NIMBY
Local NIMYs install Private Property sign on State Park (public) property, in an effort to curb public use of Madeline Trail
Doubtless you’ve heard the term NIMBY, and most likely you’ve encountered a few in your time. Heck, you might proudly or otherwise even BE a NIMBY.
I’d like to be clear, hope you don’t mind. If you’re a NIMBY, your time in the sun is over. You’ve managed to enjoy the paradise of Santa Cruz County largely to yourself for the past 50 years. Now it’s time to pass the megaphone over to the rest of the community.
I can only imagine how incredible this place was back in the ‘70s, before I was even born, when you and your friends moved here and staked your claims. Thing is, you staked your claims on someone else’s land, remember? And, guess what - it’s not your land or my land or their land. It’s OUR land! ALL of ours. And we all have a responsibility to care for it.
So, let me clarify for those not yet accustomed to the Santa Cruz County NIMBY. This beast differs a bit from other pervasive & invasive NIMBYs in communities around the country. In fact, our local subspecies deserves a more nuanced acronym:
N.I.M.B.Y.
Nothing Improved Means Better Yesteryears
Yes, the ‘70s here were better than today (for NIMBYs). The infrastructure built to support the population boom was shiny new and no one forced anyone to pay to maintain it. Everyone drove cars and everyone had freedom.
Now we have a massive, nearly insurmountable stockpile of deferred maintenance and an infrastructure system approaching end-of-life nearly all-at-once, at a time when the fossil fuel addiction of the past has driven our planet to the brink and triggered increasingly catastrophic natural disasters that further stress our ridiculously inadequate shoestring budget.
Don’t know what I’m talking about? You’ve come to the right place to learn more.
Don’t agree? You’ve come to the right place to engage & respectfully disagree.
Don’t like change? No one does. But you know what’s worse than change? Change for the worse! Together we can help direct the future towards change for the better!
Don’t care? You might once it’s too late…