Nashville Is the NIMBY Capital of the United States

After our week-long series profiling the NIMBY, or "Not in my backyard" policies of cities reluctant to welcome the homeless, Change.org members have spoken. We asked you to weigh in on which city is the most exclusive, the most uninformed and unnecessarily cruel, the absolute NIMBYest. With 29 percent of the vote, Nashville has been crowned our NIMBY capital of the United States.

Blogger Steven Samra made a convincing argument for why his city deserved the dishonor. Since Nashville experienced the worst flood in its history back in May, residents have been putting up literal and figurative roadblocks for homeless citizens who hope to rebuild the tent cities wiped out by the flood waters. No one begrudged homeowners trying to rebuild. When it came to the homeless population, however, some saw the flood not as a tragedy, but as an opportunity to finally shut down pesky homeless encampments. Ask Nashville Mayor Karl Dean to encourage tolerance in his town.

As Samra wrote, "As the waters receded and life began to return to somewhat normal in and around the Nashville area, the emergency shelters closed and those who had the resources to find alternate living conditions had long since done so, leaving only those who were either homeless or who had lost everything. ... The flood ... was also a very convenient and oh so plausible excuse to begin enforcing a no trespassing ordinance, too.

'Tent City' had been on the city's chopping block since the fall of 2008, when the population swelled to more than 120 residents and police and neighbors began complaining of stench, crime and poor conditions in and around the camp. ... Then in May 2010, Mother Nature did what city officials couldn't; it pushed every single resident from the area while washing away structures and possessions that had been built and procured over decades of the camp's existence."

A dishonorable mention goes to Grand Junction, Colorado, which came in second with 19 percent of the vote. Blogger Randall Amster chronicled the strange saga of police officers slashing tents and city officials declaring that public parks were now "medians" and therefore off limits for homeless congregation.

I should note that there were write-in votes for: Boulder, CO (which has an unfair no-camping ordinance but a lack of shelter beds); Las Vegas (where people make their homes in storm drains); Branson, MO; St. Augustine, FL; Atlanta; Birmingham, AL; Akron, OH; Boise, ID; and a bunch of cities in California, including Redding; Sacramento; Santa Cruz; Orange County; San Diego; and Los Angeles (where nonetheless a homeless man holds elected office). We've written about the problems in many of these cities, but not all of them. If you know why they deserve NIMBY nominations, please explain in the comments.

In more positive poll results, our question about whether readers would welcome a shelter or other homeless services center to their community was met with an overwhelmingly positive response. It's a self-selecting audience, sure, but for now we'll revel in the fact that 70 percent said they'd welcome the homeless or formerly homeless and another 17 percent were open to the idea. It's the YIMBY crowd that will turn the tide.

Photo credit: CJ Sorg