Obama tries his hand at urban planning
Bookworm on Jun 13 2009 at 7:12 am | Filed under: Uncategorized
The government looking at expanding a pioneering scheme in Flint, one of the poorest US cities, which involves razing entire districts and returning the land to nature.
Local politicians believe the city must contract by as much as 40 per cent, concentrating the dwindling population and local services into a more viable area.
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Having outlined his strategy to Barack Obama during the election campaign, Mr Kildee has now been approached by the US government and a group of charities who want him to apply what he has learnt to the rest of the country.
Mr Kildee said he will concentrate on 50 cities, identified in a recent study by the Brookings Institution, an influential Washington think-tank, as potentially needing to shrink substantially to cope with their declining fortunes.
Cities come and cities go, but you can bet that when government starts managing the footprint, bad things will follow. I’ve got to run, so I’m not going to hunt for data for that last statement, but I bet I could come up with some data pretty quick. (American Thinker has already started exposing the flaws in this little plan, though.)
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And will the displaced urban population be herded into Americorps camps for reeducation?
Greetings:
I grew up in the Bronx and was still there when it was given the Dresden-lite treatment in the late ‘60s and ‘70s. Bit by bit, large swatches of viable housing stock were put to the torch and subsequently depopulated. It was then, and remains today, an emotional experience for me even though I evacuated from the area.
During that period, I had been studying some economics as my college minor. My Urban Economics professor, an admitted Marxist and a natural teacher, predicted what was to be renamed “the South Bronx” was being depopulated to establish an industrial zone within a geographic triangle of three expressways, the Cross-Bronx, the Major Deegan and the Bruckner. There was great logic to his prediction due to the area’s proximity to Manhattan, Long Island and northern New Jersey. But nothing much ever came of it.
With the recent Supreme Court decisions concerning eminent domain, I don’t see much of a problem for local governments in seizing private property in “blighted areas”. The property values and taxes would be extremely low. However, if you have a blighted urban area and you turn it into parkland, you just bought yourself no taxes and more maintenance costs, no exactly a business plan in my opinion.
Rather than tear down this infrastructure, Michigan should hold a lottery and give the property away. In exchange the new landowner agrees to live there and rehabilitate it.
Create economic recovery zones where businesses are given tax breaks to establish operations and provide jobs. It might bring a new spirit to that rusted state. It sounds like Flint is just giving up.
That’s how the nation was settled– people seeing a future through hard work and perseverance. Where’s our Horace Greely advising– Go Michigan, young man.
Too expensive? Long term much cheaper than what is being proposed. Of course what the Greenies have in mind for us is a significantly altered standard of living which will probably be lower, but definately not cheaper.
Ya gotta love that doublespeak in the next to last quote in The American Thinker article:
“It was a very good idea that didn’t come to fruition”
I cannot even repeat it with a straight face. How on earth did Valerie Jarrett (a senior White House advisor to Obama, Michelle’s former boss in the Office of the Mayor of Chicago) say it in seriousness? These people really do think the “masses” are stupid.
Flint is now qualified as a ‘shovel ready project’.
Do you think Obama will stand there a yell out to Michael Moore …Michael, tear down these walls.
Anybody…40 acres and a mule (unless the mule emits Co2).
Hey Zhombre, just adding to your opener on this thread.