Category: Economic development
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The Energy Paradox of Virginia-based Data Centers
by James A. Bacon There’s a fascinating paradox in the energy economics of data centers. Outsourcing data storage and computing to hyper-scale, hyper-efficient data centers allows businesses to conserve energy and consume less electricity than they would otherwise. But the outsourcing phenomenon increases demand for electricity where the data centers are clustered. Because so many state-of-the-art data centers…
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Business-Labor Coalition Enters Pipeline Debate
by James A. Bacon More than 100 business, labor and economic development organizations have announced the formation of an advocacy group, EnergySure, to promote the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The founding members “represent millions of employees and associates across Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina,” says the organization’s press release. EnergySure is being funded by the four Atlantic…
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Free Fallin'
It just goes from bad to worse… In 2011 Virginia ranked as the top state for business in the annual CNBC ranking. In the 2015 ranking, the Old Dominion had tumbled to 12th place, the fourth decline in a row. Metrics deteriorated in many categories: cost of doing business, cost of living, infrastructure, economy, quality…
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Free Fallin’
It just goes from bad to worse… In 2011 Virginia ranked as the top state for business in the annual CNBC ranking. In the 2015 ranking, the Old Dominion had tumbled to 12th place, the fourth decline in a row. Metrics deteriorated in many categories: cost of doing business, cost of living, infrastructure, economy, quality…
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Shining Sunlight on the Accomack Solar Project
Amazon’s giant solar power plant will lighten the environmental footprint of the company’s growing cluster of Northern Virginia data centers. It won’t do much to lighten the tax burden of Accomack County.
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Why There's No Swimming Pool at Gilpin Court
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in Business and Economy, Courts and law, Demographics, Economic development, Housing, Infrastructure, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, Media, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Poverty & income gap, Property rights, Public safety & health, Race and Race Relations, Regulations, Gov’t OversightBy Peter Galuszka Heat and humidity seem to have been especially intense this summer. But it can be much worse at an inner city public housing project where there are few trees and other vegetation and lots of bricks and concrete that and retain heat. So, wouldn’t a swimming pool seem nice, especially when your…
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Why There’s No Swimming Pool at Gilpin Court
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by
in Business and Economy, Courts and law, Demographics, Economic development, Housing, Infrastructure, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, Media, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Poverty & income gap, Property rights, Public safety & health, Race and Race Relations, Regulations, Gov’t OversightBy Peter Galuszka Heat and humidity seem to have been especially intense this summer. But it can be much worse at an inner city public housing project where there are few trees and other vegetation and lots of bricks and concrete that and retain heat. So, wouldn’t a swimming pool seem nice, especially when your…
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Richmond's Pathetic Leadership
By Peter Galuszka Richmond is going through an existential crisis. Its “leadership” can’t get anything done after wasting the public’s time and attention on the supposed possibilities of this so-called “Capital of Creativity.” Two examples come to mind. One is the city’s and region’s utter failure to do anything about its crumbling ballpark. The other…
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Richmond’s Pathetic Leadership
By Peter Galuszka Richmond is going through an existential crisis. Its “leadership” can’t get anything done after wasting the public’s time and attention on the supposed possibilities of this so-called “Capital of Creativity.” Two examples come to mind. One is the city’s and region’s utter failure to do anything about its crumbling ballpark. The other…
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"Spankdown" at Woodlake
By Peter Galuszka Homeowners Associations are double-edged swords. They can preserve home values by enforcing covenants but sometimes morph into Neo-Nazi privatized governments that make life miserable by meddling. One HOA in suburban Richmond is in something of a unique situation. Woodlake, a 2,800 home, 1980s-styled PUD in Chesterfield County, has been having problems. The…
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“Spankdown” at Woodlake
By Peter Galuszka Homeowners Associations are double-edged swords. They can preserve home values by enforcing covenants but sometimes morph into Neo-Nazi privatized governments that make life miserable by meddling. One HOA in suburban Richmond is in something of a unique situation. Woodlake, a 2,800 home, 1980s-styled PUD in Chesterfield County, has been having problems. The…
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Shining the Light on Tax Cronyism
Virginia has one of the least transparent systems in the country for reporting tax carve-outs for special interests, reports the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in a report on tax cronyism, “The Unseen Costs of Tax Cronyism: Favoritism and Foregone Growth.” While five states report nothing at all, Virginia is one of eight that ALEC…
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At Last: Objective Criteria for Scoring Transportation Projects
by James A. Bacon After lengthy study, the Commonwealth Transportation Board yesterday approved new metrics for prioritizing transportation funding in Virginia. The new metrics are designed to create objective criteria for evaluating the selection of road and rail projects. It remains to be seen how the metrics will be applied in practice, but in theory they represent a big step…
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Dubious Oil Lobby Bankrolls Dubious Poll
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in Business and Economy, Courts and law, Demographics, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Economic development, Electoral process, Energy, Environment, Federal issues, Government Finance, Infrastructure, Insurance, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, Media, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Public safety & health, Science & TechnologyBy Peter Galuszka In a recent post, Bacons Rebellion extolled the findings of Hickman Analytics Inc., a suburban Washington consulting firm hired by the Consumer Energy Alliance, which found that according to a survey of 500 registered voters, the vast majority of Virginians support Dominion’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The $5 billion project would take natural…
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Housing Affordability for Millennials
by James A. Bacon As the global epicenter of technology innovation, Silicon Valley creates a massive amount of wealth — but the housing supply, hemmed in by geography and zoning regulations, is incredibly restricted. The resulting housing crunch is so severe that Millennials are hard pressed to live there. The median income for Millennials in the San…