Author: James A. Bacon
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First They Came for Our Tax-Subsidized Sodas, then They Came for our Tax-Subsidized Snack Foods
by James A. Bacon I had occasion the other day to visit an inner city convenience store in Richmond while working on an article I hope to post to the blog shortly. I am not exactly Mr. Health Food Guy — I won’t touch tofu, cauliflower or fish oil — but even I was appalled…
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Millennials, Cars and Smart Phones
by James A. Bacon Several years ago, I gave a speech at a Virginia Department of Transportation event calling into question travel-demand forecasts based upon the extrapolation of past trends endlessly into the future. Among the looming changes I mentioned, as I recall, were the retirement of the massive Baby Boomer generation (retirees drive less),…
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The Political Economy of the Gas Tax
I have long argued that the debate over the motor fuels tax shakes out over class lines. The gas is regressive, in that lower-income people pay a higher percentage of their income for the tax than wealthy people. Yet wealthy people place the greatest premium on their time stuck in traffic and are most agitated…
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How to Create 79,000 Jobs without Really Trying
by James A. Bacon In the previous post I discussed Virginia’s sluggish economic performance and the power of institutional inertia to discourage fresh thinking about economic development. One exception is a recent report published by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy (TJI). Calling upon the resources of Chmura Economics & Analytics and the Beacon…
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Virginia’s Big Metros Lagged in 2012 Job Creation
by James A. Bacon Has Virginia already felt the impact of the slowdown in federal spending? That would seem to be the obvious conclusion from 2012 metropolitan-area job data released last month by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and highlighted by Aaron M. Renn on the New Geography blog. After years and years of growing…
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Factoid of the Day: 100,000 Seriously Emotionally Disturbed Children in Virginia
by James A. Bacon The term “serious emotional disturbance” (SED) refers to diagnosable mental health problems that disrupt a child’s ability to function socially, academically and emotionally. Virginia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services estimates that between 85,000 and 104,000 Virginia children and adolescents have SED. Between 47,000 and 66,000 suffer extreme impairment. (Source:…
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First Phase 2 Rail-to-Dulles Bid Comes in Below Estimates
I didn’t get to this last week, but it’s too important to overlook… The low bid for half the work associated with Phase 2 of the Rail-to-Dulles project came in at $1,178,000,000 — seemingly way below the estimated $2.7 billion total cost for the project. The bid was submitted by Clark Construction Group. The contract…
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IG of the Day: Physical and Emotional Well Being
Virginia scores 14th nationally in Gallup-Healthway’s 2012 Well Being Index, which incorporates the following metrics: life evaluation, emotional health, physical health, healthy behaviors, work environment and access to health care. The Washington metro ranked tops in the country for large communities, and Charlottesville third for small communities. Richmond (No. 92), Lynchburg (No. 93) and Virginia…
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What’s Your Walk Score?
If you haven’t checked your home’s walk score, you should. Walkability contributes to higher property values, a more livable neighborhood and a healthier community. by James A. Bacon Walk Score, a web-based service that measures walkability, is taking the urban planning profession by storm. Using an algorithm that awards points based on the distance to…
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The Job Sprawl Stalls
The decentralization of jobs areas that characterized metropolitan growth and development in the early 2000s stalled after the Great Recession, according to a new report, “The Job Sprawl Stalls,” by the Brookings Institution. But the concentration of jobs in the urban core still declined when measured across the decade. Only the Washington region, which experienced…
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And While I’m on the Subject…
In its coverage of the University of Virginia Board of Visitors action yesterday (see previous post), the Washington Post reminded readers that administrators have blamed their aggressive tuition increases on “two decades of declining state funding” that have “starved the school of much-needed revenue.” No question, the state has trimmed financial support for its top…
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UVa Board Tightens the Screws on Student Tuition
The University of Virginia Board of Visitors voted Thursday to hike tuition for in-state undergraduates by 3.8% and out-of-staters by 4.8% next school year. The vote marked a victory for President Teresa Sullivan and others whose vision is to achieve academic excellence by spending heavily on faculty recruitment, information technology and R&D facilities, and extracting…
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McDonnell Jawbones Public Colleges over Tuition
Governor Bob McDonnell has asked college presidents and boards to limit in-state tuition increases for the 2013-2014 academic year to the Consumer Price Index or lower. In a letter written earlier this month and made public today, the governor wrote, “After a decade plus of nearly double-digit tuition increases and mounting student loan debt, the…
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A North-South Highway for Northern Virginia
The McDonnell administration has unveiled its vision for a north-south highway and other improvements to Virginia’s newest Corridor of Statewide Significance.