I wrote once about the Walmart, No. 1274, in Whitewater. (Walmart now uses a name without a hyphen in advertising. I’m guessing they consider it both simpler and more upscale than “Wal-Mart.”) I wrote about Walmart a while ago, and a lot has changed. Walmart now sells both beer and liquor, there’s no east side…
Development
Development, Free Markets, Libertarians
Reason.tv: Encourage Bottom-Up Redevelopment – Reason Saves Cleveland With Drew Carey, Ep. 5
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s the next episode of Drew Carey’s series on ideas to save Cleveland, and by implication lots of other places, too. Cleveland has spent billions on big-ticket urban redevelopment efforts including heavily subsidized sports stadiums and convention centers that have utterly failed to revitalize the city’s economy. Should the city be pouring even more money…
Development, Economy, Free Markets, Libertarians
Reason: Luck and Virtue in America and Haiti
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at Reason.com, Steve Chapman writes about the earthquake in Haiti, and about prosperity in America, in an article entitled, Luck and Virtue in America and Haiti: Understanding the impact of the Haitian earthquake. From his essay: I look after the trees in my yard, making sure they get water, checking them periodically for signs…
City, Development
A City-University Technology Park in Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS •
On Sunday, the Janesville Gazette published a story on a proposed joint technology park between the city and University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Arguments in favor of the part include new jobs for researchers, but far more so, a way to offer businesses a reason to locate in Whitewater. The principal argument against is likely to be…
City, Development, Economy, Free Markets, University
Student Housing in Whitewater: Our Mistaken and Repetitive Approach
by JOHN ADAMS •
There are two stories from yesterday’s Janesville Gazette that describe the pressures of student housing: Students Spread Out in Whitewater City, School Address Housing Concerns. The stories ably describe arguments that residents of Whitewater have have made against student housing for years with no change in demand. I certainly don’t believe that demand for student…
Development, Free Markets
Where are all the Marauding Drunks?
by JOHN ADAMS •
City, Development, Free Markets, University
The Campaign Against Cars Campus
by JOHN ADAMS •
We’re a university town. There are a few who want desperately for us to be something else, but those wants scarcely matter. The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is a vital part of Whitewater. Our campus – yes, our campus – improves life for all of us. Thousand of students receive an education that’s part of the…
Development, Economy
What the Progressives in Whitewater Don’t Have
by JOHN ADAMS •
I wrote a post reflecting on the election results in Whitewater, and one thing stood out to me: progressives have done well in the city on statewide referenda and races. That’s why I pointed out that Although I am not always in agreement with the progressives, it’s easy to see that they are increasingly successful…
Beautiful Whitewater, City, Development, Free Markets
Best Whitewater Project of 2007: Stone Stable
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at Downtown Whitewater, Inc., there was a recent awards ceremony. The Stone Stable restoration project won, if I understand the award correctly, for the best public-private partnership. I am pleased that the Stable Stable won an award, but a worthier designation would be to stay that the restoration was the best Whitewater project of…
City, Development, Economy, Free Markets
Zoning and Housing Prices
by JOHN ADAMS •
Readers may recall that I have criticized politician-dentist Roy Nosek for his advocacy of limitations on student housing. Here are some of my posts on the subject: On Nosek on Student Housing, Part 1 (Economics) On Nosek on Student Housing, Part 2 (Culture) Student Housing in Whitewater One of the points that I have made…
Development, Free Markets
Planning: Legislating Aesthetics
by JOHN ADAMS •
One of the challenges of government planning is how quickly it slips from mere rules to compete, to seeking to engineer a quantitative outcome, to seeking to engineer intangible preferences of aesthetics. So one goes from paperwork to start a business, to the number of business types a community may have, to what colors the…
City, Development, Free Markets
Planning: On a Moratorium
by JOHN ADAMS •
I am opposed to a moratorium on first floor residential housing in our downtown, and that would include a moratorium of any length. I think it’s clear, though, if one considers the arguments in favor of a moratorium, that different advocates have had different goals in mind. Some want a moratorium to give time to…
City, Development, Free Markets
Planning: Walkable Urbanity
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s a post on ‘walkable urbanity,’ or ‘walkable urbanism,’ Christopher Leinberger’s term for those characteristics that set successful downtowns apart from unsuccessful ones, or from suburbs, etc. During the Planning Commission meeting in November, when I heard the term raised, I was surprised that it was used in connection with Whitewater. I briefly mentioned the…
City, Development, Economy, Free Markets
The Planning/Architectural Board Meeting for January 7th
by JOHN ADAMS •
This was a long meeting, with two principal topics: a request for a conditional use for a property downtown, and discussion of a moratorium on approval of first floor residential space in our downtown. The second topic was more interesting, being broader and more general, than the first. I’ll come back to that meeting as…