We have far too many NIMBYs, not just in Los Alamos, but across the country. In Los Alamos, however, we have too many people who are unwilling to make any changes, whatsoever, no matter how small, to improve the quality of life for future residents. Comments online about how new residents need to assimilate and not try to change things, in addition to rhyming with the racist tropes of anti-immigrant sentiment, are so ironic when you consider how many workers at LANL probably relocated here. That was and is the quite literal intent of the lab. But what's most ironic about it is that we've actually seen a decline in quality of life: rising housing costs, fewer businesses, more traffic. Which then raises the question of what, exactly, people are trying to preserve in the first place.
Outstanding piece.
We have far too many NIMBYs, not just in Los Alamos, but across the country. In Los Alamos, however, we have too many people who are unwilling to make any changes, whatsoever, no matter how small, to improve the quality of life for future residents. Comments online about how new residents need to assimilate and not try to change things, in addition to rhyming with the racist tropes of anti-immigrant sentiment, are so ironic when you consider how many workers at LANL probably relocated here. That was and is the quite literal intent of the lab. But what's most ironic about it is that we've actually seen a decline in quality of life: rising housing costs, fewer businesses, more traffic. Which then raises the question of what, exactly, people are trying to preserve in the first place.
"In 2020 alone, CEQA lawsuits aimed to block nearly 48,000 approved housing units—almost half the state’s total housing production." 🤯