Florida Bill Promises More Sprawl & Less Public Investment

by Leigh Graham · 2009-05-23 17:00:00 UTC
Topics:

This is a terrible idea:

...developers would no longer have to pay if local roads could not handle the impact of their projects [in communities with at least 1,000 people per square mile]. The law would also let individual municipalities or counties designate areas for large-scale development — an outlet mall, a sprawling subdivision — without being subject to regional planning boards that currently analyze how such plans would affect communities nearby.

It's an interesting article on urban planning conflict, I know a topic that's as near and dear to my readers as it is to me. :)

But the end of the article just kills me.  The GOP Rep. who proposed this bill, Dorothy Hukill, says:

“We are dependent on tourism and construction,” Ms. Hukill said, “whether we like it or not.”

No!!!  It is this kind of resignation that just destroys us in the long term, leading to a race to the bottom in terms of environmental devastation, worker exploitation, privatization, and inequality.  We can shift how our economy works; it just takes EFFORT and DETERMINATION and IDEAS and a commitment to LONG-TERM CHANGE.  We need not be resigned to "low-road" economic development - and I say "low-road" because FLA is a Right-to-Work state.  Oy, we have got our work cut out for us, my fellow Change agents!

(Photo of development "just to the west of Guana River State Park" in Florida by Jon Worth.)

Leigh Graham
PREVIOUS STORY:
More Proof That We Need the Employee Free Choice Act
NEXT STORY:
Sallie Mae Blinks!

COMMENTS (0)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.