I have just been alerted to the existence of the best blog I’ve seen in a while–perhaps since Baseball Prospectus launched it’s Unfiltered blog.Anyways, it’s called Hyde Park Progress, they do the type of real reporting on Hyde Park events that you can’t get from their joke of a competitor.Unlike me, they really know their stuff. For example, do you know the level of urban density Hyde Park can sustain? The number of cars per resident that is optimal? What actually has been going down with the Point debate?I certainly didn’t until I checked out their blog. But on top of really knowing their stuff, they have come up with a delightful term that describes the Hyde Park “activists” I have railed againt: NIMBY.In fact, they have a whole feature on NIMBYs, called NIMBY’s Corner. This is grade A Hyde Park ownage. It’s like Fire Joe Morgan, except for Hyde Park.Anyways, here is how the anonymous contributor Chicago Pop defines NIMBY-ism:
NIMBY is an acronym that stands for “Not In My Backyard.” NIMBYs generally espouse NIMBY-ism. In Hyde Park, NIMBYs are perhaps the broadest demographic group, transcending racial, class, religious, and occupational lines….Common signs of NIMBY DMMCS are breaking into hives on hearing the word “density”, erotic hallucinations at mention of the word “parking”, and allergic reaction to public transportation and the possibility that people from OUTSIDE the neighborhood might want to come INSIDE the neighborhood. The most common sign, however, is the use of ad hoc and contradictory arguments against proposed high-rise or commercial development in the neighborhood.
Check it all out though, it is gold. Especially if you find yourself enraged every time you read the Hyde Park Herald.Also, one of Hyde Park Progress’s contributors sent me an email on my latest column that has the real breakdown on what happened with the Point. Turns out I was partly wrong about the Point, but my hypothesis about these so called community leaders was still right, in fact, they might be worse than I portrayed them. But more on that later.
