“I think this is just the latest way for people to make money off state and local governments. This is the new way the investment banks, their lawyers, and consultants squeeze the taxpayers....They’re going around making these deals, and it’s very lucrative. It’s like a circus coming to town.” - Clint KrislovPrivatization has long been advocated by many conservatives as a good government measure. Traditionally, privatization was used a tool that subjects government monopolies to competition from the marketplace, driving down costs and improving … [Read more...]
Archives for February 2013
Churches and Parking
A recent story over at Atlantic Cities got me thinking about a debate that's heated up over the last few years: urban parking policy for churches. Per Atlantic Cities, San Francisco has decided to start charging for metered parking on Sundays. This is starting to happen across America. In San Francisco, as in Chicago and elsewhere, the driver (no pun intended) appears to be revenue raising, plain and simple. This has angered many attendees of local churches (who have in many cases now moved out of town and drive in for services). They … [Read more...]
Is Urbanism the New Trickle-Down Economics?
The pejoratively named "trickle-down economics" was the idea that by giving tax breaks to the wealthy and big business, this would spur economic growth that would benefit those further down the ladder. I guess we all know how that worked out. But while progressives would clearly mock this policy, modern day urbanism often resembles nothing so much as trickle-down economics, though this time mostly advocated by those who would self-identify as being from the left. The idea is that through investments catering to the fickle and mobile educated … [Read more...]
What Assets Should We Privatize?
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that New York has scrapped its plans to privatize parking meters. It's no secret that I've generally been a critic of long term privatization deals for on-street parking. The reason is simple. Parking meters are not a capital asset like a toll bridge, nor are they a traditional city service like garbage collection. Rather, parking meters are an urban planning tool we use to manage access to precious on-street real estate. As the way we will want to manage this real estate over time will change, it's … [Read more...]