NIMBYs R Us, Especially In Castaic

Not In My Backyard! It’s a chorus spreading throughout the Southland. Most don’t realize—or just don’t care—that saying no to a new homeless service center in their neighborhood just compounds the devastating problem of homelessness in our region.

Yesterday, after the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority Commission approved opening up an emergency Winter Shelter program in Castaic—even after the local Town Council voted against it—it appears that the shelter will still not open there. Here's the article.

Too many local voices are against it. Cheers to the LAHSA Commission for standing up to NIMBYism, and providing much needed leadership to ensure more people on our streets are being housed.

Here’s an excerpt out of my chapter, NIMBYs R Us:

“…we dream that our community and back yards become like Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. You can almost hear him singing, ‘It’s a beautiful day in this neighborhood,’ as the chorus of make-believe neighbors join in, ‘…a beautiful day for a neighbor. Would you be mine? Could you be mine?’”

“Yeah right. You can shut off that archaic 45 RPM record because those images just don’t exist. Forget the make-believe neighborhood with the friendly police officer, local baker with the white hat, and the grandfatherly ‘Speedy Delivery’ messenger. These characters are pure fiction.”

“Unfortunately, the yearning for Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood or a community like Leave It To Beaver’s prompts people to fight tooth and nail to stop any social service program from invading their neighborhood. This knee-jerk response has become prevalent in both high end communities as well as neighborhoods suffering under the crush of poverty. Nobody wants them.”

“…The aura of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood is certainly more attainable if all neighborhoods worked together to solve the problem of homelessness rather than pawn the problem from one community to another. We may not all be wearing that light-colored buttoned sweater and singing those songs that attract children’s attention, but we can hope for a real community that provides real solutions to homelessness.”