Speaking a spicier language

Many of us have heard the negative terms NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard); dejavenue (when one place starts to look like ‘Generica’); Nothing Anywhere Near Anything); mcmansion; and maybe even DUDE (Developer Under Delusions of Entitlement). Believe it or not, there are dozens more where this came from. Why the negativity? Because so much of what’s being built is, well, negative. So what about some positive ones – we need some direction here folks. Perhaps reversing some of these terms…

UnDisneyfication – Bringing authenticity back to replace the sterile, chain-filled ‘main street malls’ that have taken over.
Sense of Place/Snowflake Town – The opposite of Anywhere USA/No town like it.
YIMBYs – Yes In My Back Yard.
GIMBAs (Get Into My Business Area) – Entrepreneurs that thrive around others.
Spicy Development – An alternative to bland Custard Development.
Fusion Cuisine Architecture – Opposite of Oatmeal Architecture.
Club Sandwich – Rather than a Ranchburger (a one-story generic southwestern tract house), a three-story loft on top of an office on top of a pub.
Irreplaceable places: The opposite of replaceable places.
Skittleville – vs. Taupeville (a neighborhood requiring all buildings to be neutral colors, usually beige and taupe, ‘over the taupe’ is being monotonously excessive.)
Neopolitan/Rocky Road – vs. Vanilla (bland or boring).
Scents of place – Having a diversity of restaurants, plants and perfumed people in a pedestrian-oriented zone rather than the smell of auto exhaust.

Getting hungry for some reason…

Care to brainstorm some of your own terms? Speak your mind below!

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