Not to be outdone by Wall Street, auto execs, homeowners, or governors, U.S. mayors are making their grab at federal CYA funds today. Hard to see a silver lining here, but check this snippet in the article by T.W. Farnam:
A delegation of mayors, including Michael Bloomberg of New York and Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles, plans to ask the federal government to distribute funds directly to cities instead of going through state governments. The group is set to present a list of more than 4,600 infrastructure projects that they say are “ready to go.”
Tom Cochran, executive director of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, which is organizing Monday’s event, said the next administration has signaled that it will coordinate financing for projects for an entire metropolitan area instead of dealing with cities and suburbs separately.
Not sure what the mayors will walk away with and how much it will cost those of us who pay taxes and invest, but glad to see that ‘Metro’ Policy may be replacing ‘Urban’ Policy.
December 8th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
The convergence of the Obama administration, fairly widespread agreement on gigantic economic stimulus, the collapse of the auto giants, general agreement on needs for new energy sources, and even the major health insurers saying health care must be reformed may be a perfect storm for a paradygm shift in government, long overdue rebuilding of infrastructure and restructuring of manufacturing.
Deferred maintenance and upgrading of metro infrastructure should be a major part of any program. This is a once a generation opportunity to rebuild America. As Obama and many columnists have said, it’s important to do this smart and work on the right things, not just a bailout. One is the way to a new future, the other as the headline indicates is just a trough.
December 8th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Metro infrastructure also is a public health issue. Dirty water spreads disease.