Aesthetics and NIMBYism (opens in new tab)

Every so often I read a tweet or listserv post saying something like this: “If modern buildings were prettier there’d be less NIMBYism.” I always thought this claim was silly for the simple reason that in real-life rezoning disputes, people who oppose new housing might not have any idea what the housing will look like- especially if the rezoning relates not just to one parcel of land, but to entire neighborhoods (as is sometimes the case in New York City where I live).