vw\" alt=\"Bush Capital Memes for Action-Oriented Teens\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\" \/><\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption id=\"105492148\" class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP Figure_figcaption___vGe0 Typography_sizeMobile12__w_FPC Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx Typography_letterSpacedSm__V8kil\" data-component=\"Figure__figcaption\"><strong>A meme from a Facebook page called Bush Capital Memes for Action-Oriented Teens.\u00a0<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Maclean says YIMBYs across the country are not just fighting for more apartments but for what they call the missing middle: a \u201cgentle density\u201d between the urban sprawl of free-standing single family dwellings and large apartment blocks. They want more townhouses, terrace homes, low-rise apartments and multi-occupancy blocks near public transport.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>From conservation councils, to renting advocacy groups, to architects, to community housing groups Missing Middle Canberra is a coalition for medium-density housing. Its activism has helped along a proposal for planning rules that is\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2025-06-06\/act-residents-concern-missing-middle-housing-design-guide-draft\/105381532\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/article\/105381532\">currently open to public feedback<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Maclean, a member of the Labor party, says these reforms would be the largest single increase in Canberra\u2019s zoned capacity in the capital\u2019s history, boosting the number of homes that can legally be built in the previously untouchable and \u201cpractically sacrosanct\u201d RZ1 (suburban low-density, single-dwelling housing) alone \u201cby at least a factor of four\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The reforms have been introduced for consultation, then they could be referred to a legislative committee.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"u-quote\"><strong>\u201cThis is a very long and slow process of zoning and supply-side reform to housing,\u201d Maclean says. \u201cThere are no quick wins and persistence is really key in order to actually see results.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"configanon\" data-component=\"Anchor\" data-mount=\"true\"><\/div>\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__NnqTc ContentAlignment_marginBottom__4H_6E ContentAlignment_overflowAuto__c1_IL ContentAlignment_outdentDesktop__ijbiK\" role=\"group\" data-print=\"inline-media\" data-component=\"Figure\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/imageproxy\/105511276\">\n<div class=\"ContentImage_ratio__0yYeG\">\n<div class=\"AspectRatio_container__FC_XH\" data-component=\"AspectRatioContainer\"><strong><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\" src=\"https:\/\/live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au\/2a01ae21a2f40fea889951a9f4a98e92?src\" sizes=\"100vw\" alt=\"DIVIDER 1\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\" \/><\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<h2><strong>The changing faces of YIMBYs and NIMBYs<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Max Holleran, who wrote the book on YIMBYs, says NIMBYism has become a \u201cdirty word\u201d not just for its parochialism but for its anti-urbanism as it resists density and transport in favour of the white picket fence single-family home streets of suburbia.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Holleran has written the YIMBY movement of \u201cdisgruntled millennials alarmed by rising rent prices\u201d was founded in San Francisco in 2013 by maths teacher Sonia Trauss who began showing up to zoning and council meetings where she found even modest two- or three-storey apartment buildings under review were opposed for problems such as \u201ccasting shadows\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>He says that developers often build in lower income areas where they face less opposition.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"u-quote\"><strong>\u201cThese [residents] might be working a bunch of jobs, English might not be their first language, they might not have a university degree and they don\u2019t have the time or energy to go to [planning or council] meetings,\u201d he says.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The people who would benefit from increased housing stock aren\u2019t turning up to housing forums. Or as YIMBY Melbourne\u2019s O\u2019Brien puts it: \u201cWe are the voice of the most important stakeholder, which is the people who want to live somewhere but can\u2019t and the planning process favours incumbents.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>YIMBY Sydney\u2019s Justin Simon says politicians and planners are used to dealing with \u201ca very narrow, very noisy class of people who like to say no\u201d which skews their perceptions of what a community will allow.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"u-quote\"><strong>\u201cWe can show those planners and those councillors that actually there is debate within the community on this and if they want to go out on a limb and try really hard to build more housing there will be somebody there who is going to say, like, \u2018good job\u2019.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Simon says NIMBYs shift their arguments depending on the context but the goal is the same: \u201cno new people, and no changes to the urban environment\u201d. He\u2019s seen people in Leichhardt, just a few kilometres west of the city\u2019s CBD, declare their backyards \u201cwildlife corridors\u201d. When the Sydney Morning Herald\u00a0asked the head of the Haberfield Association, who successfully secured his entire suburb as heritage conserved, where young people should live he was stumped, before suggesting Orange (250 km away) or Bathurst (550 km away).<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"u-quote\"><strong>\u201cFrom any person\u2019s perspective there can be good or bad things about development, but when you own your home the biggest positive is just not relevant to you, because you\u2019re not getting rent increases,\u201d Simon says. \u201cThat means you can engage in whatever motivated reasoning you like \u2014 it\u2019s a luxury belief.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>In one message, seen by the ABC, a man in Sydney\u2019s inner west tells YIMBY Sydney he signed up to the movement after he was evicted from his inner west home when his rent went up from $492 to $741 within two years.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"u-quote\"><strong>\u201cOften we\u2019re accused of being funded by developers, and that shows there is such a gulf in values that the only reason they could conceive of being a YIMBY is because they\u2019re being paid off,\u201d Simon says. \u201cThis barrier will be immediately familiar to many who\u2019ve had their parents tell them to \u2018just move a bit further out\u2019.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed u-pull\">\n<div class=\"Sizer sm-3x4 md-4x3 lg-16x9 xl-16x9\"><\/div>\n<p><strong><a class=\"Picture\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/105511268\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au\/3192bf398b79ac177580ad4e26b15600?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&amp;cropH=3178&amp;cropW=2384&amp;xPos=1207&amp;yPos=0&amp;width=700&amp;height=933 700w, https:\/\/live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au\/3192bf398b79ac177580ad4e26b15600?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&amp;cropH=3178&amp;cropW=2384&amp;xPos=1207&amp;yPos=0&amp;width=940&amp;height=1253 940w, 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https:\/\/live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au\/3192bf398b79ac177580ad4e26b15600?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&amp;cropH=3178&amp;cropW=4237&amp;xPos=280&amp;yPos=0&amp;width=1400&amp;height=1050 1400w, https:\/\/live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au\/3192bf398b79ac177580ad4e26b15600?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&amp;cropH=3178&amp;cropW=4237&amp;xPos=280&amp;yPos=0&amp;width=2150&amp;height=1613 2150w\" media=\"(min-width: 700px) and (max-width: 979px)\" sizes=\"100vw\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au\/3192bf398b79ac177580ad4e26b15600?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&amp;cropH=2698&amp;cropW=4797&amp;xPos=0&amp;yPos=240&amp;width=700&amp;height=394 700w, https:\/\/live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au\/3192bf398b79ac177580ad4e26b15600?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&amp;cropH=2698&amp;cropW=4797&amp;xPos=0&amp;yPos=240&amp;width=940&amp;height=529 940w, https:\/\/live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au\/3192bf398b79ac177580ad4e26b15600?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&amp;cropH=2698&amp;cropW=4797&amp;xPos=0&amp;yPos=240&amp;width=1400&amp;height=787 1400w, https:\/\/live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au\/3192bf398b79ac177580ad4e26b15600?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&amp;cropH=2698&amp;cropW=4797&amp;xPos=0&amp;yPos=240&amp;width=2150&amp;height=1209 2150w\" media=\"(orientation: landscape) and (max-width: 979px)\" sizes=\"100vw\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au\/3192bf398b79ac177580ad4e26b15600?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&amp;cropH=2698&amp;cropW=4797&amp;xPos=0&amp;yPos=240&amp;width=700&amp;height=394 700w, https:\/\/live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au\/3192bf398b79ac177580ad4e26b15600?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&amp;cropH=2698&amp;cropW=4797&amp;xPos=0&amp;yPos=240&amp;width=940&amp;height=529 940w, https:\/\/live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au\/3192bf398b79ac177580ad4e26b15600?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&amp;cropH=2698&amp;cropW=4797&amp;xPos=0&amp;yPos=240&amp;width=1400&amp;height=787 1400w, https:\/\/live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au\/3192bf398b79ac177580ad4e26b15600?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&amp;cropH=2698&amp;cropW=4797&amp;xPos=0&amp;yPos=240&amp;width=2150&amp;height=1209 2150w\" media=\"(min-width: 980px) and (max-width: 1799px)\" sizes=\"100vw\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au\/3192bf398b79ac177580ad4e26b15600?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&amp;cropH=2698&amp;cropW=4797&amp;xPos=0&amp;yPos=240&amp;width=700&amp;height=394 700w, https:\/\/live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au\/3192bf398b79ac177580ad4e26b15600?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&amp;cropH=2698&amp;cropW=4797&amp;xPos=0&amp;yPos=240&amp;width=940&amp;height=529 940w, https:\/\/live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au\/3192bf398b79ac177580ad4e26b15600?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&amp;cropH=2698&amp;cropW=4797&amp;xPos=0&amp;yPos=240&amp;width=1400&amp;height=787 1400w, https:\/\/live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au\/3192bf398b79ac177580ad4e26b15600?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&amp;cropH=2698&amp;cropW=4797&amp;xPos=0&amp;yPos=240&amp;width=2150&amp;height=1209 2150w\" media=\"(min-width: 1800px)\" sizes=\"100vw\" \/><img class=\"\" alt=\"Housing extra graphic\" width=\"682\" height=\"511\" \/><\/picture><\/a><\/strong><\/div>\n<p><strong>But while stereotypes about who wants to build more \u2014 namely, only developers \u2014 aren\u2019t adhering as securely to YIMBYs, who now claim a level of ideological and socioeconomic diversity, those rallying to oppose development are also challenging the silhouette of a grouchy, heritage-obsessed crank.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Last month dozens of kids in football jerseys and residents gathered in Sydney\u2019s inner west to protest a planning proposal lodged by a developer to build 200 apartments on industrial land next to where APIA Leichhardt Football Club trains.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Although many of those gathered admitted to the ABC they didn\u2019t live in the suburb, they didn\u2019t look like your typical NIMBYs \u2014 they were young families concerned a new apartment block would force their kids\u2019 football club to adjust training hours to avoid noise complaints. They were not thinking about housing density or affordability. They were thinking about a potential disruption to their own lives.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Tony Raciti, the club\u2019s president and the face of the campaign, insists he is all for housing density.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"u-quote\"><strong>\u201cWe\u2019d love to see skyscrapers here,\u201d he tells the ABC, gesturing to the suburb\u2019s empty skyline.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"u-quote\"><strong>\u201cLove it! No problem!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The caveat?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"u-quote\"><strong>\u201cNot here!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>ABC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Yes In My Backyard movement is lobbying for denser cities and more housing in places people want to work and live and YIMBYs want these homes built yesterday. But the NIMBYs haven\u2019t given up yet. on a cold June night in Sydney\u2019s eastern suburbs dozens of residents, most insulated by navy puffer coats and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2088,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,69],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australia","category-breaking-news"],"views":62,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theworldinsight.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4456"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theworldinsight.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theworldinsight.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theworldinsight.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theworldinsight.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4456"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theworldinsight.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4456\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4458,"href":"https:\/\/theworldinsight.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4456\/revisions\/4458"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theworldinsight.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theworldinsight.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theworldinsight.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theworldinsight.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}