Under the stimulus, there is limited ability to build transit systems or major power generating facilities, upgrade water systems, or undertake significant environmental cleanups. While President Roosevelt built dams and President Eisenhower built an interstate highway system, President Obama's stimulus fills pot holes.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Building Something of Meaning
Mayor McCrory of Charlotte has been complaining about the stimulus for a while. Most of his argument revolves around the fact that its ridiculously hard to build anything of long term meaning. I tend to agree with him on this point and think that if we're going to spend the money, it might as well be on things that are long lasting.
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9 comments:
So true. Even here in Canada, the "Stimulus" was based on short-term projects that could be done quickly, and within a certain time. How is that stimulus? Giving people temporary jobs, and then laying them off after it's done? Makes no sense. The City of Toronto tried to buy new streetcar using the stimulus funds, and it was rejected, because the streetcars were a "long term" investment.
Just reading 'a timeless way of building' by christopher alexander.
I'm sorry, the short term focus of the stimulus is appropriate. The idea of the stimulus is to prevent the economy from launching into a deflationary spiral in which the returns from holding cash are greater than from making any investment, which is what happened in the Great Depression. To work, such a policy has to spend the money quickly and be funded by deficits (since funding it out of current tax revenues just reduces private demand). Once the economy is moving again, such programs should end.
It is a separate debate as to whether the government should be funding more long term infrastructure investments, which may add to long term prosperity but aren't really "stimulus" in the same sense of the word.
I agree with your premise Winston, but there are lots of transit lines and other major infrastructure projects that could be shovel ready if you focus on them. The Gold Line extension in LA is a great example. It's not getting funded but it's ready to go. Also, I'm sure engineering firms would be able to do quick work so that transit lines could be built faster. The infrastructure stimulus needed to be bigger, and focus on shovel ready projects that were transformational.
ideally they would do long term mega projects that could be started very quickly but i'm assuming its the redtape/EIS/studies that gets in the way.
no doubt the quick and easy projects should be done but they sure arent providing much stimulus.
trimet has been using their money to build bus pads downtown, repair the street pavement from the temporary bus mall, repair some old trestles for along the willamette shore trolley line for future streetcar use and also to fix the cracked intersections downtown where the MAX trains run. All good projects, but their job creation and economic stimulus is extremely minimal. ideally stimulus would provide trimet with money for these small simple projects plus $5 billion for transit infrastructure construction and equipment purchases. and similarly for other transit systems around the nation, both in money and vision.
This was the problem of the previous Administration.
With strangling planning funding this makes the Stimulus almost impossible to impliment and be worth while for long term goals.
Thanks for mentioning my #1 project, the Gold Line Foothill Extension (in Southern California). I even developed a slogan at a college rally in May: "It's Shovel Ready--Let's dig it!" At the last Metro meeting there were numerous building trades union members in attendance, backing a proposal to build a light-rail car plant in LA. With the slump in construction activity they had plenty of time to attend meeting. As part of my speech I said, "let's put our brothers and sisters in the building trades to work!" and got a big cheer from the workers. (I'm a retired member of IBEW Local 47), then I repeated my "Shovel Ready" mantra.
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