Home ›

The Planetizen News Brief

18 October 2007 - 7:00am
Smart City Radio

The Planetizen News Brief is a weekly rundown of some of the most interesting and important news and issues of the past week.

The Planetizen News Brief airs every week on the nationally-syndicated radio program "Smart City", which is broadcast in cities across the U.S. Learn more about Smart City and listen to archived shows.

Like What You're Hearing? Have Something To Say?

Let us know how we're doing. If you have any comments about the Planetizen Podcast, send your questions, comments, or suggestions to editor@planetizen.com

Full Transcript

The Army Corps of Engineers has announced a plan for a massive buyout of more than 17,000 homes in the coastal community of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi – a plan that local residents are not too happy to hear about. They’re mainly unhappy because they first heard about this plan only last month, more than two years after the community was devastated by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and long after many residents had already begun rebuilding. The Los Angeles Times reports that the proposed buyout would take out more than half of the bay community. The Army Corps of Engineers has until the end of the year to submit their plans to congress for the $10 billion project, which many say legislators will be unlikely to pass. But even if congress doesn’t pass the buyout, negative effects are already being felt, as investors pull out of projects and the development that had just started to gain momentum is once again stalled.

And while homeowners in Bay St. Louis face the threat of a buyout, McMansion owners across the country may face losing a valuable federal government handout. A bill has been proposed that would scale back the federal tax deductions the government allows on mortgage interest payments for homes larger than 3,000 square feet. According to The San Francisco Chronicle, the bill would reduce the amount of deductions homeowners could take on their oversized homes, using a graduated scale that would limit deductions to 85, 40, and 10 percent of what they are currently allowed. And homes larger than 4,200 square feet would be allowed no deduction. If approved, this bill would stand to save the country bigtime, as it is estimated that with no changes, these mortgage deductions could total more than $400 billion between now and 2010.

And finally, developers in Dubai have announced yet another mega project for the bustling Arabian Emirate. Gulf News reports that plans have been released for a 75-kilometer canal project to run through Dubai, with waterfront cities and developments all along the canal’s banks. The U-shaped canal will begin and end at two different points on the Persian Gulf Coast, and will travel into and around the major areas of development in this rapidly changing city. The developers are calling it the Middle East’s biggest civil engineering project in history, and construction on the $11 billion canal is expected to start this December and finish in 2010.

Stories discussed in this week's Planetizen News Brief

Corps Looks To Buy Out Gulf City

Bigger Homes May Lose Out On Mortgage Interest Deduction

The Middle East's 'Biggest Civil Engineering Project'

»
Bookmark and Share
“
In the long term, removing major urban freeways should be part of a more comprehensive approach to reduce automobile dependency by promoting public transportation and transit-oriented development.
”