...that city still grapples with serious social and economic issues.
No mention that the top brass at the News & Record get free tickets
in exchange for "advertizing" with Matt Brown?
And so does Greensboro,
whose economy and median income are much worse.
Yet a consultant determined a PAC in downtown Greensboro
to be economically viable
right next to the poorest parts of town?
That reality bubbled over in last week’s City Council meeting,
where the task force
commissioned to study prospects for a new downtown performing arts center
received an additional $213,000 in funding to continue its work.
But only by a 5-4 vote.
...The disparities were confirmed, yet again, in a recent consultant’s report.
And they must be addressed.
But this shouldn’t be an either/or proposition.
What the city has done
First, some credit where it’s due:
City staff are studying recommendations in that consultant’s report
for reviving the east.
Interestingly, the consultant noted that many initiatives that are required
already are under way:
Why are these initiatives "required"?
-- Gateway Gardens, a lush new park on East Lee Street
that was built in 2011 with city funds,
a state grant and private donations on an 11-acre, city-owned site.
How many new good paying jobs?
-- An ambitious plan to revive a bleak area off South Elm and Lee streets for mixed use.
How many new good paying jobs?
-- The millions the city invested several years ago
in a major streetscaping project on East Market Street.
How many new good paying jobs?
-- A major state investment in Gateway University Park on East Lee Street,
which some neighbors opposed and which is just beginning to pay dividends.
How many new good paying jobs?
-- The city’s support of the Bessemer Shopping Center on Phillips Avenue,
which still hopes to lure a long-coveted grocery store.
...And, finally, the city rightly kept the White Street Landfill closed in northeast Greensboro
at a greater short-term expense to taxpayers throughout the city
because it was the right thing to do.
Worth $8 million per year?
...The council was right to keep the arts center effort moving forward.
No mention of the News & Record Parking lot as a potential site?
Such a facility should help generate increased foot traffic and commerce
in downtown Greensboro,
a centrally located area that touches the whole city.
Is downtown Greensboro really centrally located anymore?
And dramatically increase the value of the News & Record property
via taxpayer subsidy?
Meanwhile, Durham’s continuing success should not be ignored.
DPAC on Thursday reported net income of more than $4.5 million,
$1.8 million of which will go to the city.
Why wouldn’t Greensboro want a piece of that kind of action?
How much was the principal and interest?
Why arn't the debt costs included?
Mislead the public lately?
Bullshit.
...Greensboro’s struggles with poverty shouldn’t mean investments
in parks, greenways and other amenities should screech to a sudden halt.
The Conflicted Representatives of Greensboro's Crony Elite
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