NIMBY

NIMBY is an acronym for Not in My Backyard. This term is used primarily by the public relations industry as a pejorative against people who assert local sovereignty to reject unwanted development projects.

History
The term was first used in the Christian Science Monitor in 1980, but the term was popularized by Nicholas Ridley, environment secretary under Margaret Thatcher.

Issues
Those labeled as NIMBYs are often mischaracterized as being against development, when in fact they hold strong principles of self-governance, local sovereignty, local autonomy, and municipal home rule. That is, that the interests of local people should have the final determination as to development, and not corporations with distant investors. Such a corporate system where the natural resources and trade of local people are exploited is a form of modern Colonialism. They often cite examples of how development historically has caused increases in local traffic, often truck traffic; harm to small business; loss of residential property value, and thus municipal tax revenue; environmental degradation, such as toxic pollution of land, air, and water, light pollution, noise pollution, visual blight, and other quality of life losses; loss of a community's small-town feel; strain of public resources and schools; disproportionate benefit to non-locals; increases in crime; and failure to "blend in" with the surrounding architecture.