YIMBY divided: A qualitative content analysis of YIMBY subreddit data

Abstract

ABSTRACT An established body of scholarship frames land use conflicts as schematically divided between pro-development “growth coalitions” and groups of anti-development civic activists, or “NIMBYs.” The arrival of “YIMBYs”—activists who advocate for additional housing production—onto the land use scene, has upended this dynamic. Yet, minimal scholarship has directly examined these new actors or their relationship to NIMBYs. We leverage data from the r/YIMBY subreddit (an online forum that discusses YIMBYism), blog posts published by YIMBY organizations, and newspaper articles featuring direct quotations from YIMBY organization representatives to examine the sources of friction between YIMBYs and NIMBYs. After conducting qualitative content analysis, we find that both YIMBY organization representatives and commenters on the r/YIMBY subreddit respond to NIMBYs in two broad ways: either addressing the personal motives of NIMBYs or countering NIMBYism through specific policy proposals. YIMBY organization representatives and the community of people interested in YIMBYism on Reddit converge around certain themes like regulatory reform, housing supply, institutional racism, and affordable housing policy, but divide over specific approaches. We further find that the spectrum of opinion found among the r/YIMBY community is far broader than that expressed by official YIMBY organizations, especially as regards to the issues of filtering, institutional racism, and rent control.