TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS: LOWER TAXES AND LESS RED TAPE
PRIVATIZE IT
FIX THE SCHOOLS
THINK THIS IS A GREAT IDEA. However, I wonder if the demographic/economic trends of migrating to the Southeast/Southwest don't preclude a real and sustained rejuvenation of cities like this? Have cites like Cleveland's time come and long gone, I wonder? Time will tell. But the series and focus can't hurt. I like the idea and will post the entire series, even though I'm skeptical.
Monday, March 15, 2010
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6 comments:
My town, Fort Worth, is a jewel box of a town which few know about. We are successful b/c we are pro business.
However, separately, maybe slightly off topic: while seemingly every downtown in America has tried to revitalize itself, Fort Worth succeeded - over a decade ago - in revitalizing it's downtown. Some reasons:
-- residential + retail + commercial: you must have all three if a downtown is to be lively
-- clean as Disneyworld: no trash anywhere; no broken windows, no chipping paint.
-- safe as Disneyworld: cops on bicycles - everywhere.
-- Free parking after 5:00 PM and on weekends: all parking meters free; several large parking garages open and free; several large parking lots available for free.
Last: our city council stays on top of things and has a "can do" attitude.
The result: every Friday and Saturday, people in surrounding towns drive 30-60 minutes to come into downtown Fort Worth. It is the place to go if you are on a date.
There are wonderful aspects to this town which are even better than having a lively downtown, but I thought of our downtown when I saw this post about Cleveland.
A lot of good people love Cleveland a lot. For instance: Drew Carey, actress Patricia Heaton, writer Joe Ezterhaus. I hope the city can find a formula which works for it.
I sense, in the ether of humankind, the faint glimmerings which herald a coming sea change in economic thought around the world: the rejection of communism/socialism/statism, the adoption of free market ideals. I can't prove it, but I sense it in the margins. I can smell hints of it. I think it is coming - more slowly than we want, but inexorably coming nevertheless. Nothing can stop an idea whose time has come.
Wow, what a lovely commentary on Fort Worth. I confess to knowing Dallas much, much better though I did come over sesveral times to go dancing and also visit the Kimbell. Loved both. Your city is in an eviable position and its conservative/can do city fathers undoubtedly greatly contribute to all this.
The idea of freedom and the fall of communism/socialism is indeed marching around the world. But I fear there will always be a vast majority who want to be taken care of by government and thus certain regimes will continue. I hope you're right and value your opinions in this regard.
We just got back from a weekend in another mistake on a lake, Detroit, and because of that visit I actually spent time thinking about all the rust belt cities including Cleveland.
I went to school just north of Detroit in the 1960's and I have family that used to live in Cleveland and Chicago.
They all have one thing in common, political machines. Whether the machine is driven by unions, criminals or politicians, the machines have grown fat off the woes, which the machines created, of the people. And they are corrupt. The corruption cannot allow change or creativity concerning growth in economic terms. To do so would cause them to give away power.
Until the corruption is cut out, no amount of money spent will grow Cleveland or Detroit. Chicago seems to muscle along, but I don't know for how long it can maintain itself.
Fascinating take, mRed. How will they ever stem that tide of corruption? If they don't those cities will just keep rusting and rusting....
Good stuff in the new videos. And I'm happy you've enjoyed the Kimball Museum - and there's plenty more good stuff in Fort Worth! :)
Greg, I love Texas and most Texans....if we have another winter like this last one, it's gonna look better and better! I'm not kidding....
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