The Observation Deck

I will be using this thread to underline what happens when a community either becomes
disengaged or turns their day to day running etc over to groups peddling promises,
dreams, snake oil and little more. Then build themselves up through lies, mistruths,
smoke and mirrors, while they really have no plan to stay in the mess they are creating.

How they are able to gut the government, the schools, destroy the non-profits, and
generally screw up things so bad they can never be fixed all in the name of "tomorrow
will be better."

It is also fascinating at how long cities and government are willing to let these hucksters go.

Stay tuned.

Real world examples from around the country, that we can apply to our city.


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From Lakewood's Ned Hill

"This represents an opportunity for a community to aggregate the land and think about what it's doing," he said.

City leaders would have to take risks, Hill said, but he notes that cities could buy dealerships from U.S. Bankruptcy Court, then invite developers to propose new uses.

The strategy takes advantage of depressed prices and gives a city more control.

"If a developer controls the land, the municipality has to negotiate over its use," he said. "With the community holding it, the power changes and you can play a longer-term game."


Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/community/scottsdale/articles/2009/02/13/20090213sr-automalls0213.html


Over the success of the Rockport Project and getting other cities to do the same.


Rockport 5 years later.


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Most hopeful project I've seen lately is the urban farming in the Galleria.

How many flat roofs do we have here that could be turned into living roofs? How about converting empty buildings (Giant Eagle on Bunts and Detroit) into a renewable resources incubator?

Retail projects - nope.
Chain restaraunts - give me a break.
Doubles into single family homes - waste of space, resources and energy.
Foreclosed homes - green space left to waste.

Something new just scares people, especially when it doesn't give them all the power and bucks.

You can begin with RTA.

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