Offered in Milwaukee by Donna Schleiman, the Mother of the Milwaukee Preservation Movement in Milwaukee these past several years.

The NIMBY Manifesto
By Sharon Hudson

The Urban Bill of Rights

1. The right to see significant greenery, the sky, and the sun from within

ones home.

1. The right to natural cross ventilation in ones home.

2. The right to enjoy peace and quiet within ones home with windows open.

3. The right to sleep at night without excessive artificial ambient light.

4. The right to be free in ones neighborhood from pollution of air, water, soil, and plant life.

5. The right to be free from undesirable local environmental change caused by poor urban design, such as wind, shadow and noise canyons, excess heat caused by overpaving, etc.

6. The right to adequate space for storage, hobbies, and other personal activities in and around each dwelling unit, including play space for children in family housing.

7. The right to mobility, regardless of income. If automobile use is discouraged by prohibitive pricing, public transit must be adequate and low cost.

8. The right to parking space for each household.

9. The right of convenient access, on foot if possible, to basic daily needs, such as good quality food at reasonable prices, daily household and medical supplies, laundry facilities, etc.

10. The right of convenient access, by foot, private vehicle, or transit, to places of employment.

11. The right of equal access to the commons and to taxpayer-funded and other public facilities, such as government buildings, libraries, museums, bridges, and roadways.

12. The right of access within walking distance to nature, recreation, outdoor exercise, and discovery, including parks, open space, and areas inhabited by wildlife.

13. The right to equal and adequate police, fire, and emergency services, which shall not be infringed on the basis of income or neighborhood character.

14. The right to participate in and guide, through equitable,

representative, democratic processes, land use decisions that affect oneself, ones neighborhood, and ones community.

More to mull over.

17th century protest against English enclosure

The law locks up the man or woman
Who steals the goose from off the common
But leaves the greater villain loose
Who steals the common from off the goose.

Don’t you just love it. All the pros and cons, the yehs and nayes, the struggle of participating in democracy.

Donna