Category: Infrastructure
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Forbes on Cutting Virginia’s Defense Sector
By Peter Galuszka A couple of days ago I went to my mailbox next to the brightly-bloomed crepe myrtles and there was a four-color brochure from my Congressman, Randy Forbes, whose district stretches from the military-saturated cities of South Hampton Roads to the southern part of Chesterfield County where I live. Randy Forbes is a…
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World-Class Walkability in Barcelona
by James A. Bacon I have spent barely one day in the city of Barcelona and I can tell you three things that I dislike: the ubiquitous graffiti, the giant, ungainly recycling bins at many street corners, and the faint but unmistakable odor of sewage emanating from the city’s subterranean labyrinth. But if I tried…
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Australians May Dump Pocahontas Parkway
By Peter Galuszka This just in from Australia! Transurban, the Aussie company that owns public-private partnered Pocahontas Parkway near Richmond, is considering selling the toll road because it has become a White Kangaroo. If so, this is incredibly bad news for PPP3 advocates everywhere, including various moderates and conservatives such as Gov. Robert F. McDonnell…
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Virginia’s Pathetic Air Pollution Ranking
By Peter Galuszka Despite a glut of less-polluting natural gas as a source of generating electrical power, Virginia is still a significant air polluter, according to a new study by the Natural Resources Defense Council. One person who should take note is Gov. Robert F. McDonnell whose energy choices have always leaned heavily towards fossil…
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A Birds-Eye View of a Medical Practice
By Peter Galuszka Reforming health care is perhaps the most important issue confronting Virginia and the country today and also one of the most contentious. One hears opinions and solutions of every ilk anywhere — on blogs like this one, television, newspapers and private conversations. One important turn came when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld…
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Richmond’s Buses To Nowhere
By Peter Galuszka Inner city issues seem to be a trend this week on the blog so here are a few more points about the so-called “under-class” as some define lower income, under privileged people. The locus is Richmond, the state capital that despite its pretensions is actually a working class town with plenty of…
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Virginia’s Slipping “Best To Do Business” Rating
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in Business and Economy, Demographics, Economic development, Energy, Environment, Federal issues, Government Finance, Infrastructure, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, Media, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Property rights, Public safety & health, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Science & Technology, Social Services and Entitlements, Taxes, TransportationBy Peter Galuszka Old Dominion politicians and economic boosters love to tout the state’s typically high ranking in various surveys of the “best states to do business.” But the latest such ranking, by CNBC, shows Virginia dropping from first place to third. One reason is roads. “Infrastructure – specifically the state’s perpetually clogged highways –…
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Hotter Than. . .
By Peter Galuszka …The Fourth of July. Sorry that I have to spell it out, but there are a number of climate change deniers at this blog, including the Big Blogger himself, so it may be necessary to make things simple. In case, you haven’t noticed, this Independence Day marks a period of some extreme…
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Finally, Good News on Immigration
By Peter Galuszka Long-simmering immigration issues are starting to bubble over now that the U.S. Supreme Court has given a partial victory in opposing Arizona’s racist law. The ruling follows a bold action by President Barack Obama to allow law-abiding young people who happen to be undocumented aliens to stay in this country. The court…
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A Tale of Two Speeches
By Peter Galuszka Call it a Tale of Two Speeches. One was a clear and resounding defense of one of America’s most prized possessions: its university system. The other was Corporate-Speak – a kind of muddle of platitudes and lofty thoughts with little point that is so common among chief executive officers and company presidents…
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Ms. Dragas’ Greek Drama
By Peter Galuszka The antagonist in the drama against Teresa Sullivan is a rich real estate developer from Virginia Beach who holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Virginia, took over her construction firm from her father and is a major donor to political, mostly Democratic, causes. Helen E. Dragas, 50, president of…
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Hey, How about a Richmond-Norfolk Mega-Region?
by James A. Bacon The Hampton Roads and Richmond regions should align themselves as a “mega-region” to gain critical mass in the competition for economic development, maintain Thomas R. Frantz and Nicole L. Pugar in a Times-Dispatch op-ed today. “Cities that want to compete nationally and internationally are blurring boundaries, combining their assets and resources,…
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Hail ($6 million) to the Redskins!
By Peter Galuszka There’s something strange here: Virginia loses a major oil company and 2,100 high-paying jobs but we get to spend $6 million or more in state and local taxpayers money to keep the hapless Washington Redskins in the Old Dominion instead of Maryland and get them to practice a few weeks a year…
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Why Regulation Is Essential
By Peter Galuszka If there is ever an argument in favor of regulation in today’s anti-government political climate in Virginia, one needs look no farther than the interstate highways. Buoyed by a wave of intercity bus deregulation about 30 years ago, new bus lines started up using older vehicles, no frills and often over-tired drivers.…
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Hardware, Software and Heartware
Dan Slone spends a lot of time thinking about how to build more prosperous, livable and sustainable communities (see previous post). His thinking integrates bodies of thought from the green movement, which is all about creating sustainable communities, and New Urbanism, where the main emphasis is creating livable places. Dan is a visionary but he’s…