Dave vs Bill:
Urban Renewal?

Here's the article we're talking about. You really ought to
read it first.

Bill Hurme says:

Interesting article. Of course it would take three zillion bureaucrats—along with a Wasted Space Czar—to pull this off. Read Karl August Wittfogel's monumental work, Oriental Despotism, where he posits that China has been the anti-liberty country for hundreds of years because of their giant hydraulic water works. These government sponsored water works led to an increasingly centralized government (read: totalitarian) that from 1949 to 1965 accounted for an estimated 48 million deaths. Thank you, government-planner Mao.

So, is wasted space a good idea? Of course not. But when liberals like yourself read and respond to this sort of utopian fantasy, your knee-jerk reaction is to turn to the government to make this all happen. Which is why our zoning laws and entitlement processes in the building industry are so costly and upside down. 

So when I read about this Local Code notion, which sounds good, I start looking for the telltale signs of government coercion. Or a child-based appeal (always a time to grab your wallet and clutch it for dear life). Sure enough, the article bemoans classrooms that are in trailers in some non-identified region of the country. And the article does state that "Local Code proposes a systemic re-greening of leftover pavement space on a large scale." Hmmm, I wonder how that would be accomplished? 

Dave Newton says:

How can I argue with a guy who quotes Wittfogel? Besides, Bill, I share your distaste for utopian, bureaucratic fantasy projects. I'm a liberal, yes, which I define as an open-minded people person. But my knees don't jerk in the direction of big government, so your preemptive first strike is wasted on me, dude. Building codes are local, as is this project. You conservatives have been pretty successful working around codes. I don't perceive a shortage of commercial development in your neighborhood. Au contraire.

You've also been effective limiting the funding of wasteful school buildings and their liberal occupants, the teachers. But, we're crackin' the whip on 'em, so maybe those test scores will rise a couple of points soon. Let 'em sit in trailers for their five-hour school days, I say.

Here's a thought: why don't you put some of that geographic information technology to work for your developer buddies—find a bunch of promising, underdeveloped lots upon which to build cute, energy-efficient two-by-four-and-plywood mini-condos? I bet some non-hidebound, progressive-minded builder could make y'all a bundle.