Wojtek Sokolowski wrote:
>Can anyone explain to me why the US leftoids are so afraid of urban
>development? Do these guys really think that the US cities are in such
>a great shape that they do not need any improvements?
>
and...
>One would think that attracting people with income to cities, and thus
>increasing the tax base to pay for much needed public services such as
>transit or education, is a very progressive thing to do, but evidently
>it is not to some leftoids. Why? What is it that I am missing?
>
>PS. Please, spare me the bullshit about "vibrant communities" and "negro
>removal" - I know better than that - I lived in the bowels of Baltimore
>longer than in any other location since I left my parent's home in 1971.
>
>
well i don't know about Baltimore but in Chicago the increased tax base
has disproportionately remained in the gentrified neighborhoods. for
instance, on the north side of the city where much of the gentrification
has occurred, residents have seen the construction of two new college
prep high schools (within 5 years already among the top programs in the
city) enormous sums of cash dumped into infrastructure improvement
(better park services, street beautification projects, etc.) plus a
preponderance of recreational and entertainment sponsorships of summer
fairs, musical performances, etc.
developers have been given carte blanche without regard to esthetics (we've got monster 7500 sq. ft. mcmansions being squeezed on lots formerly occupied by 2,500 sq. ft. frame houses), traffic congestion ("luxury" multi-unit condos are replacing single family homes at the same time that the city adds parking meters in formerly free parking zones - thereby forcing a de facto parking tax on those less fortunate to find a spot in the musical chairs parking lotto), or community history (whether your sarcasm agrees or not I believe that a community that's had demographic changes from 30% african american, 30% hispanic, plus 20% or so elderly and composed of a wide spectrum of income groups to 95% white, high income and in their late twenties to mid thirties is indeed a dismal consequence). meanwhile the loss of affordable housing (average housing prices - and corresponding rents have skyrocketed 10%+ annually in the last 6 years) and the increased policing of minority neighborhoods (one of the few "perks" of an increased tax base that these communities see) is further polarizing one of the most racially divided cities in the country.
why you would assume that an increased tax base would automatically "trickle down" into improved services for the vast majority of the non-gentrified is mind boggling.
michael catolico