History Main / NotInMyBackyard

* ''{{Emerging}}'': The Department of Virology, located in the National Institute for Infectious Diseases has the potential to operate as a BSL-4 (which is required to deal with deadly diseases such as Ebola and the unknown disease ravaging Tokyo), however it only operates at as a BSL-3 due to opposition from local residents and communities. This is an example of TruthInTelevision for the real life National Institute for Infectious Diseases located in Kanto, Japan.

* The PointyHairedBoss in ''{{Dilbert}}'' once gave Dilbert an assignment to design a safe nuclear power plant, explaining, "By 'safe,' I mean 'not near my house.'"

Also known as [[FunWithAcronyms NIMBY]]. There is apparently a more extreme version that does believe that everything noisy, smelly, polluting, dangerous or ugly should be built in the middle of nowhere, dubbed "[[DetractorNickname BANANAs]]" - "Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone", which is a viable option... in some [[EasyLogistics video games]].

Also known as [[FunWithAcronyms NIMBY]]. There is apparently a more extreme version that does believe that everything noisy, smelly, polluting, dangerous or ugly should be built in the middle of nowhere, dubbed "[[DetractorNickname BANANAs]]" - "Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone", which is a viable option... in [[EasyLogistics video games]].

Also known as [[FunWithAcronyms NIMBY]]. There is apparently a more extreme version that does believe that everything noisy, smelly, polluting, dangerous or ugly should be built in the middle of nowhere, dubbed "[[DetractorNickname BANANAs]]" - "Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone".

While it might be rather selfish to want the benefits of such amenities while declaring the downsides to be SomebodyElsesProblem, it can be justified - there is little to no reward for living nearby, and often the decrease in housing prices actually punishes the neighbours on top of the lowered quality of life. It's not necessarily hypocritical except in [[ZeroSumGame Zero-sum]] situations where they want the good without the bad.

While it might be rather selfish to want the benefits of such amenities while declaring the downsides to be SomebodyElsesProblem, it can be justified - there is little to no reward for living nearby, and often the decrease in housing prices actually punishes the neighbours on top of the lowered quality of life.

* For other forms of energy production: Wind Turbines. They might be better for the environment than huge power plants (and damns), but when they're in operation they're ''very'' noisy.

There are many things in life whose existence is desirable, or even essential to the society we live in, but that people generally don't want to live ''too'' close to. They might be noisy, smelly, polluting, dangerous, or just ugly. However as any SimCity player will tell you, not everything can be in the middle of nowhere - for people to have cheap and convenient access to them, they have to be near to civilization.

Fair enough. Just... NotInMyBackYard, OK?

Also known as [[FunWithAcronyms NIMBY]].

* The PHB in ''{{Dilbert}}'' once gave Dilbert an assignment to design a safe nuclear power plant, explaining, "By 'safe,' I mean 'not near my house.'"

[[folder:Theatre]]
* From musical ''{{RENT}}'s'' number "Over the Moon": "Not in my backyard, utensils! Go back to China!"

** Prison lobbying is a real-life industrial complex: those who get one get the federal funding. Considering how the economy's right now, you've got ''tons'' of small towns lobbying for prisons. Now only if they'd push for schools like they did for prisons...
** On that note: Hardin, MT petitioned the federal government for use of their empty prison as a replacement for a facility the government was talking about shutting down. The facility in question? Guantanamo Bay. So while senators were saying that keeping suspected terrorists on American soil might be a security risk, a small town was saying, "Screw that, we'll take 'em."
* Subverted here in Chino: We're a stone's throw from the Chino Institute for Men and yet we're one of the safest cites around this side of Pomona. But are we known for our safe environment? Noooo....
* TruthInTelevision: In Florida, during the hunt for SerialKiller Danny Rollings, police at one point suspected a man named Edward Humphries committed the murders and arrested him. It took almost a month to clear Humphries name, but eventually the police did release him with a statement that Humphries was no longer a suspect. Despite Humphries' innocence, residents of Humphries' home town came forward with statements that they did not want the police to release "a serial killer" back into their town.

* More TruthInTelevision, this time regarding nuclear waste disposal in the United States (and elsewhere). Very few places are willing to take on this sort of waste, whether it be nuclear weapons related or energy production related and most fight tooth and nail to avoid even the mildest radioactive waste, often quoting this exact trope. This has made finding locations for safe and secure disposal extremely difficult.
* {{George Carlin}} [[http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=43Egm0j_p1A did an entire bit about it.]]
* Two words: Wind Turbines. Yes, they're supposed to be better for the environment than power plants, but when they're in operation they're ''very'' noisy.
** Or they [[FlatWhat block the view of those living near the lake]]. Nevermind the idea that the long-term environmental effects of installing the turbines off-shore ''is'' a valid concern - focus on the aspect of having the view broken up by a wind turbine.
*** Or more accurately, the view of the Kennedy's
* Highways and freeways. Sure, they can bring in a lot of business and tourists, but they also bring in a lot of noise and pollution. Often, a lot of residential areas are kept away from these for just these two reasons, and mostly businesses and public service buildings are near them.
* This doesn't just apply to housing; there are some businesses who can be just as picky about what's next to their parking lot as is a person who owns a house on some land. Some mall, hotel, and entertainment businesses will refuse to have their facilities built next to more "low-brow" businesses (like fast food joints, trucks stops, and grocery stores) or residents simply because it will make their overall image look bad.
* The strict laws and restrictions on convicted child molesters and sex offenders that stem from this trope have had an interesting side-effect in the US. Those on sex offender lists are usually not allowed to live or be within a certain distance (a thousand feet, a mile, whatever) from places where children often congregate (schools, playground, etc). In some cases, these restrictions are often so strong, those on the list end up not being allowed to live anywhere in or near a town, forcing them to move away and making it near impossible for them to hold on to a job. They move to the next town, who then see a large upswing in registered sex offenders living in the area and pass similar laws, forcing them to move again to the next town, lather-rinse-repeat. The end result is bands of sex offenders roaming the countryside, unable to settle down anywhere and make a living. YourMileageMayVary as to whether this is unfortunate or they deserve this fate.
** There's also a case somewhere in Florida where a camp of about a hundred now-homeless registered sex offenders sprung up under a bridge because that was the only place outside the restricted zones set around schools and parks.
** It also leads to the Fridge Horror scenario that many sex offenders no longer maintain a permanent residence and tend to stay off the grid where possible, which means that all of those tracking laws are now essentially useless.
* The proposed Tasmanian pulp mill has generated this reaction to the point of garnering national attention over the rather divided opinions, even to action against the company.
* In Germany, it's called the "St. Florians-Prinzip" (Saint Florian's principle). Named after the saint who saves believers from fires. What it means? This sentence tells it: "Dear Saint Florian, spare my house, light up someone else's!" (In German, it rhymes.)
* Home owner's associations (HOAs) which have jurisdiction over homes in their area. They can restrict everything from the color of houses to the use of clothes lines. This has lead to several legal battles between residents and HOAs claiming to act in the best interest of the community.

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[[AC: RealLife]]

* The PHB in ''Dilbert'' once gave Dilbert an assignment to design a safe nuclear power plant, explaining, "By 'safe,' I mean 'not near my house.'"

!!Examples

[[AC: Film]]

[[AC: Live Action Television]]
* LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit often run into cases where they have to deal with former child molesters who face this problem when they get out of prison.

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* There's an episode of TheSimpsons where a stamp museum is being built directly behind the Simpsons' house. The family aren't best pleased at having a construction site practically in their back garden, and successfully lobby to have it moved - it's shifted onto the site of Springfield Cemetery, which is promptly moved behind the Simpsons' house, giving Lisa nightmares.

[[AC: Real Life]]

* The proposed Tasmanian pulp mill has generated this reaction to the point of garnering national attention over the rather divided opinions, even to action against the company.

[[BlueHeelers Tom Croydon,]] [[{{Novelization}} Tom's Story.]]

* This is a major obstacle for cell phone companies wanting to put up towers to cover some areas. Nobody wants a big, ugly cell phone tower in their view, so companies typically offer deals, or dress up the towers to hide them from view.

[[BlueHeelers Tom Croydon,]] [[{{Novelization Tom's Story.]]

For the webcomic of the same name, go [[Comic/NotInMyBackyard here]].

!!Examples:

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** This ranges to many things, including to obvious, like prisons, toxic waste dumps, and casinos, to more subtle things like landfills, industrial areas, and commercial zones (more so in Sim City 4, where traffic noise becomes a factor to how desirable a zone is). Naturally, anything that humans wouldn't want sitting in their backyard in RealLife, Sims wouldn't want either.