Whenever a neighborhood or community group objects to a proposed development in their area, someone questions whether the objections are part of a NIMBY , or "Not in My Backyard" pattern of responses. According to past studies, one characteristic of a typical NIMBY syndrome is a lack of trust in project sponsors or experts. Most researchers argue that distrust leads to the NIMBY syndrome. Margolis (1996), however, argues that opposition to a proposed development may cause distrust. In this article, we investigate opposition to offshore oil development in California using focusing groups of local political activists on both sides of the issue. Previous research has largely ignored project supporters when studying NIMBY responses. We [...]
