Saturday, February 23, 2013

Boyd: ORBP a "1950s solution to a 21st Century problem."

The rest of the planet continues to understand what Kerry Stemler, Ed Clere, Greg Fischer and Bob Caesar cannot. Do you think a single one of them read the NY Times article prompting Boyd's comments, below? I would't bet on it. Just last week Mayor Fischer the ORBP proponent was prattling on about sustainability even as pots and kettles turned red with embarrassment.

NYTimes on Louisville: A city that can’t stop making historically bad choices, by Terry Boyd (Insider Louisville)

... the more interesting interviews are with downtown bridge opponents U of L Professor Hank Savitch and 8664 founder Tyler Allen.

Savitch sums up what’s coming with the new downtown bridge: “It will dissipate energy in the central city, where they should be concentrating investment, and instead draw capital to the outer metropolitan area.”

Allen makes the point that the forces for enhancing Lousiville’s riverfront instead of burying it in concrete ran “into the buzz saw of power.”

In fairness, that buzz saw of power was propelled by the fact our three (still functioning) bridges are so old and so neglected, they’re on the verge of being structurally unsound, overstressed and unsafe at any speed.

But instead of considering ingenious and forward-looking options, everyone from former Mayor Jerry Abramson to Southern Indiana power broker Kerry Stemler chose to apply a 1950s solution to a 21st Century problem.

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