People move out of Eagle County when they reach their early 30’s and don’t stop leaving until their early 60’s. We are losing people in their peak earning years. Many attribute this, in part, to a lack of housing affordable to these employees. Employee turnover costs local businesses a lot of money and creates other community challenges.
You’ve likely heard the term NIMBY (an acronym for Not In My Back Yard). NIMBY is a pejorative characterization of opposition by residents to a proposal for a new development because it is close to them often with the connotation that such residents believe that the developments are needed in society but should be further away.
NIMBIES are, in many cases, the problem as they continually rally against “those people” living in their neighborhoods. This despite the fact is we are all ‘those’ people. We need to continue to work together to not just oppose things but instead to be proactive to create a healthy community. The purpose of the NIMBY Jamboree is just that: to create a healthy community through workforce housing.
NIMBIES are often joined by their partners, CAVE people and BANANA’s. CAVE People (an acronym for Citizens Against Virtually Everything) is a pejorative term for citizens who regularly oppose any changes in their community, organization or workplace. While the NIMBY phenomenon is typically related to development issues, CAVE people, as the name implies, oppose virtually everything. BANANA (an acronym for Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything) is most often used to criticize the ongoing opposition of certain advocacy groups to land development. The apparent opposition of some activists to every instance of proposed development suggests that they seek a complete absence of new growth.
NIMBY’s, CAVE people, and BANANA’s all want to restrict growth. But here’s the thing: we need to find a way to yes on future development proposals that include workforce housing. Because even in a robust economy, wages do not always keep up with the cost of housing.
Public policy should control direct development according to the entire community’s wishes – not just the wishes of the vocal minority. Public policy tools combined with NIMBY attitudes often inhibit housing that is affordable to current or prospective residents and may affect a community’s ability to attract an adequate workforce. While it is important that a community examine its growth regulations to understand and lessen their impact on affordable housing, it is also important for the silent majority to engage to support workforce housing.
At Vail Valley Partnership, we want to ensure our community can remain competitive to support our business community. Workforce and affordable housing has long been an issue in Eagle County. Addressing our affordable housing issue is essential to the continued success and growth of our community.
The upcoming NIMBY Jamboree, hosted on August 2-3 at the Antlers at Vail, is designed to address this exact issue. This 2-day event is a collaboration with Vail Symposium, Vail Valley Partnership, Vail Board of Realtors, and concerned citizens. The Jamboree is a day and a half interactive program and has been designed to bring together a diverse cross section of the public and private members of the development community to engage participants to explore the problems, possibilities, and solutions to achieving sustainable workforce housing. Join us for panel sessions, topical breakout sessions, site visits, and a town hall.
Learn more and RSVP at VailValleyPartnership.com or VailSymposium.org. We look forward to seeing you there, and appreciate you being part of the solution.
Chris Romer is president & CEO of Vail Valley Partnership. Learn more at VailValleyPartnership.com