I am trying to understand what is going on with the local government in this town I live in. It is a college town & if you look at the public opinion you’d think we are among the most progressive cities in the state (I know, that’s not saying much, this is Florida). At the county level this is reflected in their policies towards the environment, health care, education etc. (even though the county includes many more conservative voters). But the city seems to be focused on promoting business (and irradicating the homeless population), with the idea that this will help the city grow. Now, promoting business might be good if we were talking about local businesses. However, the main thing I see them doing is giving huge tax breaks to big developers and hotel interests from out of town so they will build the latest in urban megathings (you know condos and hotels with shops on the lower floors). They gave a development called University Corners (right next to the University of Florida), 98 million dollars in tax breaks to try to force a developer to build what the city wanted. The result so far, one big empty lot (see above). Previously this site was occupied by several local businesses, along with a church and some really cool old historic chert houses (a form of local Florida limerock). This was supposed to be the cornerstone in the new urbanism dream of our city council. Of course now the economy is slowing down and we have one big empty lot! Maybe if they took a lesson from Cuba, (see this post) at least we could be growing some organic veggies on the lot!
Imagine what could be done if we gave those same tax breaks to local businesses that have a history of supporting Gainesville & a genuine commitment to this town. Obviously I am not the biggest promoter of capitalism, but in a market society, if it takes 98 million dollars to get a developer to build, that should be a sign that the market isn’t there for this sort of development. So what do we end out with?
Gainesville’s ‘Field of Dreams’!
