Vancouver B.C. neighbours have recently invented a compassionate new way of saying NIMBY to the homeless.
Forget the old, “I hate you. I don’t care where you live as long as it’s Not In My Backyard.”
In the Strathcona neighbourhood, folks have realized that you can achieve the same objective with love, not hate.
And so, the message to those 300 or so tenters in nearby Strathcona Park has turned right around. Now, the message is, “I love you. You are cherished folks who are part of our neighbourhood. You deserve so much better than our insignificant, unattractive Strathcona Park.”
And just to show they are serious, these Strathcona neighbours are signing petitioners threatening to withhold city taxes until the city ensures these cherished homeless neighbours are given housing. Not in Strathcona Park, of course. It is just a public park without suitable amenities, after all.
But somewhere better, where there is housing. Or, failing housing, then at least a tenting place with showers, toilets, etc.
That will, undoubtedly, be somewhere else. It will be sad to say goodbye to all their dearly loved tenting neighbours. But you know, what’s a gang of loving single family homeowners to do?
And, yes, of course it’s NIMBY. But it’s NIMBY with a heart.
Read more at CTV: Strathcona homeowners declare ‘tax resistance’ until homeless camp is relocated, housing provided
