cameron karslake wrote:Lori,
Thank you for the quote below and all the info above. This is some crazy sh*t!
Vote Against 64 to stop the deal, and make City Hall accountable. For 2 years they have fought residents to release documents. Why?
Yes, this is some crazy stuff, but we have been reporting this long before you got here.
LakewoodAlive
version one spun out of the WestEnd Project. The original stated goal, "was to educate the city on the need for economic development." If I remember correctly, they were planing three educational public meetings on Housing , the Arts, and Economic Development.
Planning, and Gentrification is not illegal, and you can get into a hell of a debate over if it is good or bad. Working with successful builders, or people you get along with is not illegal. But you start to run afoul of conspiracy theories, some real, some not. Take a look at this, Brickhaus advertises in Observer, McKinley member is a friend, I used to golf with Zaremba 20 years ago. I know Jason, Dru, Rick Foran has written me checks, Jay Mike and I grew up together... Am I "On The Take?"
It should be noted, that it is not illegal, but it can get messy, and very unfair, and potentially illegal.
I have said since the day we formed this project. Two factions, one that wants what is the best for families, second want commercial economic development to keep their taxes low, which they argue is best for families.
There are many theories for both, and even the best urban planners can argue both. The shocking equation that I believe is true, and the residents nightmare. Using the footprint for burger king on Detroit, if you filled the city with burger kings as successful, the taxes would be about the same, and schools would not be needed. Also known as Belden Village, the only Township in ohio with no residents left.
It is happening everywhere. In the middle developers and non-profits that get aid to stir the BS. CLE no the Land, no Plum, no, and make you think things are happening. Lakewood is hip, no Hinge Town is cool, no Downtown... as the county's population continues to shrink. Cuyahoga County has 1/3rd the population as from the 70s. Which brings a need for the land bank, or city to grab property, using more federal funds designed to save neighborhood values, to be used to tear down homes. Then as people buy and sell, tear down and rebuild, people make money.
Jimmy Rokakis, of the Cuyahoga County Land Bank is a friend. Since the name has popped up I have been meeting and talking with Jim about the Landbank, and have found some pretty amazing things. Cuyahoga County Landbank is the model for most of the landbanks around the midwest. It is a private partnership with communities and groups to secure property that is falling apart, and could drag down the community around it. Dan Gilbert has worked with them on a way to help people underwater, really badly, get zero interest loans to save homes if they are worth saving. They have federal funds for environmental clean-up, asbestos removal, and tear downs. Jim, admits freely if the county comes back, the Landbank is worth millions or more. They are also in a position to work with CDCs, Non-Profits, and Cities on planning gentrification. He also admits it could be easily abused.
"Slaughter of Cities" in a nutshell. Cameron, if you do a search for this book and the first mention on the deck, it might be on the first day we started.
And here is the wildest part, you have helped, we all have.
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