Author: James A. Bacon
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First Fat, Now Unhealthy
If there ever was any question that Virginians need to act more aggressively to improve public health, there shouldn’t be any longer. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have released new data showing that the incidence of diabetes has increased dramatically in all states between 1995 and 2010. Diabetes among adults in Virginia now…
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Truckers Question Safety of Cville Bypass Design, Still Support Project
Virginia trucking companies are concerned that a new design of the Charlottesville Bypass would create safety issues, says Dale Bennett, executive director of the Virginia Trucking Association (VTA), but he doesn’t know of any company that would avoid using the Bypass. And he stands by the association’s long-stated support for the $244 million project. In…
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More Business-As-Usual Proposals to Raise Your Taxes
James A. Bacon It looks like the 2013 session of the General Assembly will be consumed by one or more proposals to jack up taxes to pay for more transportation spending. Sen. John Watkins, R-Powhatan, has advanced a complex package to raise an estimated $734 million for transportation, which he will unveil publicly at a…
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Taking Bicycles Seriously
Bike lanes in Arlington County are not a parks & recreation sideshow — they create transportation options, reduce traffic congestion and promote healthy lifestyles.
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Virginia Demographic Projections: Read the Fine Print
The Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service has just released its Virginia population projections for 2020, and there aren’t many surprises. Growth, according to this report, will continue much as it has in past decades, with the fastest growth taking place (a) in the larger metropolitan regions, especially the urban crescent, and (b) in exurban…
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Chart of the Day: Diversity in America
America’s most diverse counties. Source: Atlantic Cities blog. San Jose, according to the calculations of Jed Kolko, is the most racially diverse metropolitan region in the country: 35% white, 31% Asian, 28% Hispanic, 3% multi-racial and 2% black. New York ranks second. The map above displays diversity for counties across the United States, with greater…
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Young Woman in a Hurry
by James A. Bacon Two years ago, Jody Burton purchased a used F-150 pick-up truck for $1,200. The old guy she bought it from seemed to have done a good job of maintaining it, so she figured it would hold up pretty well. Next, she ran a couple of ads in the paper. Bingo, she…
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From Green Paint to Green Painters
by James A. Bacon Moving to the Fan district of Richmond in the 1990s, Michael Johnson decided that his decades-old house needed some work. Like many other gentrifiers, he covered the old paint with a layer of fresh latex. What he didn’t realize is that latex does not adhere well to lead-based pigment. He didn’t…
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Clouding NoVa’s Planning Horizon: A Higher Washington Skyline?
by James A. Bacon One of the most important decisions affecting human settlement patterns in Northern Virginia is under review by the Washington, D.C., city council and Congress — and there is absolutely nothing anyone in Virginia can do about it. I’m not talking about the future of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) or…
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Medicaid, the New Middle-Class Entitlement
by James A. Bacon The Medicaid program was enacted in 1965 to provide a medical safety net for low-income families and for destitute elderly who had exhausted their personal resources. It has morphed into an entitlement to preserve middle-class standards of living. The reasons are understandable. You’d have to have heart of stone not to…
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How Economic Development Should Work
If you want to get a sense of how government can usefully engage itself in promoting Virginia’s manufacturing sector, consider the Commonwealth Center for Advancing Manufacturing (CCAM) in Prince George County near Petersburg. The not-for-profit center has created a venue where corporations collaborate to test the latest high-tech manufacturing equipment — like a new plasma…
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Is Virginia Losing Its Economic Mojo?
by James A. Bacon How competitive are Virginia’s three major metropolitan regions when it comes to job creation? EMSI, an economic modeling firm, has come up with an intriguing methodology to tease out the “regional competitiveness effect” of the nation’s 100 largest MSAs, and the results do not comport with Virginia’s image of itself as…
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The Puppet Masters of Decatur
UVa’s accreditation by the Southern Commission on Colleges comes with lots of strings. by Reed Fawell A few days ago, we asked the question, “Who runs UVa?”, highlighting the little-known Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCC), a regional accrediting organization that presumes to pass judgment on the University of Virginia’s governance practices.…
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Please, Please, Please, Pay Attention to the Situation in Charlottesville!
Dear Governor McDonnell, I know you’re a busy man. You oversee the entire breadth and scope of state government. You don’t have time to get involved in every local controversy. But every once in a while, if you don’t step in to correct a bad decision, you can wind up with a big mess on…
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A Bypass Built for Trucks… that Trucks Won’t Use
by James A. Bacon The McDonnell administration’s justification for the $244 million Charlottesville Bypass is to preserve the integrity of U.S. 29 for freight traffic. Only one problem: Heavy trucks traveling north won’t be able to use it, according to an analysis published by the Charlottesville-Albemarle Transportation Coalition. What’s more, the bypass will be unusable…