In a Feb. 24 Washington Post column

In a Feb. 24 Washington Post column about the “niggling NIMBYs of negativism,” Marc Fisher noted that a “relative handful of very loud people” who own homes near downtown Bethesda, Maryland, have continued trying to stop Federal Realty Investment Trust from expanding the lively, mixed-use Bethesda Row development. Fisher said projects like Bethesda Row’s expansion — which calls for a pedestrian-friendly street of cafes, shops, and 180 apartments, including 23 units for moderate-income tenants — are an intelligent alternative to sprawl. The Montgomery County Planning Board voted to approve the project — for the fifth time. Fisher said officials need “the political courage to stick to smart growth rules even in the face of carping from neighbors who fantasize about locking the gates against newcomers.”