[This is the second of a series on poverty in Whitewater. Part 1 showed that we have a family poverty rate far higher than surrounding communities.] Previously, in Part 1, I used the same census data that the City of Whitewater posted on its website to show that we have a family poverty rate roughly…
Free Markets
City, Development, Economy, Free Markets, Poverty
Poverty in Whitewater, Part 1 (Introduction)
by JOHN ADAMS •
We are, without the slightest reasonable doubt, a beautiful but troubled city. It’s unmistakable that our economy falls short for many, and I will support this contention more conclusively than any happy, but deceptive, pictures from another website, or city publication, could suggest otherwise. We have become a proud, arrogant place, willing to trumpet chimerical…
Development, Economy, Free Markets
Planning and Architectural Review Board Meeting for Monday, 9/10
by JOHN ADAMS •
Hayek thought that a well-ordered society planned to compete, but for a person who spends a lifetime as a bureaucrat, it’s more like planning to plan. He also thought that a well-ordered society was one with a vibrant spontaneous order, but after listening to the September 10th meeting of the Whitewater Planning Board, I’d say…
Development, Free Markets
Coffee Shop and Cousins Subs
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’ve heard that a local developer is planning to turn the vacant space where KFC was located into a combination Cousins sub franchise and a coffee shop. I’ve never seen that combination before, but then I’m not sure anyone has seen that combination before. If the ambiance of a traditional coffee shop can be combined…
City, Free Markets, University
Common Council Meeting for September 4, 2007
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s my commentary on the Common Council meeting for September 4th. It was quite an evening. Drive-Through. The lively topic Tuesday was Council’s review of a Planning Commission endorsement (4-2) of a drive-through window for liquor sales at the Westsider. (I posted previously on the Planning Commission meeting where this recommendation was issued.) After a…
City, Development, Free Markets
Planning and Architectural Review Commission Meeting for Monday, 8/27
by JOHN ADAMS •
A few, quick observations on Monday night’s planning and architectural review commission meeting. Where we are weaker than nearby cities, we should be less restrictive than they are; where we are stronger, we should be no more restrictive. We live well, as beneficiaries of a free market, but we quickly forget how dynamic and innovative…
City, Development, Economy, Free Markets
Tax Incremental Financing, Part 3: The Mood of It All
by JOHN ADAMS •
It was, last night, a quiet and somnolent setting in which our Common Council recommended to the Joint Review Board five new TIDs. I’ll give the atmosphere of the meeting some attention. Often, a public meeting takes place in early evening, so that citizen-representatives can attend without missing work. They’ve worked all day, under conditions…
City, Development, Economy, Free Markets
Tax Incremental Financing, Part 2
by JOHN ADAMS •
What are the challenges of a TID, or sometimes of planning generally? Retail cannibalization. It’s a big problem in many communities, with or without a TID. There’s no retail gain, under this scenario, just businesses – the same or new – locating in newer areas while others fold or move. Oshkosh, for example, is a…
City, Development, Economy, Free Markets
Tax Incremental Financing, Part 1
by JOHN ADAMS •
Last night, Whitewater’s Common Council recommended to a Joint Review Board five new Tax Incremental Districts for the city. There is common agreement that Whitewater faces significant economic challenges, and that an increase in private economic activity, and development, would be welcome. (There are, in our town, few if any ‘no growth’ advocates of the…
City, Development, Free Markets, Inbox Reader Mail
Public Art, John Adams Replies
by JOHN ADAMS •
City, Development, Free Markets
The (False) Theory of Central Relativity.
by JOHN ADAMS •
In many cities, of disparate sizes, there is a strong theory that if one fixes the downtown – makes it look nicer, improves streets, lighting, and building facades, etc., then the town will undergo a more thorough renaissance. If you build it, or rehabilitate it, they will come… In measures small and moderate, Whitewater has…
Development, Economy, Fire Dept, Free Markets
Vacant Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS •
Homecoming is over, and this small city did all it could to emphasize progress and success. Along Main Street, during Homecoming, there was, if I recall correctly, a white banner that read, “How Does Whitewater Look to You?” I may not have the question just right, but the essence is clear enough. Not everyone who…
Free Markets, School District
The IT Dead End in Our Schools
by JOHN ADAMS •
Charlie Barr, the Technology Coordinator for the Whitewater Schools, recently presented at the school board meeting on the status and goals for computer technology in the district. Where to begin? Barr has done more to tie the district to a single operating system (any possible iteration of the Microsoft OS) and single hardware vendor (a…
City, Development, Economy, Free Markets
What Does Driving into Whitewater from Highway 12 Suggest about the City?
by JOHN ADAMS •
If a person saw what I described yesterday – a small sign, a ramshackle cluster of dull yellow motel buildings, a small cluster of private, single family homes, etc. – what should he reasonably conclude? First, he might see all of this as a failure of public development, a lack of sidewalks, street lights, directional…