Carol Becker wrote:
> Money to wealthy corporations: The statement that the Mayor has given more
> of our money to corporations is not true. The tax base is not hurt for
> having done a TIF project. None of your tax dollars have gone to TIF
> projects.
TIF is a fine thing when it comes to renovating blight. The Physicians and
Surgeons Building/American Linen et. al. was not blighted. But now a wildly
unpopular Taj-maTarget, well funded by the public, is replacing some buildings
with a good deal of architectural charm that near as I could tell had businesses
that employed several people. Seems like we are displacing many jobs and
replacing them with different jobs, aesthetically degrading the block, and with
no guarantee that Target Corp. won't button this bad boy up in a few years if
the bottom line isn't up to snuff (given the success record of
downtown-Minneapolis-mid-priced retail the last 25 years that scenario isn't
real far-fetched).
> Yet the City has more employment, has a thriving downtown,
Yes, I am trying to decide today whether to spend the day at the thriving
Gavidaii common (how's that loan repayment working out?) or to walk the bustling
City Center. Or maybe I'll stroll along and just soak in the ambiance of the
new collection of high rise Kleenex boxes that are now the prime feature of the
Nicollet Mall (a street which some area tourist guides still laughably tout as
an "attraction"). Or maybe I'll just wait until the excitement of a video
arcade, a movie multi-plex, and a couple of restaurants show up on Block E
because the creative thought that went into that development will yield many
things that I cannot currently do (well, unless I get in my car and drive 5
miles in any direction).
> has a wider range of employment opportunities than it could have ever had
> without
> TIF.
Target? Gameworks? Block E restaurants? a multi-plex? a hotel? which of these
offer the types of jobs currently unavailable in the city?
> And TIF is also the source of funds for NRP, a program that has
> provided a greater investment in housing than any other program ever.
My old neighborhood ended up with speed bumps, ornamental lighting and a tot
lot. Great fun, but I better head there now, before a heavy rain comes and fills
the antiquated storm drainage system, floods 35W and cuts off my route. On the
plus side, when the rains recede they can suck away some of the errant garbage
that used to land in those pesky garbage cans the city yanked off the street.
well, happy Presidents day to all!
richard carney
st. paul
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