If you haven't seen it, check out this op-ed by Greg Heller in today's Inquirer. It features a clear, succinct criticism of NTI while acknowledging its successes. The writer then offers suggestions for moving forward with neighborhood investment which he calls "best long-term strategy for combating crime, improving our schools, and attracting businesses, jobs, and residents."
I can't help but wonder what could have been accomplished with NTI if it had first featured a pilot project in a much smaller, carefully selected neighborhood. The neighborhood would have to have been one of the cities most challenged so that the city could have figured out whether such a massive intervention would even deliver the kinds of results they were looking for before they committed such massive amounts of bond money, which will ultimately be financed with taxpayer dollars.
Comments (1)
The problem is this program likely wasn't about results but rather about giving bond work to Ron White and development contracts to various politically connected individuals and organizations.
Posted by Anonymous | June 28, 2007 10:17 AM