WASHINGTON — NIMBY, or “not in my backyard,” has long been shorthand to describe people who fight development in their communities.

What You Need To Know

  • YIMBY stands for "Yes in My Backyard," and advocates for the development of affordable housing

  • Last month, a bipartisan group of lawmakers launched a caucus to focus on promoting pro-housing legislation

  • YIMBY advocates say having legislators at the national level shine a light on this issue is important, but that local government is where change can happen quickly

But the NIMBY movement has triggered a counterreaction that has perhaps grown even louder in recent years as a housing shortage has continued to balloon: YIMBY, or “yes in my backyard.” The movement calls for the development of more affordable housing and for more density of housing units, particularly in close proximity to public transit.

Local chapters across the country have popped up in recent years like the one in Washington, D.C., which Rory O’Sullivan says has more than 1,100 members.

“Our mission is to make housing affordable, accessible and inclusive for everyone,” O’Sullivan said of the group’s mission.

The group was able to get 66 of its 79 endorsed candidates elected to local advisory neighborhood commissions this year, according to O’Sullivan.

“We're very excited to get those pro-housing voices into some of these lower-level city government positions," O'Sullivan said.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers on Capitol Hill is also embracing life as YIMBYs, launching a caucus with the same name to try to promote legislation that will encourage affordable housing development and infrastructure investments to bolster the supply of available housing units. 

“It's a freedom to build more housing, growing communities across the country," Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., one of the founding members of the bipartisan group, said during a news conference announcing the formation of the caucus late last month. "Jobs and opportunity and cutting regulation so we can build housing faster — this is not a blue issue or a red issue. This is an issue that affects every single American across the country."

So far, there are over two dozen lawmakers in the YIMBY caucus, co-chaired by Reps. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore.; Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass.; Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz.; Scott Peters, D-Calif.; Chuck Edwards, R-N.C.; Brittany Pettersen, D-Colo.; and Marc Molinaro, R-N.Y.

“That goes to show you that we are committed to a bipartisan approach, where Democrats and Republicans agree on this issue, as we understand that building housing is critically important,” added Garcia.

Garcia has been a champion for affordable housing since his time as Long Beach mayor. He oversaw a great deal of up-zoning in the city during his tenure, in addition to reforming of parking laws. Last year, Garcia introduced his “People Over Parking Act,” which would strike down local zoning rules that require a minimum number of parking spaces for affordable residential, retail, industrial and commercial construction, giving developers the right to determine how much parking is actually needed.

O’Sullivan said he and other YIMBY supporters are "very excited about the movement that we're seeing in Congress" but said it’s the local level where most changes can happen and perhaps at a quicker pace. He said the DC YIMBY chapter encourages people to go to local zoning and city council meetings.

“It's important for people to know that a lot of the biggest changes need to happen at the local level," O'Sullivan said. "It's that your city council, your local zoning commission meeting, these are the policymakers that have the most control over whether you can build homes in your neighborhood."