An owner-occupied home is an un- usual asset because it cannot be diversi® ed among locations and because it is the onlysizable asset that most owners possess. Among the unin- sured risks of homeownership is devaluation by nearby changes in land use. Opponents of land- use change are called NIMBYs (``Not In My Back Yard''). This article submits that NIMBYism is a rational response to the uninsured risks of home- ownership. It explores the possibilities and draw- backs of providing an insurance market to cover such risks. It concludes that some progress is being made towards developing such markets. (JEL R52) Residents who strenuously oppose devel- opment of land in their immediate area are often called ``NIMBYs,'' the acronymic per- soni® cation of the expression ``not in my backyard.'' The oppositionof neighbors is an importantproblemin Americanland-use reg- ulation. Itcanfrustrate the implementationof carefully planned residential development, locally desired industrial development, and placement of the necessary nuisances of ur- ban life, such as power plants and land® lls (Downs 1994; Fischel 1991; Nelson 1999; Portney 1991; Rephann forthcoming). NIMBYs sometimes appear to be irratio- nal in theiroppositionto projects in the sense that they express far-fetched anxieties or doggedly ® ght projects whose expected neighborhood effects seem small or even be- nign. I submit in this note that such anxieties might not be irrational if we consider that most NIMBYs are homeowners, and that homeowners cannot insure their major (and often only) asset against devaluation by neighborhood effects. NIMBYism mightbet- ter be viewed as a risk-averse strategy. I con- clude with a few notes about how an insur- ance market might be developed to head off