Schizophrenic Policy Makers Pursue Buying Economic Development

My local community recently got into political spat as the city, county and state negotiated the terms of a deal to attract a major corporation to bring a facility to the community. In the interest of high-quality growth, tens of millions in dollars and various perks were offered to attract a very well-heeled corporate player. In the meantime, Floridians frustrated with the inability of government to be willing or able to keep up with growth in terms of providing the requisite infrastructure; sewer, water, transportation, etc., increased the pressure on governments to have new development pay for growth rather than having it increase the tax burden on existing residents. Let's see:

3 minute read

April 4, 2007, 7:36 AM PDT

By Steven Polzin


My local community recently got into political spat as the city, county and state negotiated the terms of a deal to attract a major corporation to bring a facility to the community. In the interest of high-quality growth, tens of millions in dollars and various perks were offered to attract a very well-heeled corporate player. In the meantime, Floridians frustrated with the inability of government to be willing or able to keep up with growth in terms of providing the requisite infrastructure; sewer, water, transportation, etc., increased the pressure on governments to have new development pay for growth rather than having it increase the tax burden on existing residents. Let's see:

  • We are growing too fast to keep up.
  • But we want more growth and are willing to pay to attract it.
  • But we say that we want growth to pay for itself.

We struggle to have any consistent and equitable process for government investments in stimulating of growth and on more than a few occasions promised growth has failed to materialize or turned out to be a highly subsidized minor geographic relocations of economic activities whose net benefits are modest.

We want high-quality grow but we may be growing entry-level service workers faster. We want to attract high income jobs but we immediately get worried about affordable housing when home prices get bid up. At a personal level we are very excited about the appreciation of our homes; but of course we're frustrated that they are now taxed higher. We pine for creative class highly educated workers but we leave our borders open so we can benefit from cheap labor. We have visions of being globally competitive in high skill knowledge based segments of the economy and we tolerate mediocre schools and seldom reinforce the virtues of hard work and competition and risk huge shares of our future workforce being ill prepared to compete. We take money from the public to build sports stadiums and urban amenities then tout their economic stimulus impact while failing to account for the economic impact of taking those resources from the public's pockets. We celebrate signs of urban renaissance but often fail to understand the infrastructure investments required to upgrade our developed areas -- using dated logic to presume a resource efficiency from redevelopment or densification that has yet to materialize in a tangible fashion that feeds back into location and development decisions.

We want people to be responsible in how they make location and travel decisions but we continue to insulate them from the full cost of those decisions by refusing to let gas taxes or tolls rise to reflect the true cost of infrastructure provision say nothing of covering any of the externalities of the modes. We wax nostalgic for historic visions of personal travel ignoring the fundamental changes in household structure, personal time use allocation and 21st century economics. Democracy and human behaviors can be frustrating when it comes to complex multifaceted transportation and land use issues.

Other than that everything is fine.


Steven Polzin

Dr. Polzin is a research professor at TOMNET University Transportation Center School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. Dr. Polzin carries out research in mobility analysis, public transportation, travel behavior, planning process development, and transportation decision-making. Dr. Polzin is on the editorial board of the Journal of Public Transportation and serves on several Transportation Research Board and APTA Committees.

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Aerial view of town of Wailuku in Maui, Hawaii with mountains in background against cloudy sunset sky.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly

Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

July 1, 2025 - Honolulu Civil Beat

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 9, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Map of Haussmann's redesign of Paris in the 1850s through 1870s under Napoleon III.

In Urban Planning, AI Prompting Could be the New Design Thinking

Creativity has long been key to great urban design. What if we see AI as our new creative partner?

June 30, 2025 - Tom Sanchez

Red and white "Wildfire Evacuation Route" sign on signpost.

Cal Fire Chatbot Fails to Answer Basic Questions

An AI chatbot designed to provide information about wildfires can’t answer questions about evacuation orders, among other problems.

4 hours ago - The Markup

Protester at Echo Park Lake, Los Angeles holding sign that says "Housing is a human right"

What Happens if Trump Kills Section 8?

The Trump admin aims to slash federal rental aid by nearly half and shift distribution to states. Experts warn this could spike homelessness and destabilize communities nationwide.

5 hours ago - Shelterforce Magazine

Aerial of rainbow painted crosswalks at large intersection in Castro District, Sna Francisco, California.

Sean Duffy Targets Rainbow Crosswalks in Road Safety Efforts

Despite evidence that colorful crosswalks actually improve intersection safety — and the lack of almost any crosswalks at all on the nation’s most dangerous arterial roads — U.S. Transportation Secretary Duffy is calling on states to remove them.

6 hours ago - Streetsblog USA

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.

Home and Land Services Coordinator

Appalachian Highlands Housing Partners

Associate/Senior Planner

Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development

Senior Planner

Heyer Gruel & Associates PA

Write for Planetizen