According to historian Kim Phillips-Fein, the term NIMBY actually originated in the 1970s environmental movement, as low and middle income Americans organized to oppose industrial sites which they feared would bring pollution to their neighborhoods. In many ways, it was a paradigm shift. People developed a strong sense of community and pride in their neighborhoods. Development projects which imposed negative externalities like pollution or traffic now had to consider neighborhood participation and input. But by the 1980s, the scope of this opposition was expanding. The rise of conservative and neoliberal politics meant less government input and intervention in development. Neighbors began to organize against jails, halfway houses, methadone clinics, and other public services which catered to the poor and underprivileged. People began to view home ownership as an important means of acquiring and retaining wealth. Any development which threatened the value of their home was seen as a threat, and many homeowners decided that organized opposition was the best way to protect their home values, and therefore their wealth. 

First known mention of the word "NIMBY" in a newspaper article. Daily Press Newport News, Virginia. 29 Jun 1980, Sun  •  Page 1

The rise of NIMBY established a new paradigm of class conflict. Growing income and wealth inequality during the 1970s and 1980s coincided with this new paradigm. Homeowners had wealth and therefore power, and this new generation of homeowners had no intent to relinquish that power. There was a racial aspect too. Policies such as redlining in the 20th century denied African Americans access to homeownership and therefore wealth. White neighborhoods were able to organize against industrial development and highways while African Americans’ concerns were largely ignored, leading to the degradation of black neighborhoods. The impact of the NIMBY movement has been devastating for racial and wealth inequality.