Can community building deliver more jobs than trying to lure back an industrial sector that's been leaving the U.S. for decades?
Everyone's looking for solutions to the jobs crisis, and you can't blame them for trying everything. However, Ben Brown points out the high price of trying to spark an industrial revolution that clearly is not in the cards:
"In June of this year, researchers at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy produced a report called Rethinking Property Tax Incentives for Business. Their conclusion: 'The use of property tax incentives for business by local governments throughout the United States has escalated over the last 50 years. While there is little evidence that these tax incentives are an effective instrument to promote economic development, they cost state and local governments $5 to $10 billion each year in forgone revenue.'"
"Strategies that favor 'Smart Growth' and 'sustainability' are under fire at the moment by the Tea Party and their sympathizers, who often have a legitimate beef about the way governments invest tax payers' money. But those who are serious about return on investment and about preserving choice will find their thinking migrating towards the very strategies they currently misidentify with waste and crony capitalism."
"It seems to me that when policy-makers stop dreaming of imaginary egg producers and start hatching realistic strategies for sustainable economic growth, they'll end up on the same page with New Urbanists and Smart Growth advocates. Even it takes a while."
Thanks to Hazel Borys
FULL STORY: Chickens, Eggs and Economic Development: Imaginary assumptions = imaginary outcomes

Trump Administration Could Effectively End Housing Voucher Program
Federal officials are eyeing major cuts to the Section 8 program that helps millions of low-income households pay rent.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?

HSR Reaches Key Settlement in Northern California City
The state’s high-speed rail authority reached an agreement with Millbrae, a key city on the train’s proposed route to San Francisco.

Washington State Legislature Passes Parking Reform Bill
A bill that would limit parking requirements for new developments is headed to the governor’s desk.

Missouri Law Would Ban Protections for Housing Voucher Users
A state law seeks to overturn source-of-income discrimination bans passed by several Missouri cities.
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