If Tualatin got a spike when the Urban renewal expired, well, it looks like in Tualatin, it worked as it is supposed to. Kudos to them. Now, if their water is good and their rates reasonable, maybe that's where to move.

As for Portland, this is what we need for city council:

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/macro/euro-crisis-just-bang-your-head

The octopus is getting hungry again.

Tualatin: A de-centralized town that didn't even have 1,000 residents back in 1970, that has more jobs than residents, that is building new streets every day and new developments all over. That embraces its two freeways, its strip malls, and its five-lane arterials.

Oh, and they're financially successful. Unlike that big city that says we can't grow, is chasing business away, and would rather have streetcars and light rail.

I hear Wilsonville is doing pretty damn good too...and they also booted TriMet out of town (except for WES).

WES -- RIM SHOT!!!

I wonder if O's Sally Ho figured out Tualatin's great news on their budget was due to expired urban renewal on her own, or if city officials told her so. Either or both ways, that's good news too.

Maybe the media is catching on, do you think? Politicians and bureaucrats around here will be the last. And school administrators will be second to last.

I seriously doubt any politicians, bureaucrats, or administrators will actually "catch on", they'll simply slip quietly out of town in search of new host communities.

Starbuck said: If Tualatin got a spike when the Urban renewal expired, well, it looks like in Tualatin, it worked as it is supposed to.

Of course they got a boost, because they finally got the increase in taxes that had been going up for the life of the UR, that UR had been stealing. It would have to be a boost larger than the % that property normally appreciates to show the UR actually made a difference.

Michael, let's examine the property tax increases if urban renewal didn't exist.

Average UR life (not in Portland-much longer or never killed) is 35 years. Since Oregon's property taxes can minimally rise 3% each year, and if you consider the compound affect, the minimal increase would be over 150% without urban renewal. Of course in most normal 35 year period property value increases have exceeded 3%, so assessors have been making property tax increases much more than the 150%.

So, for the 35 years a County or City that has used urban renewal, to benefit the few, has damaged the many by over 300% to 400%. Such a good deal, huh?

Hey, Yippie-Kai-Yay to the Tualatin city council who were drug kicking and screaming to retire the 35 year UR district after attempting to extend it by $120 million without any public vote.

As for Wilsonville, it will a take many years for them to get out from under the massive Urban Renewal debt Lehan and friends piled up
for their Villebois, city hall and many other abuses.

Back to Tualatin. Urban Renewal never dies. I merely takes a nap.

http://www.ci.tualatin.or.us/departments/communitydevelopment/planning/longrange/docs/SWCP2005/SW_Concept_Plan_Final_Draft.pdf

SOUTHWEST TUALATIN
CONCEPT PLAN

Total Capital Costs $58,140,000

Potential funding sources may include federal and state transportation
grants (distributed through Metro); state infrastructure loans; special
public works funds; Oregon Immediate Opportunity Program; and
local funding through system development charges and establishment
of an urban renewal district, local improvement district, or zone of
benefit district. Public-private development agreements may also be
considered which results in the advanced financing of major public
improvements in exchange for system development charge waivers or
credits.

Happy Trails

Here's a familiar sounding story...

Monuments to Spanish Insolvency

Thanks, Mr. Grumpy. Misery likes to know she is not alone. At least Spain allegedly has the best fish, as described in How I Fell in Love with a Fish, a TED talk, easily searched, that I highly recommend. If you go there, I hope you get the same quality of laugh that I got from your link and its comments.