Not in My Backyard, Not with my Money, and Not at my Discomfort

This week's post is about a potential Oakland A's (or should I say San Jose A's) stadium project in San Jose. Speculation about such a project is creating quite a buzz in the city. The A's were denied two different locations by Fremont, which was in large part due to NIMBY's influence. NIBMY stands for Not in My Backyard. NIMBY's goal is to protect local city residents from large projects that would hinder their daily routine and economic interests.

In an article in the Mercury News, Scott Herhold discusses the impact that the stadium would bring. He writes that home values would depreciate; traffic, both on city streets and freeways, would increase severally; and the city would not be able to fund both a stadium and the new BART project, given its already troubling economic situation. He, however, concedes that the HP Pavilion was a positive thing for San Jose. He discusses that although traffic can be terrible, economically the project was in the best interests of the city and its residents.

I do not live in San Jose. In fact, I live in San Leandro, which is much closer to Oakland; therefore, it is much easier for me to get to an A's game if the team stays put. How would I feel, however, if the A's were considering moving their stadium near my home? Not great! Scott is correct: I do not want the A's in my backyard, but I would not mind them in someone else's backyard a few miles away. Selfish, I know, but what can I say, I like baseball games.