Should read “…planners and those…”

My title is not anti-planner but antiplan-ner.

“Anyway, as you’ve never been a planner, nor do you know what they do, you of course can’t know what happens to a plan when the politicians get it.”

Is that knowledge that is attainable only by planners or those who know what they do?

As I’ve said before, people, including planners, who fail to account for the effects of politics on planning are simply unrealistic.

I tried to change your title for you to make your argument consistent, as it is the politicians using TIF to attract whatever or to fix whatsit, as my links explained (and yours did too, BTW). I know few planners who like TIFing, so your conflation game is as flat as a soda bottle opened 3 weeks ago.

Anyway, as you’ve never been a planner, nor do you know what they do, you of course can’t know what happens to a plan when the politicians get it. I’m sure any planners reading this got a chuckle out of your statement.

Of course planners account for the effects of politics on planning. Funny. The boss making me re-write my next week’s presentation memo 46 times so the politicans won’t tangent will laugh out loud, surely.

DS

According to at least some criminologists, you don’t need a Nazi-like clampdown of crime to make streets safe. What is needed is community policing (which Portland had before 2001 budget cuts) and a “no-broken-windows” policy, which is another way of saying that minor crimes such as grafitti and getting free rides on the light rail will not be tolerated because tolerating them leads to more significant crimes. I don’t know if these policies really work, but places that have used them reported significant improvements without huge police intrusiveness into people’s lives.

I did not know there was a character limit on WordPress’ a tag. Such a limit sounds weird, but it might explain why some of your links did not work. In the future, if you run up against this limit, use tinyurl.

It is interesting to me that I am criticizing “planning” which includes the politicians, while you are defensive about “planners.” As I’ve said before, people, including planners, who fail to account for the effects of politics on planning are simply unrealistic.

Tax Subsidies to New Businesses, as that is what is used as the standard tool for numerous reasons, which may or may not be instigated by planners (see my links and the libertarian ADC paper Randal linked to) and may very well be instigated by politicians in response to stakeholder request [ [1] [2] C. * , D. (note who often initiates) ].

Nonetheless, never let it be said that I naysay just for naysaying’s sake. I generally agree with Randal here, but not as a blanket statement that All TIFs Are Bad, at all times.

I’m battling with TIF proposals here (I’m against them except to provision certain public goods) and March’s Planning magazine [not on-line as of 2-27,** ] has an article on pg 20 entitled ‘At the Tipping Point’, about the preponderance of TIF schemes and whether in the aggregate they’re good overall. The conclusion: they’re just a tool, and some places have politicians who use them as a hammer where an Allen wrench is appropriate.

DS

[1] http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/links/doi/10.1111/1468-2257.00077 HTML not working…

[2] http://edq.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/15/1/90

* pg 38 has an article about adaptive management and regional scenario planning (as opposed to predictions – I guess all planning isn’t the same…)

** “the law now has become a de facto entitlement for new industry and housing development in much of the state with little to no evidence of overall public benefit or meaningful discussion of the mean costs of the practice. It also eems apparent that given the ease with which these districts can be developed that many cities may be reemptively capturing new valuation and tax revenues in the name of economic development, but that in the main, this preemption is likely yielding much more collective fiscal harm across taxing districts in the long run than good. ” [pg 11]

Obviously, these are politician’s schemes rather than planner’s plans.

BTW, there is a character limit on your [a] tag, Randal.

I wonder how effective a Nazi-like clampdown of stranger to strager crime would work to cure blight? (Let me stress: only stranger to stranger crime).

In other words, although the neighborhood may look run down, it is PERFECTLY safe.

Thanks
JK