A new "progressive" blog, Rochester Turning, had an interesting post concerning Chicago's new effort to turn itself into a "green city". It involves the city buying solar panels, mandating efficient vehicles, encouraging rooftop gardens, and planting trees. Mayor Richard Daley, a Democrat but by no means a flaming liberal, has championed this project for years. The quality of life for residents, rich and poor, is better for it.
Mayor Duffy seems to be able to squeeze a few more million out of the legislature than his predecessor. The latest idea du jour is to use some of those funds to resurrect part of the old Erie Canal in order to manufacture more waterfront property.
If the canal proposal gets to a point where it is debated seriously, I think we need to put it up against other, modest yet realistic proposals that can increase the quality of life for city residents. Realroc rightly points out that strategic investments like the canal raise the city tax base because they fuel a public/private partnership. But increasing the livability of Rochester, and decreasing the pollution and energy usage in the city, will also ultimately increase the tax base by attracting more people back to the city.
I lived in Chicago in the 80's, and it was a dirty gray town with a climate similar to Rochester. The addition of 500,000 trees and 2 million square feet of rooftop gardens in the past 15 years is a mind-boggling, tangible improvement in the quality of life for every Chicagoan. It certainly is worth considering instead of digging a ditch through the middle of our fair city.
Comments (3)
Heck, this cannot be any worse the inner loop.
Posted by Jason | June 23, 2006 9:40 AM
Posted on June 23, 2006 09:40
It seems like Duffy is trying to do some Guilliani-style improvement via cleanup (e.g. demolishing unsightly city properties). I feel like a "greening" type initiative like the one in Chicago not only fits in with this strategy, but takes it in a positive direction.
BTW, thanks for reading our blog. So, does "progessive" in quotes mean that we're calling ourselves "progressive" or are you saying, "progressive-- yeah, right"? :-)
Posted by bythepeople | June 24, 2006 3:24 PM
Posted on June 24, 2006 15:24
The scare quotes around progressive mean "whatever that means". I'm sure you'll define what you mean by it with your writing, but, by itself, it is pretty generic.
Posted by Rottenchester | June 24, 2006 4:33 PM
Posted on June 24, 2006 16:33