» Monthly Archives: November 2009
R&D investment that sparked famous Kelo land-taking now to close
Pfizer will close the research and development facility it built in New London that was cited in the celebrated Kelo v City of New London case as a catalyst for the US Supreme Court to uphold the taking of Susette Kelo's home by eminent domain in the name of economic development.The pharmaceutical firm built a $300 million research and ...
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Distrust of politicians should spur developers to reach out to public
By Owen Eagan,
Senior Vice President for Transportation, The Saint Consulting Group
A recent Los Angeles Times/USC poll found that voters are reluctant to adopt reforms to Proposition 13 and other financial measures to right the state’s fiscal ship because they see problems in Sacramento as primarily driven by special interests (see http://bit.ly/1FtXrD). Herein lies a lesson for ...
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Internet changing way landfill siting battles are fought
November 09, 2009 — Waste & Reclycling News — YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHING YET — If landfill developers thought times were tough, just wait.
That’s because potential project opponents are more easily mobilized with information that can be gained quicker than ever thanks to the Internet, said Michael Saint, founder and CEO of the Saint Consulting ...
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Book Review: NIMBY Wars
November 5, 2009 — Financial Times — TACTICAL GUIDE TO THE DARK ARTS OF NIMBY CAMPAIGNS — A review of the business book NIMBY Wars - The Politics of Land Use by Jonathan Birchall, U.S. retail reporter for the Financial Times. "The authors have produced what amounts to an introductory promotional handbook to the dark ...
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Financial Times review — Tactical guide to dark arts of Nimby wars
The Financial Times has just published a review of NIMBY Wars: The Politics of Land Use, saying the authors have "produced what amounts to an introductory promotional handbook to the dark arts of land use politics, which argues that this is a job which requires an expert professional approach. Do not rely on a lawyer, ...
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Opposed to everything? Ok, what is good, appropriate development?
A reader earlier this year asked The Saint Report: "When are we going to hear something about 'good' or 'appropriate' development from Saint? As much as you all rail against NIMBYism, it is typically conservative interests (not the elusive 'suburban liberals' - a group that any pollster will tell you doesn't exist) that block development ...
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Llenrock.com blog – every developer should read NIMBY Wars
Dave Jacobs, a director of Llenrock Group, a real estate advisory and investment banking firm based in Philadelphia, has just finished a review of NIMBY Wars: The Politics of Land Use, and we pass along his comments from Llenrock Blog:To continue on this week’s political trend, I wanted to take a moment to share an extremely ...
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NIMBY Wars – political fixer’s influence much diminished in land use
(Editor’s Note: NIMBY Wars — The Politics of Land Use was just published. In this excerpt, we conclude our look at the main alternatives to help developers win a controversial project, focusing on the local political fixer, whose influence is much diminished in modern land use politics.)By P. Michael Saint, Robert J. Flavell and Patrick ...
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Walmart gears up for push into cities
November 2, 2009 — Financial Times — Walmart has stepped up efforts to mobilize local political support for new store openings in US cities and urban areas that were last month identified as a growth priority for the retailer by Mike Duke, its chief executive. Saint Consulting, a group specializing in land use politics, reported ...
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Retail giant Wal-Mart pushing to move into New York City
November 2, 2009 — New York Daily News — Wal-Mart's mission to open a bunch of new stores in urban areas in the U.S. has the retail behemoth setting its sights on the Big Apple, the Financial Times reports. Saint Consulting found the number of people who would oppose a new Wal-Mart in their neighborhood ...
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