The reporter and I had a long and enjoyable conversation on the topic of the Indiana Regional Cities Initiative, during which I did not back away from my original assessment of the initiative as something aimed at distracting and intoxicating the usual planning and cheerleading suspects (read: One Southern Indiana) rather than helping better the vicinity.
Seriously: You want 1Si determining "quality of life" for revitalizing urban areas?
The reason I say this: Even if accepted at face value, it's a lottery scheme (a) not every area can win, and (b) a potential "win" that assumes much additional funding beyond what the state will provide, thus (c) favoring grandiose future planning (floating volleyball courts, convention centers) rather than the nuts and bolts of small neighborhood projects added together to achieve sustainable critical mass.
In short, the state constantly rigs the game to deny funding for everyday projects, instead offering a coin-flip panacea seemingly designed to inspire local politicians to begin commissioning plaques.
Accordingly, I was at the merchant meeting when Jeff Gahan attended for the sole purpose of touting the regional initiative to shopkeepers whose daily prospects are damaged by one-way arterial streets, even as Gahan plotted to delay the Speck curative another 1 - 2 - 3 years, or until doomsday -- whichever comes first.
But if big thinking is what you want, then there's only one choice. Ultimately, lateral east-west transit connections between Jeffersonville and New Albany, as an alternative to our current state of automotive connections, makes the most sense when speaking about millions of dollars. Ideally a north-south transit link with Louisville would some day come about, and then we'd be getting somewhere.
Conversely, we might stretch the Speck downtown street network plan throughout the Falls Cities area, linking it with various north-south "rails to trails" and hire mercenaries to seize the K & I Bridge so it can be returned to use.
I'm not joking.
SUNDAY EDITION | Southern Indiana leaders look to boost economic development, by Chris Otts (WDRB)
The Regional Cities Initiative, a program championed by Gov. Mike Pence and recently approved by state lawmakers, seeks to help regions like Southern Indiana develop “national brands” as places with superior quality of life – which, in turn, is meant to boost population growth in Indiana.
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