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this essay were taken during my lunch hour one day in June, 1999. -- mb
MISSION
STATEMENT
These pages are posted by
a NIMBY for the purpose of advocating better quality of life and less traffic
congestion, noise, hazards, and pollution through the center of Goshen,
Indiana, by constructing a limited
access bypass around the city.
NIMBYS vs PIMFYS
An essay by Marvin Bartel - June, 1999
---
When I read letters to the editor or interviews with city officials about
the Maple City traffic concerns, I often note that some opinions are dismissed
as simply those of NIMBYS (not in my back yard). This is not a bad
label. I am very proud to be a NIMBY. My backyard happens to face
the direction of downtown Goshen. I believe the INDOT (Indiana Department
of Transportation) street widening proposal is the result of another very
effective group in Goshen. I will give them the label, PIMFYS (please
in my front yard). PIMFYS are the made up of business owners and commercial
developers that benefit most by having lots of traffic pass in front of
their properties.
For the at least the last 30 years the PIMFYS have objected every time
a bypass was proposed. They said it would kill the downtown. Ultimately,
their traffic dream came true. Unfortunately, the traffic dream also brought
nightmare competition. We now have PIMBYS all the way from Dunlap to Benton,
but the downtown has more trucks than shoppers (count them). Our scenic
city gateways have been changed into generic corporate strip malls that
suck the shopper's away from downtown.
In addition to competition, the PIMFYS traffic dream also brought nightmare
congestion. It also brought nightmare noise. It also brought nightmare
pollution. It also brought nightmare fear of parking. Even walking downtown
is less of a dream than a nightmare.
A simple political truth became clear to me as a member of the Mayors Traffic
Task Force. The PIMBYS outnumbered the NIMBYS on the Task Force. While
the Chamber of Commerce was represented PIMBYS, the most passionate advocates
for INDOT's proposal were those with businesses along US33 Southeast. Additionally,
a number of city employees "served" on the task force and naturally supported
the official city position (no bypass - just widen the streets some more).
The video survey of license plates entering Goshen and exiting Goshen is
said to prove that we don't have enough through traffic to justify a bypass.
I spent 30 minutes observing Main Street recently, and I, like any common
sense person, question these "statistics". I asked the consultant to explain
why the survey shows many more vehicles entering Goshen than exiting Goshen.
I never got a satisfactory explanation for all these "vanishing" vehicles.
The majority of the Task Force was not interested in getting an explanation.
The consultant did comment on the difficulty of entering all the data and
the difficulty of finding good workers. My experience with hiring consultants
is that they are generally quite pleased to tell you what you want to hear.
The PIMFYS also hired the consultants from Indianapolis to design and give
authority to their Thoroughfare wishes. Count me with the vast common sense
majority of NIMBY citizens of Goshen who feel these out-of-town consultants
were working to appease the people who hired them.
Those of us who oppose the plan do not want this traffic in our backyards.
We are not addicted to it in our front yards either. We don't even want
this traffic next to schools and playgrounds. We hate this traffic in the
heart of our community. If this is what it means to be a NIMBY, thank you,
I take pride in it. Let the PIMFYS widen the strip mall corridors on US33,
but not the streets in front of homes, schools and churches. Get a limited
access bypass started now.
Please join me as Maple City Traffic NIMBY. Pay close attention to the
coming elections. Be careful whom you support. The current proposal is
bad for Goshen. It may seem to relieve some congestion. Ultimately, it
will only make the situation worse because more and more streets will need
to be widened to accommodate the next wave of traffic being attracted to
our central corridor. Imagine the coming damage to homes, trees, and safety
on South Main, North Main, Eighth Street, and many other residential areas
as we build thoroughfares to feed PIMFY dependencies. We must stop destroying
our city in order to save it. We NIMBYS support a good long-term solution,
even if we have to wait a few years for it.
~end~ Home
"If somebody wants put nuclear
waste in your backyard, you don't have to understand the half-life of radioactivity
in order to have an opinion."
James Burke, author of The Knowledge Web,
Simon and Shuster ©1999
This quote was from James Burke on National Public Radio,
June 29, 1999
-
This doesn't mean that traffic is similar to nuclear waste.
It means that we have a responsibility to speak up when we are bothered
by government proposals that may effect our neighborhoods. If we
don't, who will? mb
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