NIMBYism in Hales Corner

I confess to being surprised to read of opposition to the proposed Applewood Senior Living Center given that neighbors usually consider elderly housing to be more desirable than other forms of multi-family housing.  I recall a public meeting in the City of Waukesha where neighbors opposed to a proposed development near the Goodwill building stated they would prefer to see a senior living building there.

Don't mistake me-I consider senior living apartments to be segregated housing and are opposed to them.

But this reminded me of two items I read recently- Matthew Ygelias writing about NIMBYism over solar panels on utility poles and Kevin Drum chiming in with a story of outraged residents being opposed to cellular transmitters atop light poles.

It was over in a neighborhood called Turtle Rock, which is one of Irvine's most upscale "villages" (yes, we really call them that). I got curious, and since it wasn't far away I drove over to take a look. And I looked and looked. Finally I found the offending light pole and looked some more. And there it was! I didn't see it at first, but sure enough, there was a small round doohickey attached to the pole about 20 feet up.

All I could do was shake my head. It was a light pole! And the transmitter was barely even visible. And it was 20 feet off the ground. How could anyone possibly care? But they did.

Sometimes people simply are opposed to change, period.

That doesn't mean there aren't legitimate concerns that could apply to some developments.  But the trick is to find the real issues among the hysteria.