Saying Yes

It’s as simple as a one-letter change, NIMBY to YIMBY, a one-word change, from “not” to “yes.” But it’s so much more complicated, and it’s a conversation that is long overdue on the South Fork.

East End YIMBY’s rally on Saturday in Sag Harbor was an attempt to get that discussion rolling. The group’s mission is changing public sentiment from “not in my backyard” to “yes, in my backyard.” It’s peculiar, and frustrating, that virtually everyone agrees that the region needs more affordable housing. The catch is that the concept still conjures disastrous images rooted in fear of the unknown. They’re the worst-case scenario vistas, and they go straight to property owners’ basest instincts, to protect what’s most valuable to them.

Of course, there’s no reason affordable housing should be equated with slums. It’s nonsense to suggest that making homeownership affordable inevitably destroys neighborhoods. Quite the opposite is true. Which is the irony: The act of derailing real solutions to the crisis, out of blind fear, ultimately will be what destroys a healthy community.

Saturday’s rally attracted about 100 people, and very little new ground was covered. The event was about visibility, and starting to make clear that both sides have the ability to speak out. For a long time, NIMBY has held the podium. That might be changing.

Michael Daly — a real estate broker, yes, but also a man with a consistent message supporting action to create more affordable opportunities for local families, workers and young adults — blames ignorance. “I don’t say that with anger, I say that with disappointment,” he added, and he’s trying to change perceptions.

That will be a tall order. But, honestly, there is plenty of evidence to point to. Southampton and East Hampton towns have built clusters of affordable housing in the last two decades, and none has been a blight. Habitat for Humanity and the Southampton Town Housing Authority are tackling a project in Riverside, already an “affordable” community by local context, that should raise its street up, not drag it down. To property owners nearby, these affordable units will be beneficial.

But even in tonier neighborhoods, there’s massive room in which to work. Sag Harbor Mayor Jim Larocca is aiming to bring affordable housing into a village that could be the poster child for out-of-control housing costs.

It’s time to turn the focus where it should have been all along: to the people who need help. The number of individuals and families on the waiting list for affordable housing opportunities in the two towns is in the four digits. But that’s only a glimpse of the actual need. It’s staggering. And it’s costing local employers labor, talent and continuity in the workplace. This might be a mecca for those seeking the good life, but for those who simply want a working life, it’s more often a place they see in the rearview mirror.

It has to stop — or, rather, start. And that’s the idea of changing “not” to “yes”: In each resident’s backyard, they need not just to tolerate but welcome affordable housing, as part of a larger effort to help their neighbors (and themselves), and to restore balance on the South Fork.

Balance is key. The Community Preservation Fund did an immense amount of good, and there’s no second-guessing it — but the strong push toward preservation didn’t come with an accompanying plan to address the shortage of affordable dwellings as values soared, lifted in part by the scarcity of developable land. Even with all the preservation, the environmental toll of development has been severe, and it must be included in the equation as the region begins to think about using pockets of higher density to create new opportunities for working people and families to buy and rent here.

YIMBY’s members are trying to win minds and hearts, and to address misconceptions: yes, affordable housing can be built without destroying the environment; no, the towns’ waiting lists are not full of crafty folks from all over the country looking for a cheap summer house — they’re overwhelmingly locals, or former locals forced out.

Next year, the towns will have a chance to create the Community Housing Fund, which could be nearly as transformative as the CPF was 20 years ago. Rarely does an opportunity present itself to fix a seemingly intractable problem. But to win approval, and to use the money effectively and wisely, there must be an intense push to change NIMBY to YIMBY, to ask people to not only tolerate but embrace having affordable housing in their neighborhood.

It’s an effort that’s overdue — but it’s not too late.