Anyone living in New York, or paying attention to baseball, knows how one failed splashy signing can sink a team's competitiveness. Rather than trying to win with home runs, local governments should be playing small ball, argues Charles Marohn.
"Our local governments are chasing that next Alex Rodriguez, that big, splashy project that will excite the electorate and make it seem like we're making progress. Too many are pretending they're the Yankees, trying to cover up their shortcomings by spending more and more money instead of doing the little things that build up to success," writes Marohn.
"When it comes to local government, we're all trying to be the Yankees. We're all acting like that next big project is the one that will make our team successful. We discount all the little things that make a team/city successful, the things that we can do with our non-Yankee budgets," he continues. "Reconfigure that street crossing to improve foot traffic. Narrow that STROAD to make the street more livable. Plant some shrubs along that parking lot to break up the dead space. Fight the light pollution on the commercial/residential interface. Focus on the transition between your roads and your streets."
"Do them well and you'll win more often than you'll lose. And most importantly, you'll never completely blow up."
FULL STORY: The A-Rod City
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