Orlando YIMBY is making civic activism cool

More 20- and 30-somethings in Central Florida are increasing their involvement in local politics

Back in the late 1990s, when I was a county government beat reporter for the Sentinel, I embarked upon a project I was sure would thrill the world: a 10-part series on the Orange County budget.

In my mind it was going to be a glorious affair — the kind of in-depth, accountability journalism that would make residents respond with applause and action.

Then reality set in.

At the end of the series county commissioners convened a public hearing on the $2 billion budget. And while I don’t remember the precise number of people who showed up, I think it was approximately one.

That was my wake-up call, the moment I realized many people just don’t care about the nuances of local government. Or are too busy. Or feel their voices don’t matter.

Sure, people will gripe when their taxes go up, their neighborhood library closes or when a family member experiences a mental health crisis and they realize the county poured more money into a 7 million-squarefoot convention center than this community’s ramshackle mental health system.

But most people don’t pay much attention to the boring, sausage-making process of government.

That, however, seems to be changing in Central Florida among an unlikely demographic: 20- and 30-somethings, who are getting involved like never before. They’re speaking up and showing up at council meetings and zoning hearings.

And they’re making an impact. They’re studying local ordinances and letting their peers know that, if they’re frustrated by things such as sky-high housing prices, they should also understand that locally elected officials are a big part of both the problem

and potential solution.

Orlando YIMBY is a leader on that front. The serious group with a funny name is primarily focused on housing and transit, making metro Orlando a more livable community with more housing options and more ways to avoid a daily routine that involves a halfhour on a toll road.

Austin Valle is a co-founder of the local group. Valle, 31, is passionate about urban planning, housing density and pedestrian safety. And he’s found a receptive audience in younger residents — both professionals and lowerwage workers — who are struck by how expensive it is to live here.

“The affordability crisis is felt most acutely by younger people,” said Valle, who by day is a Disney marketing professional.

Valle’s group argues that a major reason for the lack of affordability is a lack of options — because local leaders often reject plans to allow more housing in response to furious neighbors, who dislike the idea of duplexes, quadplexes or attached town homes moving in.

“It’s no wonder housing is unaffordable,” Valle said, “when we’ve outlawed more affordable forms of housing.”

He has a point. Almost everyone says they’re opposed to sprawl; far fewer people welcome denser development in their own neighborhood. Instead, they say: Not in my backyard.

That’s where Valle’s group comes in. Instead of saying NIMBY, they say YIMBY — Yes in my backyard. That’s yes to more housing, more transit, more biking and pedestrian options.

They hold happy hours to discuss what other communities and countries are doing with walkable, live-and-work neighborhoods — and then ask local leaders: Why aren’t we doing that too?

Make all the millennial jokes you want about craft beer and avocado toast. But when these guys gather to eat, drink and share (at orlandoyimby.org), they talk about how they can improve the community we all call home.

They’re challenging the status quo. And YIMBY isn’t alone.

It was also younger representatives of the region’s labor movement who successfully organized to pressure Orange County to end a special taxing district that steered money directly to tourism interests.

County officials had claimed they had no choice — that old laws required them to give tourism interests special treatment. And many longtime residents accepted that, even if they didn’t like it.

But 20- and 30-something members of the UNITE HERE! tourism-workers union teamed up with local activists to scour the county archives and ordinances to prove that wasn’t true, ultimately pressuring county officials to end a decades-long practice of funneling general taxes to tourism.

While Young Republicans and Bernie Bros around the nation were rallying about the White House, these folks were becoming well-versed in local tax laws — and making a difference.

Valle understands why many people pay more attention to national issues: It’s easier. And it was, in fact, a national incident — the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol — that motivated him to get more involved.

He was watching the ugly images in Washington, feeling depressed and asking himself: “What am I doing for the world?”

He wasn’t sure he could change the world, but he could surely improve his own community.

Plus, YIMBY members argue they can, in fact, make global differences with local actions.

In a recent op-ed for the Sentinel, YIMBY co-founder Naqiy Mcmullen asked citizens to think about how going “car free or car light” doesn’t just combat congestion in Central Florida but also fights back against “oil-exporting dictatorships like Russia or Venezuela.”

YIMBY members don’t look at the sad state of affairs and sigh. They look at what works in other places and try to make it happen here.

“Younger people are attracted to what could be,” Valle said.

And they try to have fun while doing it.

They’ve seen people my age screaming at each other on social media about electric scooters and condo plans and decided to make an impact showing up in commission chambers and mayoral offices with new ideas, a sizable voting bloc and smiles on their faces.

“We try really hard to have an upbeat and fun tone to what we do.” Valle said. “Hell hath no fury like angry homeowners on Nextdoor, and we never want those vibes. That doesn’t sound fun at all.”