Slaying the NIMBY dragon

by Herbert Inhaber

In the past few decades, finding sites for undesirable facilities, such as prisons and garbage landfills, has become ever more difficult. The difficulty lies not in tracking down technically suitable sites, but in the so-called NIMBY syndrome. People might agree that a facility is desperately needed just as long as it is Not In My Back Yard. In Slaying the NIMBY Dragon, Herbert Inhaber draws on the experience of many NIMBY cases. He discusses new approaches to overcoming NIMBY, such as the reverse Dutch auction. Reverse, because undesirable objects are being auctioned. This market approach holds promise for meeting the objections of potential neighbors of a LULU (Locally Unwanted Land Use) as well as society's need to get the facilities built. According to Inhaber, a site auction works better than negotiation - the community handles it on their own, and when they are satisfied with a site they offer a bid. The hefty bonus would go to the first county that agrees to have a site built in