Right now in Boulder, Colorado, a bunch of urbanists are talking about how to get their cities to welcome more density. It's the first-ever YIMBY (Yes In My Backyard) conference. Sonja Trauss, the founder of the San Francisco Bay Area Renters Federation who was recently profiled in the New York Times, opened the conference today. And, from the looks of it, Seattle is well-represented too.
Sara Maxana, one of the organizers of Seattle for Everyone (the campaign to support the HALA recommendations) and a planner at the Puget Sound Regional Council, is a keynote speaker. Laura Bernstein, who's de-facto leading the Seattle "YIMBY" movement, is at the conference. Several staffers from the Sightline Institute (which is also co-sponsoring the conference) are there. So is local blogger Erica C. Barnett.
The problem with NIMBYs (Not In My Backyard) isn't that they represent the majority of Seattle. The results of last year's local elections show that's not true. It's that they show up. The YIMBY movement is about organizing people to show up and say "yes" to new growth and new people.
Anna Fahey (@Sightline): Growth in Seattle portrayed as army at the gates of the city, not people coming there to start families. #YIMBY2016
â Streetsblog Denver (@StreetsblogDen) June 17, 2016
"We need to shift our focus from character of our built environment to characters that make up our communities," says @annafahey. #YIMBY2016
â Erica C. Barnett (@ericacbarnett) June 17, 2016
Seattle's HALA recommendations will go down in history as important moment in American urban policy #YIMBY2016 pic.twitter.com/cqml8GWiZz
â Aaron Brown (@ambrown) June 17, 2016
#YIMBY2016 breakout session quotes @DonaldShoup "min parking req's act as fertility drug for cars" @YIMBY2016
â Yes In My Back Yard! (@YIMBY2016) June 17, 2016
"For every car in the U.S., there are 3 parking spots" #parking breakout session
â Yes In My Back Yard! (@YIMBY2016) June 17, 2016
Psyched to be at #YIMBY2016 but this movement isn't going to succeed w/out POC and there are less than 10 of them here smdh.
â Ben Carlos Thypin (@SoBendito) June 17, 2016
There are tons of breakout sessions going on all weekend. Follow along here.