NIMBY attitude reaches a new high

NIMBY attitude reaches a new high

Get this: Folks in tall building oppose a new tall building

Here’s the latest twist on NIMBYism in Ann Arbor. And, well, it’s a beaut.

For the uninitiated, NIMBYism (Not In My Backyard-ism) in Ann Arbor takes several forms: folks saying they want to end homelessness but adding that a proposed shelter would be better located across town; folks saying affordable housing for the working poor is needed, but that units housing them should rise “over there”; and folks saying that greater downtown residential density is necessary, especially because of the passage of the so-called greenbelt, but in another place better suited to it.

Now, add this variation: folks saying they want more tall buildings, but not if the buildings block their view. That’s the rather brazen NIMBY-offering from some residents of some of the highest priced condominiums in the city, at 101 N. Main St.

One 101N. Main St. resident, Stephen Ranzini, president and CEO of University Bancorp, says allowing construction of a 10-story condominium building one block west on Huron Street would harm the investment that he and his fellow residents made in their building’s units, which cost up to $900,000.

“The concern we have is all these tall buildings immediately next to each other and so many people living like Ralph Kramden in tenements,” he said in a story in The News last week. “This is Ann Arbor, not New York City.”

With voters approving the greenbelt initiative, it's incumbent on the city to bring more residential units downtown.

Indeed, we don’t expect anyone to confuse the two. Moreover, we like Ralph Kramden.

But with voters in 2003 approving the greenbelt initiative, which aims to curb sprawl by preserving undeveloped green space in the surrounding townships, it’s incumbent on the city to bring more residential units downtown to balance the effort.

Efforts like the one forged at 101 N. Main, which at a meeting last week failed to persuade City Council members to nix the Huron Street project, just make it harder.