By Michelle Henderson When the Shalom Center, one of Bloomington’s most important shelters for people experiencing homelessness, was first located at the First United Methodist Church in 2000, we had only one room to provide space for our guests to gather and gain access to services and resources during the day. One of my favoriteContinue reading “Don’t Put Workforce Housing Ahead of Rentals for Our Neediest”
Author Archives: Pwdorfman
The Boxifying of the Built Environment
By Ramsay Harik There are so many reasons to resist the city’s latest attempts at upzoning the core neighborhoods that it’s hard to know where to begin. Others here have written compellingly on everything from zoning history to basic real estate economics; for my part, I’d like to address what is for me a central considerationContinue reading “The Boxifying of the Built Environment”
Five Straw Man Arguments from Pro-Density Partisans
By Peter Dorfman Astraw man argument is a common form of logical fallacy that crops up in political discourse with depressing regularity. The way it works is this: Person A takes a position or makes a claim. Person B creates a distorted version of the claim (the “straw man”), and then Person B attacks thisContinue reading “Five Straw Man Arguments from Pro-Density Partisans”
The Rise of the WIMBYs
By Jean Simonian The so-called Yes in My Backyard (YIMBY) movement casts increased housing density and the elimination of single family zoning in up-beat, buzzy terms like “saving the planet,” creating a world of “social equity,” and “affordable housing” for all. YIMBY, of course, is a wry twist on Not in My Backyard (NIMBY), aContinue reading “The Rise of the WIMBYs”
About Those Postcards…
By Peter Dorfman Last fall, a lot of us received an educational postcard alerting us to proposed zoning changes in the core neighborhoods. Members of Bloomington’s City Council sharply criticized that postcard, and attacked the Council of Neighborhood Associations (CONA) for distributing it. Council members especially hated two of the card’s contentions: First, that propertyContinue reading “About Those Postcards…”
Zoning Didn’t Segregate Bloomington. It Won’t Fix Us Now.
By William Coulter In the current debate over upzoning of core neighborhoods, supporters have asserted without evidence that upzoning will increase racial equity and neighborhood diversity. A closer examination of the history of zoning in Bloomington does not support that assertion. Segregation in Bloomington has a long history, but zoning ordinances did not segregate Bloomington.Continue reading “Zoning Didn’t Segregate Bloomington. It Won’t Fix Us Now.”
Why Again? Respect Bloomington’s Comprehensive Plan
By Jim Rosenbarger When the Bloomington City Council debated amendments to the Unified Development Ordinance in 2019, the proposed reintroduction of multi-plex housing into what have been single family zoned neighborhoods took center stage. One of the recurring points of contention was over whether concentrating development in the core neighborhoods is consistent with the City’sContinue reading “Why Again? Respect Bloomington’s Comprehensive Plan”
Could Your Next Neighbor Be a Frat House? (Spoiler: It Could)
By Cappi Phillips One of the unintended but potentially harmful consequences of allowing plexes is that you too could have a fraternity on your block. According to the current code, fraternities and sororities are permitted only in areas zoned institutional. However, nothing prohibits a landlord or investor from signing individual leases with multiple members ofContinue reading “Could Your Next Neighbor Be a Frat House? (Spoiler: It Could)”
Bloomington’s Zoning History Offers a Lesson for Today
By Chris Sturbaum Bloomingtonians often tout the city’s exceptional commitment to progressive values and social justice – so much so that we often forget where we are and how recently those values evolved here. We’re in southern Indiana, and like most of the surrounding municipalities, even Bloomington has a long, shady history with respect toContinue reading “Bloomington’s Zoning History Offers a Lesson for Today”
Does Bloomington’s Upzoning Push Mirror Democratic Party Ideology?
By Peter Dorfman From the beginning of the 2019 push to urbanize Bloomington’s core neighborhoods via amendment of the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), advocates for multi-plex rental housing have argued that the national Democratic Party backs them up in their push for densification. They haven’t abandoned that claim in 2020. The city’s planning staff haveContinue reading “Does Bloomington’s Upzoning Push Mirror Democratic Party Ideology?”
The Dissident Democrat 