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News Archive 2008

News Archive 2008 Summaries

‘Nowhere is Safe’: Saint Reaches $30MM in NIMBY Wars
December 13, 2008 Venture Nashville Connections FRANKLIN-BASED MIKE SAINT HAS CREATED A $30 MILLION INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANCY DRIVEN BY CONTROVERSY, THANKS LARGELY TO "DOING LESS," IN ORDER TO DO IT VERY, VERY WELL. Saint is founder, chairman, CEO and treasurer of The Saint Consulting Group Inc., which helps real-estate developers and industrial plant builders win ...
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Winners and Losers In the 2008 Election Cycle
December 2008 Campaigns & Elections' Politics magazine Saint Consulting is included in Campaigns & Elections' Politics magazine magazine's annual listing of winners and losers in the 2008 election cycle. Saint is listed for the firm's work on behalf of the winning rail transportation referendum in Honolulu. Winners and Losers In the 2008 Election Cycle
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FasTracks to Private Property
October 2008 Colorado Biz RTD AND LAND OWNERS BATTLE OVER EMINENT DOMAIN AS THE TRANSIT PROJECT GAINS MOMENTUM Plastered along the faux-Grecian columns of Denver’s Civic Center Park, giant red, white and blue banners fairly scream at the few dozen people gathered on this gray February day to protest the "land grab" of private ...
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You Can Pay For It Now Or Pay For It Later
Fall 2008 Concrete Answers You Can Pay For It Now Or Pay For It Later by Saint Consulting's Christopher M. Hopkins Being a good corporate neighbor takes a lot of time and effort—but the rewards are significant. Rohrer's Quarry, Inc. experienced the benefits first-hand when it recently won permits for a new concrete plant in ...
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Developers Suffering Amid Downturn and ‘Nimbyism’
August 2008 Public Affairs Public attitudes towards new building are becoming increasingly hostile, according to research presented at a housing-sector conference. Nick Keable, vice-president of UK operations at Saint Consulting, presented the research at the 'Delivering housing growth: overcoming opposition' conference on 8 July, which showed increasing 'nimbyism' ('not in my back yard' attitudes) ...
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In Your Face
August 1, 2008 Retail Traffic They started as a way for college students to connect with their peers without getting off the couch, but today social networking sites are gaining momentum as one of the tools real estate developers can use to gain support for their projects. Since signing up for a profile costs ...
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After You Beat Them, Join Them
July 2008 Aggregates Manager Atlas DON'T VIEW PERMITTING AS A ONETIME PUBLIC RELATIONS ENDEAVOR. THOSE OLD FRIENDS MAY INFLUENCE NEW GOALS AS WELL. The relief of no longer having to deal with irrational neighborhood opponents and their trumped-up arguments can be one of the most satisfying parts of successfully permitting your quarry or plant ...
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Food Prices Prompt Rethink of Ethanol Policy
July 10, 2008 Ottawa Citizen BOOST TO 10% OF GAS NOW UNLIKELY Ontario is considering turning its back on a promise to boost ethanol content in gasoline in light of the biofuel's impact on rising food costs, Premier Dalton McGuinty said yesterday. Mr. McGuinty questioned whether it "is in the public interest" to raise ...
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A Toxic Cargo: Slots In Phila.
July 10, 2008 The Philadelphia Inquirer Remember the Khian Sea? The cargo ship, dubbed the Flying Dutchman of Debris, spent 14 months in the 1980s sailing the globe with 14,000 tons of Philadelphia's toxic incinerator dust in search of a landfill. Know what's like the Khian Sea? Philadelphia's proposed casinos. The big boxes of ...
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Nimbys Turn Against Ethanol
July 09, 2008 National Post ALTERNATIVE FUEL PLANTS JOIN RANKS OF SUCH OTHER UNDESIRABLE LOCAL DEVELOPMENTS AS NECULAR POWER FACILITIES AND WAL-MART STORES, SURVEY FINDS. Most Canadians - 53%, up from 45% last year - would now oppose construction of a local ethanol plant, according to the Saint Consulting Group's second annual national survey ...
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Economy May Sputter; NIMBY Still Refuses to Let Up
July 1, 2008 Commercial Property News Though a new mall down the road would create jobs and revenue, the NIMBY movement remains strong. Communities are still reluctant to roll out the red carpet for real estate projects targeting their neighborhoods, despite the potential economic rewards. According to the national Saint Index Snapshot poll, only ...
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The 2007 Saint Index©: Survey Reveals Energy Awareness and NIMBYism Growth
Summer, 2008 Development Magazine According to The Saint Consulting Group's third annual survey across 14 industries and five regions, apartment/condominium, office building and large shopping center development sectors have encountered slightly more opposition in 2007 than 2006. The 2007 Saint Index©: Survey Reveals Energy Awareness and NIMBYism Growth
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Don’t Count On Prop. 99
May 19, 2008 Los Angeles Times THE PURPORTED ANTI-CONDEMNATION MEASURE WOULD ACTUALLY BLOCK MEANINGFUL EMINENT-DOMAIN REFORM. The U.S. Supreme Court created a huge political backlash when it ruled that local governments could use eminent domain to seize private property and transfer it to other private owners for "economic development." Since the Kelo ruling in ...
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Care for the Community
May 2008 Quarry Management WITH THE SPREAD OF 'NIMBYISM', THE AGGREGATES INDUSTRY CONTINUES TO FACE THE CHALLENGING TEST OF CHANGING THE NEGATIVE PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF QUARRIES. THE SAINT CONSULTING GROUP OFFER SOME ADVICE ON OVERCOMING PUBLIC OPPOSITION A recent survey carried out by The Saint Consulting Group has found that nearly nine out of ...
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Opposition To Development Takes A New Turn
May 2008 Shopping Center Business VIEWS ARE CHANGING AS THE COMMERCIAL MARKET SLOWS, BUT NIMBYISM CONTINUES TO SPREAD. Opposition to development—commercial and residential—is increasing, and represents a growing concern for real estate developers and politicians alike, according to the 2007 Saint Index Survey of Americans' attitudes towards development. In comparison to 2006, when opposition ...
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Saint: Use Political Savvy To Win Over Project Foes
May 5, 2008 Shopping Centers Today Week Developers could take notes from presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain when trying to put a new center in a community, because often it involves a major political undertaking, says a consultant, who specializes in winning communities over to developments. “When you drill down into the ...
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Upping the Anti-
April 1, 2008 Chain Store Age If you could choose between having a dump or a casino in your backyard, which would it be? It didn't take me but about a half-second to answer "neither," and I'm feeling pretty comfortable that you're in agreement. And a whole lot of Americans are with us. The ...
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Land of the NIMBYs – How Welsh Try to Send Developers Elsewhere
April 1, 2008 Western Mail CASINOS VIE WITH LANDFILLS AS MOST POPULAR Four out of five people in Wales have been classed as "Nimbys" by an annual survey that reveals hardening oppositions to new buildings, roads or industrial developments. The research also reveals another increase in the proportion of people who would oppose in ...
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Operator Cites Shortage of Construction Materials
March 30, 2008 Honolulu Star Bulletin Grace Pacific is sending out an SOS to the construction industry over the delays in getting permits to expand and extend the operational life of Makakilo Quarry. While the company has six to eight years left of grade B aggregate in its current quarry pit, it needs ...
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Residents Oppose New Development
March 21, 2008 Regeneration & Renewal Nearly nine out of ten UK residents are opposed to future development near them, according to a survey. In a poll of 1,000 people by Saint Consulting Group, released during the Mipim conference, 86 per cent said that their neighbourhoods are either overdeveloped or have the right level ...
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No Kudos From Planning Gain
March 15, 2008 Estates Gazette Almost 70% of the public cannot identify any planning gain in their community, despite developers spending billions on section 106 agreements. According to the latest Saint UK report - published at MIPIM this week - developers gain little or no kudos for the £2bn they spend on planning gain ...
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Convenience Hit Hardest by Opposition to Development
March 15, 2008 The Grocer Public opposition to c-store and supermarket development has deepened dramatically over the past year. A survey of 1,000 people, conducted by planning specialists Saint Consulting, found a rise in so-called NIMBY-ism across the board. C-stores have fallen most in popularity with an approval rating of 4% compared with 13% ...
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Public Sceptical of 3 Million Drive
March 14, 2008 Building Magazine The government’s housing plans have been put under further scrutiny as two pieces of research show falling public support. A report by Saint Consulting revealed that 68% of the British public does not believe the government can deliver 3 million new homes by 2020. At the same time the Campaign ...
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Survey Pans Gains Profile
March 14, 2008 Planning Daily DEVELOPERS MUST DO MORE TO INFORM THE PUBLIC WHEN PLANNING GAIN CONTRIBUTION BENEFIT THEIR COMMUNITIES, A LEADING POLITICAL LAND-USE CONSULTANCY HAS SAID. This would improve the public's perception of development and reduce nimbyism, according to Saint Consulting managing director Nick Keable. In its annual survey into attitudes on development, ...
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One in Four UK Households Opposed Planning Application Last Year
March 14, 2008 Planning Portal One in four UK households has actively opposed a planning application last year and some 86 per cent of the population can be classified as 'nimbys' (Not In My Back Yard). That's according to the latest annual survey on attitudes to property development carried out by The Saint Group. ...
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Research Reveals Nimby Britain
March 14, 2008 Property Week The British public is becoming increasingly hostile to development and often actively opposes it, according to a survey carried out by the Saint Consulting Group. In its second annual survey of public attitude to development, the group found, after questioning 1,000 people, that 86% of the British public can ...
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Upping the Antis
March 2008 MIPIM News THE THIRD ANNUAL SURVEY OF PUBLIC ATTITUDE TO PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT IN THE UK, CARRIED OUT BY THE SAINT CONSULTING GROUP, HAS BEEN RELEASED. THE REPORT’S FINDINGS HAVE IMPLICATIONS FOR DEVELOPERS AND BOTH CENTRAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN THE UK - AND POSSIBLY IN THE WIDER EUROPEAN AREA. PAUL STROHM REPORTS When ...
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NIMBYs Are Thorn In Hide of Developers
March 11, 2008 The Birmingham Post (UK) Government policy and public opinion are pulling in different directions over development, according to a new survey by the Saint Consulting Group released at MIPIM. It shows a growing tide of 'NIMBY' (Not in My Backyard) anger is frustrating development. Saint Consulting says 86 per cent of ...
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Britons Don’t Trust Government Building Plans
March 10, 2008 Reuters UK LONDON (Reuters) - More than two-thirds of Britons don't believe the government can achieve its goal of building three million new homes by 2020, according to a survey published on Monday. And not only that but nearly nine out of 10 people and one in four households has objected ...
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Consultant says developers must organize to fight NIMBYs
March 3, 2008 The Tennessean "People think developers get everything they want," Michael Saint told a meeting of the Urban Land Institute on Friday morning. "That's a joke these days." To Saint, a consultant who specializes in zoning battles, the NIMBYs—people who oppose development under the banner Not In My Backyard—are on the ascendancy. ...
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Poll Shows Support Increasing For Power Plant Construction
February 22, 2008 EnergyWashington.com The popular notion of energy security (due in part to rhetoric coming out of Washington), as well as the rise in the price of oil and electricity, may be driving Americans to abide by siting decisions to build new power plants near or in their neighborhoods, according to an international ...
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Overcoming Public Opposition To Quarry Development
February 2008 Rock Products So, you want to build a quarry? "Not in my community!" That's the opinion of 64 percent of Americans interviewed for the 2007 Saint Index survey of attitudes toward real estate development. To put that into startling perspective, 65 percent said they would oppose a nuclear power plant in their ...
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Public Distrust of Development in U.S. Grows; First Time in Two Years
Winter 2008 Land Development THE NATIONWIDE THEME OF THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SEEMS TO BE: NO NEW DEVELOPMENT, ACCORDING TO THE LATEST DATA FROM THE SAINT CONSULTING COMPANY. Our firm's latest Saint Index© found that 78 percent of Americans believe new development should not occur in their hometowns—which is up 5 points from the 2006 ...
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