Archive for Archive for July, 2009
Looking back to 2006 – Has Urban Renewal Improved Community Economics?
For an example of one downside of this new form of entitlement development is Southwest Washington D.C. where historic buildings were replaced with new wave monuments to architectural blight. What some see as blight in historic areas, torn down, renovated and made new, appears as an eyesore of public ridicule. Again, when Urban Renewal is [...]
Urban Renewal – Success Includes the Voice of the People
Funding operations referred to as Urban Renewal can be the clincher and the determination of whether or not to continue building on those decisions. If the people of the community are considered, and their voice is heard, the renewal of a community becomes a reality and long lasting standard of the community. If the City [...]
Urban Redevelopment Financing – TIF (tax incriment financing)
When Lamar, Colorado started chattering about Urban Redevelopment Planning, the concensus was fairly good – until they began implementing the concept of TIF, without the consent of the voters. Excuse me, but taxes belong to ME (the voter) and if you don’t want me to have a say in how they’re spent, do NOT touch [...]
Urban Renewal on a Budget
Mixing Green Space and Real Estate By Charlie Pigeon When parks and real estate mix, there’s often a hard working local resident behind the plans. Or a couple. In the case of New York City’s High Line green space and commercial corridor, two unlikely promoters (a Chelsea artist and a Village painter) sat down with [...]
When Urban Redevelopment Doesn’t Work
Urban Redevelopment is supposed to lift up the community and bring more business traffic to increase profitability within a specific urban area. That’s the purpose of creating an Urban Redevelopment Plan. But what happens when that plan has a different underlying cause and effect? In the case of many Urban Redevelopment Projects, the opposition had [...]