One of the biggest obstacles to affordable housing is the NIMBY effect: “Not in My Backyard.”
Many people agree that we need more affordable housing, especially progressives. They support apartments, duplexes and townhomes in theory.
But when a proposed project is near their neighborhood, they’re suddenly totally against affordable housing. Their opposition is often loud and organized. They’ll say: “I’m all for affordable housing, but this isn’t the right place for it!”
The result is a chokehold on housing development as animated neighborhood groups mobilize the freeze zoning with onerous zoning restrictions that prevent apartments and the like.
People who need affordable housing usually don’t attend zoning hearings. But the people who oppose zoning changes almost always show up. That’s why state action to preempt unreasonable zoning is needed (in my opinion).
Arizona took a step in that direction in 2024. The Legislature passed the “casita bill,” which prevents larger cities from banning accessory dwelling units in many single-family neighborhoods.
These small homes can provide a place for an aging parent, an adult child or a renter. The Legislature also passed a “middle housing” law that makes it easier to build duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes and townhomes in some areas. They also passed a law to make it easier to build duplexes and triplexes near city centers (called the middle housing law).
The NIMBY pushback accelerated after those laws were passed. NIMBYs who lost the preemption battle at the legislature focused on weakening the new rules or carving out exemptions.
Their bill was called SB2118. It would have watered down the 2024 laws with language that housing in historic needed to match the “historic character, scale, and setting” of the neighborhood. Subjective words that they knew they could use to stop (through the back door) duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes and townhomes.
Fortunately that bill failed last week… but the sponsor says he’ll try to bring it back for reconsideration during the budget chaos. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.
Arizona lawmakers reject bill to restrict demolition of historic homes to build middle housing
Case from the field:
Vitalyst Health Foundation helps communities find practical solutions. In Pinetop-Lakeside, Vitalyst supported a Blue Ridge Unified School District housing project for teachers and staff. Some employees had been driving for more than an hour to find an affordable place to live. The new teacher housing project makes it easier for the district to recruit and keep its workforce.
FY 2025 – Housing – Vitalyst Health
Vitalyst has also been working with school districts, churches and nonprofits to explore housing on underused property. These projects will not replace the need for zoning reform. But they show what can happen when communities look at the land they already have and ask a simple question: Could this property help solve a local housing problem?
Affordable housing is a public health issue. Stable housing supports better health, stronger schools and a more reliable workforce. Arizona needs more housing of all kinds. That’ll require local creativity, state-level action (preemption) and a willingness to stand up to the NIMBY pressure that blocks reasonable solutions.
Vitalyst is doing some great work to help at the margins… but the real solution is to create conditions whereby cities and towns stop putting chokeholds on infill development.
I don’t think the NIMBY effect at the local level will ever go away… but someday we may have the political will to start micromanaging cities and towns to force them to be more reasonable about multifamily development.
