May state legislative applications limit an Article V convention? Subject, yes; specific language, probably not
- September 12, 2013
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Whitest City Gets Whiter0
- May 3, 2011
Portland should change its motto from “the city that works” to “the city that’s white.” Already the whitest big city in America in 2000, the city has gotten whiter still as poor people have been pushed from the inner city into the suburbs, as shown in this stunning series of maps. The Antiplanner has covered […]
READ MOREReining in the Tax-Gobbling Menace0
- March 15, 2011
Rahm Emanuel, the newly elected fiscally conservative mayor of Chicago, wants to “overhaul” that city’s tax-increment financing program, which he says “morphed from a tool for blighted economic communities into an all-purpose vehicle.” TIF was first used in Chicago by Mayor Harold Washington in the 1980s, whose goal was to help blighted neighborhoods. Critics say […]
READ MOREEnding Urban Redevelopment0
- February 2, 2011
Despite pressure from cities, Jerry Brown stands firm in his proposal to end redevelopment agencies, a plan he says will immediately save the state $1.7 billion a year, and more than double that after 2012. Meanwhile, the Idaho Freedom Foundation publishes a report proposing to eliminate urban renewal in that state. Urban-renewal agencies in Idaho […]
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Spend It While You’ve Got It0
- January 20, 2011
Last week, California Governor Jerry Brown said that the state’s financial problems are so bad that it should end urban-renewal subsidies. So the state’s urban-renewal agencies have selflessly stepped up and turned over surplus funds to the state to help it solve its financial problems. Just kidding. Instead, redevelopment agencies all over the state have […]
READ MORESave the States by Eliminating Urban Renewal0
- January 11, 2011
One of Jerry Brown’s first acts after taking office as California’s new/old governor was to propose to eliminate the state’s 425 urban redevelopment agencies. These agencies spend more than $5 billion a year on urban renewal subsidies that are largely unnecessary, and Brown hopes he can somehow tap into that money to help the state […]
READ MOREMovie Review: Road House0
- December 27, 2010
The Antiplanner doesn’t ordinarily review movies, but then, not many movies cover the dark side of urban renewal. Someone once called Road House, featuring the late Patrick Swayze, the “cheesiest movie ever made,” but they must not have been aware of the political subtext. In the movie, Brad Wesley (played by Ben Gazzara) is the […]
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