Steven Greenhut opines on the lucky break he believes residents of Sacramento received earlier this week when owners of the city's NBA franchise backed out of a partnership to build a new basketball arena in the city's downtown.
The "handshake deal" agreed to in February would have required the team's owners, the Maloof family, to kick in $73 million of their own money, in addition to the $255 million the city was expected to generate by privatizing its parking.
Although civic boosters are outraged by the snub, Greenhut believes there is reason to cheer.
"Economists have long understood that new arenas and sports stadiums rarely bring new economic activity into a city, but merely move entertainment money around the region...Sacramento officials spent their time and squandered taxpayer money on such dreams, while neglecting the nitty-gritty of municipal government -- a negligence that shows throughout city neighborhoods."
FULL STORY: Sacramento Is Fresh Victim of Bad Stadium Deals
Florida Stadium Consultant Built a Questionable Model to Justify Stadium Deals
Mark Bonn PHD who has been used by teams looking to secure public financing for stadiums, assumed that the vast majority of people attending Blue Jays spring training games wouldn't live in the county where the games were played.
Sacramento Streetcar Funding Reaches Key Goal
Imagine taking a streetcar across Sacramento's iconic Tower Bridge for a three mile trip. Backers are en route to securing matching local funding for the project. However, local voters will have the final say in a June 2 Mello-Roos special election.
Streamlined CEQA Reform Passes Under a New Bill
Senator Steinberg's CEQA reform bill, SB 731, which we have been following all year, died - but many of the most important aspects - LOS, aesthetic and parking impacts, have been transferred to SB 743 (Kings Arena bill), though applied more narrowly.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
San Francisco's School District Spent $105M To Build Affordable Housing for Teachers — And That's Just the Beginning
SFUSD joins a growing list of school districts using their land holdings to address housing affordability challenges faced by their own employees.
The Tiny, Adorable $7,000 Car Turning Japan Onto EVs
The single seat Mibot charges from a regular plug as quickly as an iPad, and is about half the price of an average EV.
Trump Approves Futuristic Automated Texas-Mexico Cargo Corridor
The project could remove tens of thousands of commercial trucks from roadways.
Austin's First Single Stair Apartment Building is Officially Underway
Eliminating the requirement for two staircases in multi-story residential buildings lets developers use smaller lots and more flexible designs to create denser housing.
Atlanta Bus System Redesign Will Nearly Triple Access
MARTA's Next Gen Bus Network will retool over 100 bus routes, expand frequent service.
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.
Smith Gee Studio
City of Charlotte
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
US High Speed Rail Association
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)