That NIMBY Stink

There is a nasty class war going on in Eugene and most of the rest of the country, although locally no one wants to talk about it outside of Facebook pages devoted to the homeless and renters, who are half of Eugene residents. It’s our local elephant in the room.

On one side we have the rich business people and middle-class homeowners, on the other side working-class renters and the homeless. Homeowners, and the neighborhood associations they dominate, have a long history of keeping us out of “their” neighborhoods, including all kinds of rentals and homeless shelters. For working-class people, they’re the enemy.

So after reading the July 25 opinion piece “Long Day’s Journey From Darkness to Light” — what a bizarre title — by Jacqueline McClure and Julie Hulme, I have no sympathy for the position of Greenway Guardians and neighborhood associations against Homes For Good’s plan to sell land they say is legally unsuitable for public subsidized housing and use the proceeds to further their work. It all smells like NIMBY to me.

For once I’m glad that a local government agency doesn’t have to answer to their opponents or go through any kind of public process before they take action. That’s how the NIMBYs stop anything from happening.

We are in a housing crisis. I would like to cram large apartment buildings into every neighborhood in Eugene. It’s time to move.

Lynn Porter

Homeless Action

Eugene