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News Archive 2010

News Archive 2010 Summaries

First Person: P. Michael Saint
January 2010 — Area Development 2010 Annual Directory — Area Development Magazine's Annual Directory features a Question-and-Answer "First Person" column with P. Michael Saint, CEO of The Saint Consulting Group. Mike discusses land use politics and how it influences the approval process for industrial development proposals. The column also appeared in Area Development's November 2009 ...
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Delaware professor says Bluewater’s public-support approach a blueprint
December 10, 2009 — The News Journal (Wilmington, Delaware) — The Delaware public embraced an offshore wind farm proposal in large part because of how the issue was framed, says a University of Delaware researcher. And that could be a powerful lesson for others. University of Delaware associate professor Willett Kempton briefed the American Wind ...
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Stakeholder acceptance, policy incentives needed to develop offshore wind
SNL Power Daily 12-8-2009 — December 8, 2009 — SNL Power Daily — Stakeholder acceptance and policy incentives are key elements for offshore wind projects to be successful, panelists said Dec. 3 at the American Wind Energy Association’s Offshore Wind Power Workshop in Boston. Ben Kelahan, senior vice president of energy with Saint Consulting, which ...
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High-tech helps developers open doors
November 28, 2009 — The Washington Post — Saint Consulting President Patrick Fox is quoted in a news report about adding the use of social networking and technology to traditional shoe leather political organizing to build citizen support for development projects. (White Flint team goes directly to residents to add them to the lobbying corps) Link ...
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Internet changing way landfill siting battles are fought
November 09, 2009 — Waste & Reclycling News — YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHING YET — If landfill developers thought times were tough, just wait. That’s because potential project opponents are more easily mobilized with information that can be gained quicker than ever thanks to the Internet, said Michael Saint, founder and CEO of the Saint Consulting ...
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Book Review: NIMBY Wars
November 5, 2009 — Financial Times — TACTICAL GUIDE TO THE DARK ARTS OF NIMBY CAMPAIGNS — A review of the business book NIMBY Wars - The Politics of Land Use by Jonathan Birchall, U.S. retail reporter for the Financial Times. "The authors have produced what amounts to an introductory promotional handbook to the dark ...
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Walmart gears up for push into cities
November 2, 2009 — Financial Times — Walmart has stepped up efforts to mobilize local political support for new store openings in US cities and urban areas that were last month identified as a growth priority for the retailer by Mike Duke, its chief executive. Saint Consulting, a group specializing in land use politics, reported ...
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Retail giant Wal-Mart pushing to move into New York City
November 2, 2009 — New York Daily News — Wal-Mart's mission to open a bunch of new stores in urban areas in the U.S. has the retail behemoth setting its sights on the Big Apple, the Financial Times reports. Saint Consulting found the number of people who would oppose a new Wal-Mart in their neighborhood ...
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Skipping homework in public opinion and politics can sink quarry expansion plans
November 2009 —Rock Products Magazine — Cover Story: SHE HATES YOU. So do all her neighbors. Knowing why, and more importantly, how to change that will make aggregate operations more profitable. By Christopher Hopkins, Senior Vice President for Aggregates and Mining, The Saint Consulting Group. Link to story Read the article — PDF
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Britain Blows Past 4GW Wind Mark, Still Has Long Way To Go
October 28, 2009 — Solve Climate: Daily Climate News and Analysis — The British Wind Energy Association has unveiled new data on the nation's wind power industry, and it's a mix of good and bad news. The windiest nation nation in Europe still has a long way to go to catch up with competitors on ...
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Overcoming Opposition to Quarry Projects
September/October 2009 Stone, Sand & Gravel Review — OVERCOMING OPPOSITION AND BUILDING COMMUNITY ACCEPTANCE: EVERYTHING IS POLITICAL Sixty-two percent of Americans say they'd oppose an aggregate quarry if one were proposed in their hometown. To put that in perspective, it's more opposition than a nuclear power plant registered in the 2009 Saint Index survey of ...
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Affordable homes or societal burdens?
August 30, 2009 Victorville Daily Press — OPINIONS DIFFER ON IMPACT OF LOW-INCOME HOUSING Part two of a three-part series examining affordable housing in the Victor Valley. Low-income housing aims to ensure that everyone, no matter their income level, can find a place to call home. Many residents say it also means crime, blight, lower property ...
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Prevailing Against Anti-Wind Sentiment
Turning anti-wind sentiment into permits requires organization, strategy and plain ol' grassroots politics. Understanding how the opposition plans to stop your wind farm may be the first step toward planning for its approval. An article written for North American WindPower by Ben Kelahan, Senior Vice President-Energy, The Saint Consulting Group. Prevailing Against Anti-Wind Sentiment
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If Transmission is for Renewables, Yes-in-My-Backyard: Poll
May 8, 2009 Wind Energy Daily While a majority of Americans oppose new high-voltage transmission lines in their communities, opposition drops precipitously to 17% if those lines are delivering clean, renewable energy from wind, according to a just-released survey from the Saint Consulting Group. Support for new transmission lines leaps from just 46% to 83% when respondents ...
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Development trends…
April 13, 2009 Gaming Industry Observer POLITICIANS, OPERATORS TAKE NOTE: CASINOS MORE RADIOACTIVE THAN NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS Americans in 2008 said by a margin of 84 percent to 14 percent that casino gambling is acceptable for themselves or others, according to the annual American Gaming Association poll. In the same year, Americans also said by similar margin – ...
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Tough Times Means More Support For Indie Sector
April 04, 2009 Retail Express CONSUMER POLL PUTS C-STORE APPROVAL UP 12 PER CENT C-Stores are more popular than ever and budget supermarkets are the best of the rest, according to a recent survey into the public’s attitude towards development. An annual survey of 1,000 people by planning specialists Saint Consulting saw the approval rating for convenience stores ...
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Survey: Most Americans Do Not View Wind Farms As Harmful
March 27, 2009 North American Wind Power Seventy-nine percent of Americans do not believe a large wind farm project is detrimental to their health and welfare, according to the 2009 Saint Index survey of attitudes toward real estate development projects. Slightly more than one in 10 adults, 11%, say a large wind project could diminish health and ...
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Fyson On…Rising Tide of Hardened Nimbies Threatens Greater Risk of Action Against Planned Developments
March 27, 2009 Planning Given the difficulty of defining the phenomenon known as nimbyism, it is just as well that a survey of it prevalence should be part of a series. Saint Consulting's annual report on public attitudes towards development has entered its third year. While the firm's contribution towards understanding exactly why people oppose development is ...
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Nimbyism Growth Threatens Development
March 26, 2009 Construction Now Planners are facing an increasingly difficult struggle to get public acceptance of development projects, according to an annual survey of public attitudes. The UK Saint Index found that the percentage of people that have objected to a development project in the past year has increased to 21% of the population, up from ...
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82% of Americans Support Locally Sited Wind: Survey
March 20, 2009 Wind Energy Weekly An impressive 82% of Americans support wind farm projects in their hometown, up from 76% a year ago, according to a recent survey. The 2009 Saint Index is the fourth such survey from the Saint Consulting Group and involved interviews with 1,000 adults nationwide. Broken down by region, residents in the Midwest ...
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Quarries Now Most Opposed Sector in the UK
March 18, 2009 Quarry Management British attitudes have hardened against various types of land development, particularly quarries, even in the midst of economic recession and with the promise of new jobs that such projects can bring, according to the latest UK Saint Index – an annual survey on public attitudes to development. The 2009 survey carried out ...
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Public Warm To Stores On Their Doorstep
March 14 2009 The Grocer The public would rather an Asda, Morrisons or Aldi moved into their local community than other supermarkets, according to new research. The survey by Saint Consulting suggested people's views towards supermarkets - particularly those operating in the budget arena - had softened due to the recession. Although they are still viewed negatively, supermarkets' ...
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Growing Nimbyism Spares Wind
March 13 2009 Utility Week British attitudes have hardened against most forms of new development, including power stations, but wind power appears to be bucking the trend, according to an annual survey of public attitudes to development compiled by the Saint Consulting Group. Although the consultancy argued that "not in my backyard" (Nimby) attitudes had peaked, it ...
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Nimbyism Increases Despite Market Woes
March 13 2009 Showhouse The UK Saint Index, the annual survey on public attitude to property development, shows that 51 per cent of respondents oppose private residential development. Last year the figure stood at 40 per cent. The Saint Consulting Group said that 74 per cent of respondents deem the government’s target of building three million ...
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Nimbyism on the Rise as Climate Bites
March 11 2009 Estates Gazette The British public's attitudes against development have hardened in the midst of the economic climate, according to a new survey from Saint Consulting. The Saint Index, which surveyed 1,000 people in January and February this year, found that 85% of respondents were antidevelopment. Nick Keable, UK vice president of the Saint Consulting Group, said: "Nimbyism is hardening ...
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Helping Developers Overcome Opposition
March 11, 2009 The Patriot Ledger CONSULTANT HELPS DEVELOPERS TO BRING IN NEW PROJECTS BY UNDERSTANDING RESIDENTS QUINCY — Tip O’Neill said that all politics is local. Patrick Fox, the president of Saint Consulting Group in Hingham, says that all land-use is political. Fox said he started working on political campaigns when he was 12 years old. ...
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NIMBYism In the West Midlands is Becoming a Growth Industry
March 10, 2009 Birmingham Post It’s official; British attitudes are hardening. NIMBYism, the Not In My Back Yard ethos of protesting against new developments in their surrounding area, is on the increase according to a new piece of research. The annual survey on the issue by UK Saint Index, carried out to create a census on public ...
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Nimbyism ‘Hardening’ In Britain
March 09, 2009 Planning Resource PLANNERS FACE AN INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT STRUGGLE TO GET PUBLIC ACCEPTANCE OF DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS, ACCORDING TO AN ANNUAL SURVEY OF PUBLIC ATTITUDES. The UK Saint Index found that the percentage of people that have objected to a development project in the past year has increased to 21 per cent of the population, up ...
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Public Attitude to Development Not Helping Economic Growth in UK
March 09, 2009 MIPIM News The UK is a nation of NIMBYs (Not In My Back Yard), according to a survey on attitudes to development in Britain. This holds true even in the midst of economic recession and with the promise of new jobs that such projects can bring, reported the latest UK Saint Index, ...
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Financial Times: Nimbies Rise Up Against Building Projects
March 7, 2009 Financial Times Attitudes have hardened against new property development despite the promise of new jobs that could be created in the recession. More than one in five people of those surveyed have objected to a project in the past year, according to Saint Index, an annual survey of public attitudes to property development ...
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Not In Their Back Yards
March 06, 2009 Property Week THE END OF THE PROPERTY BOOM HAS SPARKED A RISE IN PROTESTS AGAINST DEVELOPMENT. During the property boom developers squeezed more and more on to their sites to make scheme viable. Now, the nimbys are fighting back and using the internet to bolster their campaigns. Today, Saint Consulting publishes research showing that ...
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Economy May Be Easing NIMBY-ism: Saint Consulting
February 23, 2009 Commercial Property News The prospect of nearby commercial development still raises the hackles of many Americans, but the economic crisis is also causing people to look more kindly on building in their communities, concludes an annual survey conducted by the Saint Consulting Group. Opposition to development remains remarkably consistent throughout all regions of the ...
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Forbes reports on Saint Consulting and ‘Nimby Wars’
“Small groups are getting smarter about keeping big projects at bay. Thanks to Saint Consulting, corporations are wising up, too.” —Forbes magazine, February 16 edition The latest edition of Forbes magazine features an article about The Saint Consulting Group. The profile reports that Saint has made a specialty of helping U.S. corporate clients win zoning battles, ...
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Welcome, Wal-Marts!
January 13, 2009 Forbes Chicago - What a difference a bad economy makes. Wal-Mart, the retailer routinely accused of destroying communities and neighborhoods, is facing less opposition according to a recent survey. Of 1,000 adults who were interviewed nationwide in October and November, 56% said they would oppose a Wal-Mart in their community. That's down from 68% ...
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