I have no other reason for calling attention to this story except that (1) I've spent a lot of time in the particular area referenced in the article, (2) it gives you a good sense of the struggles of other parts of the state when it comes to getting state funding for infrastructure projects and (3) the following quote gives some insight into how some political leaders in other parts of the state view Philly:
"This resizing [of the Marshall's Creek bypass project] hasn't surprised me. That's why they want to toll (Interstate) 80, to fund infrastructure. But I'm not sure Monroe will get its fair share. I'm sure Philadelphia will get its fair share."
That's Monroe County commissioners Chairwoman Suzanne McCool.
I'm also not a fan of any highway project that "bypasses" small rural towns in the interest of improved traffic flow given what happened to poor ole Radiator Springs (there's always a grain of truth in fiction) and I've actually sat in the traffic that it seeks to mitigate. But that's a point for another blog post.
Comments (8)
This is a very important topic that is worthy of attention. Since I have lived my life in Philadelphia and sometimes the suburbs, my perspective is that of Philadelphia not getting its fair share from the state because the rest of Pennsylvania does not like us, for whatever reason. And for a while I bought into the theory that Philadelphia just needed to present ourselves better, network better, or something. But this post is interesting because it seems like everyone thinks the grass is getting greener in some other part of the state and resentment flourishes over real and imagined political disadvantages.
So after a year of paying close attention to Philadelphia and Pennsylvania politics, prompted by the casinos crisis and inspired by the mayor's race, I now see that corruption pervades throughout the state. So I have no doubt that politics are in play regarding the decisions about projects like Marshall's creek bypass. And I have no doubt that politics are influencing the Montage Mountain Rd expansion mentioned in the article--since it is called a "congestion relief project", I am wondering if money would be better spent on public transportation rather than a bigger highway. But I don't know the full story; the article raises my suspicions since we know that road construction often goes forward without considering the way people live in nearby communities (I-95 and Delaware Ave, for example).
So it sounds like we need Penn Praxis to go everywhere, engage local communities in discussions about their values and visions, convene panels of experts to debate best practices in public forums and educate non-expert citizens about what can and cannot be done, and then push forward in organized ways to make sure the public is properly served.
Our state and local governments cannot do this on their own, or so it seems. I think it's mostly corruption. But is the political structure itself part of the problem? Did Penn Praxis and the other civic engagement programs just fill a void created by our failed governments?
This week RadioTimes interviewed the author of Free Lunch. His analysis of where our dollars go, and why, is alarming. But I think he's figured it out and now the rest of us need to learn more about economic policy and push our representatives to make better decisions on our behalf.
Philadelphia's new gun legislation is just the latest example that makes it clear that the state does not fully understand its impact on local communities. And this time the Mayor and City Council demonstrated what it looks and feels like when our representatives serve their communities instead of powerful private interests. I wonder what can happen if the citizens of Pennsylvania recognize that we have more in common than differences and that we have all been poorly served by the politics of corruption.
Posted by MB | April 12, 2008 11:35 AM
I agree with most of MB's post except for, most notably, the last paragraph. There are plenty of things the city can do with its police force that have already been tried successfully in other cities. Unfortunately, those things would require city council to pass some laws that are very unpopular with the FOP and/or other municipal unions. The solution? Pass a bunch of illegal gun laws that are unenforceable and will no doubt be shot down by the courts as being unconstitutional (same as they did back in 1996).
I'm not against certain proposed gun laws (like the one per month law). I'm also wondering why the state requires purchase records to be destroyed after 30 days (I think that's how it works). Seems like that would make it hard to track straw buyers. I think those things will have only a limited effect, especially relative to the effort it'll take to get them implemented. This City Council just isn't willing/able to do much of the heavy lifting needed to fix the crime problem.
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