Author: James A. Bacon
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Mayor Jones’ Ambitious Plan to Bust up Poverty
by James A. Bacon The City of Richmond is embarking upon the boldest experiment in a generation to tackle entrenched, multi-generational poverty in the Richmond region. With the hoped-for assistance of $30 million in Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds, city officials are planning to blaze a path of mixed-income re-development through the city’s east…
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The Ladies of Pageland Lane
In Prince William County populist conservatives and liberal smart-growthers have found common ground in fighting Northern Virginia’s proposed Bi-County Parkway.
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McDonnell Team to Spend $289,000 in Taxpayer Money to Sway Taxpayers on Bi-County Parkway
by James A. Bacon The McDonnell administration has agreed to pay a Washington, D.C., communications consultancy $289,000 to help win public support for the proposed Bi-County Parkway in Northern Virginia. The details are laid out in a Scope of Services agreement obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request filed by Del. Robert Marshall, R-Manassas. The…
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So Much to Blog about, So Little Time II
More great stories that I don’t have time do justice to… Curb Appeal D.C. Streets Blog Summary: Alan Durning tackles the political challenge of how to persuade people to embrace performance (market-based) pricing for parking on streets where they are accustomed to parking for free. Plow the revenue from variable-price parking meters into a highly…
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Air Cargo Case for Bi-County Parkway Crashes and Burns. Will McDonnell Pivot to New Justification?
by James A. Bacon Cognitive Dissonance, anyone? There is an interesting juxtaposition of articles in The Washington Post today…. The local section carried an article about George Mason University President Angel Cabrera expressing support of the Bi-County Parkway, while the business section ran an article about a new report emanating from The Center for Regional analysis at GMU,…
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Does Henrico Need a Meals Tax — or More Innovative Government?
From a column published in October edition of The Henrico Monthly: by James A. Bacon Before pulling the lever this November on the meals-tax referendum, Henrico citizens should ask themselves: Are they satisfied with county government that conducts business as usual, posing false choices between raising taxes or cutting services? Or would they prefer proactive…
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NoVa Localities In Good Shape to Ride out Federal Shutdown
Moody’s Investor Service expects the federal government shutdown to be short-lived. It could negatively impact state and local governments in the Washington metropolitan area if prolonged but most local governments should be able to ride out the storm. Says the current issue of “Moody’s Weekly Credit Outlook for Public Finance”: “The federal government shutdown … is…
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IG of the Day: America’s High-Productivity Regions
The single-most important indicator of economic prosperity, most economist agree, is productivity — economic output (GDP) per capita. Although productivity doesn’t rise in lockstep with income, the two are inter-related. You can’t have high average incomes in a low-productivity metropolitan region. Therefore, it is interesting to peruse the map above, published on the Atlantic Cities…
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IG of the Day: the Price Premium for “Walkable Urbanism”
Once upon a time, the Atlanta region epitomized suburban sprawl. But development has shifted dramatically in the past few years. Since 2009, reports Atlantic Cities, “60 percent of new office, retail and rental properties in Atlanta have been built in what Christopher Leinberger calls “walkable urban places.” That new construction has taken place on less…
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Higher Ed Shakeout Hits HBCUs First
by James A. Bacon All colleges and universities find themselves under unremitting pressure these days as consumers balk at relentless increases in tuition & fees and new business models coalesce around online education. But few are as stressed as the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), which have special problems all their own. Sidney A.…
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Will They or Won’t They?
The talking heads on cable news were asking two big questions this morning: Will partisan gridlock in Washington, D.C., push the nation into default and, somewhat less urgently, how many people will sign up for Obamacare? I’ve got nothing to contribute to the first question — there is no predicting the actions of crazy people.…
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How IT Is Revolutionizing America’s Transportation Systems
by James A. Bacon Recent innovations in technology and social networking are transforming America’s transportation landscape, concludes a report by the U.S. PIRG Education Fund and Frontier Group, “A New Way to Go.” Smart phones and mobile connectivity have made possible a whole range of new services that allow people — especially the young people…
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Think Henrico Government Has Cut Back? How about Henrico Citizens?
by James A. Bacon As Mark Twain famously said, there are lies, damn lies and statistics. Anyone can slant an argument in his favor by cherry picking statistics. I try to avoid that. As proof, I will offer some numbers regarding Henrico County government expenditures over the past decade that make my opposition to the…
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What a Crock!
In doing some on-line research today, I tried to access the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) website. Here is the message I received: “Due to the lapse in government funding, www.bea.gov will be unavailable until further notice. … We sincerely regret this inconvenience.” A press release states that, “like all other U.S. government entities,” the…
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How about a Road Realignment and Closure Commission?
by James A. Bacon Out in Brainerd, Minn., Chuck Marohn is still thinking outrageous thoughts about transportation. Indeed, some of his ideas are so beyond the pale that even I haven’t thought of them — and I pride myself for spitting on the conventional wisdom. While virtually everyone else in the world is worrying about…