NIMBY’s at the Hearing - The Demographics & Power of Public Comment

Wednesday, November 28th at 6:30 PM
Cambridge Citywide Senior Center - 806 Massachusetts Ave in Central Square

Anyone who has been to a planning or zoning meeting isn’t surprised to hear that a new study shows that the people who participate in public comment tend to be older, whiter, and wealthier than the community they live in. They also tend to be home-owning and overwhelmingly more likely to be against new housing.

Why is this and what is the impact on the community at large? What strategies can pro-housing activists do to counteract this imbalance and how can municipalities attract more diverse participation?

Join ABC for a presentation and conversation with Katherine Levine Einstein, Maxwell Palmer, and David Glick, authors of the study and political scientists associated with Boston University’s Initiative on Cities, followed by a community conversation and questions and answer session.

To read the study, Who Participates in Local Government? Evidence from Meeting Minutes, go to: http://sites.bu.edu/kleinstein/research/