Found this Wall Street Journal op-ed piece about the Forumla One race in Baltimore. Might shake David Watkins up a little bit. See if any of this sounds familiar.
"The race exemplifies the city's development strategy: Subsidize big downtown projects with other people's money — in this case, over $6 million in federal stimulus funds for the two-mile race course — and proclaim an urban renaissance.
Away from the waterfront, this strategy's failure is apparent. The city has lost 30,000 residents and 53,000 jobs since 2000, marking the sixth consecutive decade of population and employment exodus. About 47,000 abandoned houses crumble while residents suffer a homicide rate higher than any large city except Detroit. The poverty rate is 50% above the national average.
Much of this decline is a result of the city's exorbitant property-tax rates, which are twice as high as any other jurisdiction in Maryland and Washington, D.C. The encouraging news is that all four major mayoral candidates are promising property-tax relief....
To attract what little investment Baltimore has in recent decades, public officials awarded subsidies to big developers to offset the difference between the city's confiscatory tax rate and that of nearby counties. But developers have to "pay to play," which assures a reliable flow of campaign contributions to sitting officials — and invites corruption. Indeed, Ms. Rawlings-Blake took office only 18 months ago, after the previous mayor resigned as part of a plea bargain to resolve a scandal involving her allegedly accepting gifts from a developer seeking subsidies.
Now Ms. Rawlings-Blake's challengers are asking: If tax breaks for the connected are a good idea, why not give them to everyone? State Sen. Catherine Pugh promises to halve the city's tax rate in her first term or not run for a second. Otis Rolley, a former director of city planning, offers a similar 50% cut for the first $200,000 of assessed value and higher rates for more expensive properties (or vacant ones). And Jody Landers, a former city councilman, promises a cut of 30% to 35% phased in over four to six years.
But tax revolts are hard to win at the local level. The problem is what Harvard economists Edward Glaeser and Andrei Shleifer have called the "Curley effect." In Boston during the first half of the 20th century, Mayor James Michael Curley built a political machine by strategically shaping the electorate — taxing well-heeled "Brahmins" heavily and redistributing the proceeds to poor Irish immigrants. This not only bought Irish votes but chased the old Yankees out to the suburbs, further tilting the political playing field in Curley's favor....
But Baltimore's high property taxes have repelled investment in physical capital for decades. As that capital decayed and became scarce, labor became less productive and less prosperous. In 1950, the city's median family income was 7% above the national average. Today it is 22% below it. And it won't be easy to undo this damage as long as City Hall remains in the hands of politicos who are committed to a fatally flawed business plan.
Other noteworthy victims of the "Curley effect" have been rescued via statewide referenda. Boston, for example, was in worse shape than Baltimore back in 1980: Its population had fallen more in the preceding three decades (30% as opposed to 17%), its per capita income was 2% lower, and its crime rate was 42% higher. Then, in 1980, Massachusetts voters adopted Proposition 21/2, forcing Boston to cut property taxes by an estimated 75% within two years and capping future annual increases at 2.5%.
It was the kind of reform Boston needed but wouldn't have chosen itself (akin to California's earlier Prop 13, which revived cities like San Francisco and Oakland). Businesses and residents flocked back to Beantown. Its population rose 10% between 1980 and today, while its per capita income is now 43% higher and its crime rate 25% lower than Baltimore's.
The spillover benefits of capital-friendliness — enhanced public safety, school quality, and economic and social mobility — are much-ignored but crucial elements of tax reform. As the renowned urbanologist Jane Jacobs once said, "cities don't [just] lure the middle class. They create it."
Baltimore stopped creating its own middle class decades ago, but it has a chance now to reverse decades of disinvestment, depopulation and decay. All voters have to do is invite capitalists back to town for more than just a weekend car race." Column
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Sound familiar?
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20 comments:
the real kicker? a group of private investors in austin tx got together, got in talks with F1 in europe, building track now and on 2012 F1 calendar. will have other events of course, music etc; but anyone with knowledge of F1 would laugh at the chance of a street course in a decaying slum.
Sometimes King I look away, look back and mistake you for an arsonist. Do you really want to light the discussion fire about the rape of Jackson's taxpayers?
As an ex-Baltimoron (pun intended) I assure you this WSJ scribbler is a lying racist. How could they have a problem with violent crime, decaying infrastructure, a fleeing middle class, atrocious public schools, and sky-high taxes?
They have had nothing but Democratic mayors and City Council members for at least 50 years; the place must be Nirvana by now ;-)
Sounds like a failed experiment to me.
Downtown Jackson is a wealth transfer house of cards only possible by the lavishing of public spiffs and treasury giveaways the tax base can never repay.
It takes $5.41 in incremental (meaning net new) taxable sales dollars to replace just $1 lost residential property tax dollar.
The downtown gold rush is a colossal scam.
To better understand this, just watch The Wire, which is probably the best show ever. With a few tweaks, Seasons 1, 3, 4, and 5 could easily be in Jackson, Mississippi rather than Bodymore, Murderland (I exclude the travails of the unionized stevedores in Season 2). I thought that the whole time I watched the show. And Jimmy McNulty is my hero.
oh! not F1, but Indy (IRL); different and far inferior beast.
Wait, I saw this episode. This was the one where McNulty was sleeping with the Mayor's political advisor and Omar was on the warpath against the Barksdale crew, right? Wasn't this all from an episode of The Wire?
If one reads the comments here, without considering the source document to which they respond, one might swear Rod Serling is on the loose.
PS: I didn't check the archives to see if this comment is redundant.
The best thing about Baltimore was John Waters and "Devine". "Lust in the Dust" and "Hairspray" are set there. Infct all of his movies were.
sounds like George Pelecanos's the Wire
An F1 race? Please! Don't they know that all they have to do is build a BB King's Blues club and turn a decrepit old hotel into overpriced apartments and downtown Baltimore will become a cross between Times Square and the Vegas Strip? And it will be crime free (except for that nasty "perception" of crime perpetuated by racist white Baltimorons who only want the city to fail).
Pelecanos is all D.C. - nothing to do with Baltimore or The Wire.
Or do all Yankees look alike to you? ;-)
Have any of you been to Baltimore or do you form all your opinions from fictionalized television shows?
I actually have been to a baseball game. At the time, it was a nice area, stadium was really cool. I believe this was a time circa 1994-5 when they were investing in Baltimore in this particular area.
Sounds like it didn't go well in the years since.
Called on a customer in Baltimore 6 times a year for over 15 years. How 'bout you? What is your experience?
I've never seen a fictionalized account of Baltimore, but all I need to know about Maryland comes in the form of Barbara Mikulski. I've been to Baltimore a number of times and love the harbor area and the crab cakes are great.
I think 7:37 bastardized a comment of Ben Allen's and used it as a reference to Balmer City. On 6/15/08, Allen made the following comment on a local chat site, "Have any of you been to Jackson or do you form all your opinions from fictionalized perceptions?"
Got a link SFax? Do you know how?
So SFax is a Y'all Reader? Things are becoming so much clearer.
I asked had any of you been to Baltimore and at least some of you have visited. My brother married a native and has lived there and owned a business there for over 30 years.
He loves Baltimore. He thinks, like all cities, there are rundown, poverty stricken areas that have high crime rates which spill over into adjoining areas from time to time. He has never been a crime victim in his business or home nor have his neighbors or clients been victimized. But, crime is greater in the city than in the suburbs.
He thinks city living vs suburban living is a trade off. Those in suburbia have a different lifestyle . And, he sees that suburbian life seems to be losing it's charm for many as his property values keep increasing while suburbian values have been in decline. The suburbs up there are no longer " new and shiny" as they are here and the suburbs have not aged well. Indeed, he reports that once failing city neighborhoods are being "regentrified". The good "bones" of those structures make them appealling. That has been Baltimore's biggest controversy as lower income property owners can no longer afford their homes or businesses as the tax value of their property has increased.
Going to a ballgame and calling on a client might not have given y'all an opportunity to discuss city issues in detail. My brother hasn't been to a " tourist area" in some time and is concerned that tourists and frequent visitors have gotten such a terrible impression of a city he loves.
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