The skyscrapers that NIMBYs and zoning couldn't stop
Planet Money
NPR
4.6 • 30.5K Ratings
🗓️ 28 March 2026
⏱️ 22 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
What would you build on a piece of land when all the normal rules go out the window?
On today’s show, how the Squamish Nation reclaimed a sliver of prime urban real estate and were liberated from zoning restrictions, to the consternation of their wealthy NIMBY neighbors.
We trace the 100 year saga of what might be the most interesting real estate development in North America right now: There’s a violent eviction, a tense legal battle, and a giant, tough decision for the Squamish Nation that culminates in the daring project that they’re building today.
It’s a story with lessons for every city trying to lower housing costs and build more.
This episode is adapted from Planet Money: A Guide To The Economic Forces That Shape Your Life. Pre-order before April 7 and you can get a poster. Details here.
The working paper we mentioned on “ready-to-issue” permits in Los Angeles.
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This episode was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler with an assist from Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is Planet Money from NPR. |
| 0:05.0 | A few weeks ago, reporter Alex Miyosi and I headed to Canada to meet a leader of a small nation. |
| 0:16.0 | There's dinner. |
| 0:18.0 | The geese? |
| 0:19.0 | Yeah, that's dark meat, man. |
| 0:23.1 | This is Gilbert Jacob. |
| 0:25.0 | Everyone calls him Chief Ghibi. |
| 0:26.6 | He used to be one of the leaders of the Squamish Nation, |
| 0:29.3 | a nation of around 5,000 indigenous people living in the Pacific Northwest. |
| 0:33.8 | We met him in this charming little neighborhood full of single family homes. |
| 0:37.4 | There was a big open park nearby. |
| 0:39.7 | Now, the land that we were standing on used to be a squamish village. |
| 0:43.7 | It was called Sinak. |
| 0:45.0 | Chief Kibby's ancestors once lived here back in the 1800s. |
| 0:48.5 | This was one of the most bountiful areas in all of the coast. |
| 0:53.0 | We had elk, we had moose, you know, we had killer whales, we had seals, sea lions, you know, |
| 0:59.0 | we had catch lots of different fish out here. |
| 1:03.0 | And then what happened? |
| 1:05.0 | Then the white people came. |
| 1:07.0 | Government officials from British Columbia in 1913 came and took the land. |
| 1:11.8 | They forced the Squamish to leave and destroyed the village. |
| 1:15.0 | They didn't even give them time to go and take their belongings. |
... |
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