Why ugly buildings create NIMBYism • Hacker News Board

Re: Why ugly buildings create NIMBYism

#51

Post by felineflock » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 8:23 PM UTC

Modern architecture is ugly, influenced by Brutalism.

And it is common for developers to present at the city council some beautiful drawings of dwellings surrounded by trees, with couples walking together holding hands and children playing. But when the actual thing is built it ends up looking like industrial warehouses.

And the people who complain about enshitification of diverse services are the same ones complaining that residents oppose anything in their neighborhood (Nimbyism) or anywhere (Bananaism) - they fail to apply the same criteria: no one likes enshitification, even less so in their neighborhoods.

Re: Why ugly buildings create NIMBYism

#52

Post by davidw » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 8:43 PM UTC

graemep wrote: post #48

davidw wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you are building outwards, 'sprawl', the environmental concerns have some validity, I think. But most of the NIMBYism I see is people opposing, say, an apartment building right in the middle of town. That's actual a big win for the environment ( https://www.sightline.org/apartments-are-the-climate-solutio... ) - they can be more walkable/less car dependant, require less resources, don't pave over farms or forests,…

I was thinking of sprawl with regard to the instances when these are valid objections. With regard to the environmental impact, I was not thinking about climate change but things such as endangering habitats of rare species.

Most NIMBYism isn't about sprawl - at least in the US. It's about stopping the types of housing that use land more efficiently from being built within cities, and therefore actually reduce the demand to grow outwards.

Re: Why ugly buildings create NIMBYism

#53

Post by eigencoder » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 9:04 PM UTC

Lammy wrote: post #45

eigencoder wrote: post #37

A related article on NITBYism and the built environment, but from the perspective of modern finance and how financial instruments may increase the amount of ugly buildings. https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/you-probably-own...

Nothing turns me off wanting to hear somebody's opinion more than using the dumbass made-up word ‘stroad’. There is no stronger signal that the author has no actual original opinion on the subject and is just parroting what they've read online and internalized as The Opinion Good People Have. Luckily it was above the paywall fold.

I mean, all words were made up once! Yeah stroad is a relatively recent one.

Re: Why ugly buildings create NIMBYism

#54

Post by mlsu » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 9:04 PM UTC

PeterStuer wrote: post #20

davidw wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Destroy" - see, that's the kind of rhetoric we hear when it turns out they're building like a small apartment building or something. Change happens one way or another. If a place has 10 homes and 100 people want to live there, you can either 1) build more homes or 2) see the 10 wealthiest of those 100 people eventually get the housing in that place. Both are pretty significant change, just one is more visible becaus…

What about "I bought this property because I like this environment to live here" is difficult to understand?

I love driving around when there's no traffic. It's only natural that I should have the right to restrict the number of cars on the road.

Oh, you want to buy a car? Too bad -- it's my right to preserve my driving experience, therefore, no car for you.

Re: Why ugly buildings create NIMBYism

#55

Post by pessimizer » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 9:22 PM UTC

pfdietz wrote: post #3

davidw wrote: post #2

I'm skeptical. People seem to complain most of all because 1) they view the function of a city as moving and storing automobiles and anything that might hypothetically get in the way of that is bad ("we should only build these homes if they come with a massive amount of parking and generate no traffic!") or 2) just plain aversion to change, which is more understandable. That doesn't mean we shouldn't push for things…

They want to keep out the poors (read: blacks.) American racism, same as it ever was.

YIMBYs specialize in pretending to be black and in gentrifying black people out of their homes.

Re: Why ugly buildings create NIMBYism

#56

Post by DeluluDon » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 9:54 PM UTC

jerlam wrote: post #39

BenFranklin100 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You find NIMBYs on Hacker News as well unfortunately.

Also a greater proportion of introverts and misanthropes.

It's almost as if people showed greater respect for those people, the trend would reverse.

Re: Why ugly buildings create NIMBYism

#57

Post by ndriscoll » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 10:14 PM UTC

Lammy wrote: post #45

eigencoder wrote: post #37

A related article on NITBYism and the built environment, but from the perspective of modern finance and how financial instruments may increase the amount of ugly buildings. https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/you-probably-own...

Nothing turns me off wanting to hear somebody's opinion more than using the dumbass made-up word ‘stroad’. There is no stronger signal that the author has no actual original opinion on the subject and is just parroting what they've read online and internalized as The Opinion Good People Have. Luckily it was above the paywall fold.

The idea of paying to read someone's opinion piece is also approximately the most pretentious thing possible. Presumably they want to convince me to care about whatever they have to say and effect some change. The idea of the reader paying for their blog post is absurd.

Re: Why ugly buildings create NIMBYism

#58

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 10:18 PM UTC

FuriouslyAdrift wrote: post #49

xboxnolifes wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Might want to look into why white flight even happened in the first place. It wasn't because apartments were built.

It was directly tied to the disruption of neighborhoods culture. That's the root of my supposition.

[deleted]

Re: Why ugly buildings create NIMBYism

#59

Post by mixmastamyk » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 10:36 PM UTC

nonameiguess wrote: post #29

There are few recurring discussions on Hacker News that frustrate me more than this. There is so much mean-spirited and disinterested in truth stereotyping of the kinds of people who become NIMBYs and why. Let's be clear right off the bat. I'm NOT a NIMBY. I live in a rapidly growing neighborhood adjacent to downtown Dallas. It's been continually under construction virtually everywhere for as long as I've lived here,…

Sounds like you have a problem with law enforcement in the area. Also a lawyer would come in handy. Class action with neighbors should be less onerous for each party.

Re: Why ugly buildings create NIMBYism

#60

Post by watwut » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 10:40 PM UTC

FuriouslyAdrift wrote: post #49

xboxnolifes wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Might want to look into why white flight even happened in the first place. It wasn't because apartments were built.

It was directly tied to the disruption of neighborhoods culture. That's the root of my supposition.

It was because the new people were not white. They were black. The culture was not a factor, no matter how respectability politcs exactly as white they acted, they were black and thus a threat.