Nimby vs. Banana: The State of Housing Today

How special interest groups are impacting affordable housing.

While it’s not a laughing matter, sometimes one does chuckle at the state of the country concerning the lack of housing inventory and affordability challenges, which in great part is due to lack of inventory.

Most will be familiar with the term Nimby which stands for Not in My Back Yard. The reluctance or resistance of people and various interest groups to always be in favor of affordable housing development just as long as it is ‘not in my back yard.’

Now comes the all-too-true view of residential (and commercial) development in a growing number of metro areas around the country. The term is now Banana, which stands for Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anybody.

Unfortunately, the banana view of various interest groups is most robust in those metro areas where the lack of inventory, high housing prices, and low affordability ratings are most acute.

You can’t make this stuff up. Banana indeed!