A tale of two cities
Almost one year ago a killer tornado struck Tuscaloosa, Alabama, killing 52 people and damaging or destroying 2000 buildings. A month later, another killer tornado struck Joplin, Missouri, killing 161 people and damaging or destroying 6000 buildings. Each city took a different approach to recovery and restoration.
Tuscaloosa took this “opportunity” to devise a master plan for a new city. It placed a moritorium on building for 90 days, during which the plan was developed. That plan,
…sets out to ‘couragesly create a showplace’ of ‘unique neighborhoods that are all healthy, safe, acessible, connected, and sustainable’ all anchored by ‘village centers’ for shopping…
Joplin, on the other hand, imposed a 60 day building moratorium that ended as soon as a neighborhood was cleared of debris. It relaxed regulations to the point where, in some cases, construction was completed before a building permit was even issued. According to Joplin City Council member, William Scearce,
[w]e need to say to our business community and to our citizens, ‘If you guys want to rebuild your houses, we’ll do everything we can to make it happen’.
Where are these cities today?
In Tuscaloosa, a destroyed CVS is has yet to be rebuilt. In Joplin, a destroyed Walgreens was open for business in three months.
In Tuscaloosa, officials “bluntly” acknowledge their plan,
…is impossible without ‘public subsidies to leverage private capital.’
In Joplin, of every ten businesses that were damaged or destroyed, eight are now open.
To which, the Mayor of Tuscaloosa says,
[i]f Tuscaloosa ‘had a trained FEMA corps on the ground’ when the tornado struck, ‘they could have taken over organizing the volunteers immediately.’
I doubt that Joplin had “a trained FEMA corps on the ground”, and yet it seems to be doing far better than Tuscaloosa.
Perhaps President Reagan was correct.
Government isn’t the solution, government is the problem.
9 Comments
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The moral of the story seems to be:? If you want something done poorly- assign bureaucrats to obstruct the private sector.? It seems like Joplin, Mo. officials were humble enough to recognize that they would best serve the interests of the people by getting out of the way and letting the private sector do what it does best.
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The folks in charge in Tuscaloosa seemed intent on ensuring that their fingerprints were on every single? effort to recover from the tornado to the degree that nothing could get done… it was likely more important to address their egos- to establish that THEY were responsible for any recovery than it was to actually rebuild the city.? The bureaucratic fingerprints are all over the result to be sure… and it should be an object lesson for people about what government interference does to any economic effort.?
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Reagan was indeed correct… but that wisdom seems lost on so many who insist on buying into the concept that bigger government is the answer to every conceivable ill.? I don’t see any candidate who is deemed “electable” advocating the smaller government that we so desperately need.
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Joplin = Freedom to build; Tuscaloosa = Freedom to make Committees
. . . and steering committees, and committees reporting to the committees, and subcommittees, panels reporting to the subcommittees,? and study groups, investigative teams, special consultants, and . . . impact studies . . . and . . . environmental reports . . . and . . . and . . . open bidding at prevailing wage . . . and . . . and . . . and . . . which all adds up to, INERTIA!
But, ….. but, ….. but, ….. didn’t the Emperor and his minions, er advisers, tell us his new clothes were beautiful?? Regulatosclerosis in action…… again.
Excellent post SoS! ?After 34 years in the public sector, ?I learned very well that Government can never do anything as quick and cost efficient as the private sector.
Great compare and contrast, SOS! Congratulations to the people of Joplin, Mo. They can rightly have a town motto of ” We’ll show ’em!”
Maybe the folks from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, would want to take a field trip to Joplin and get some tips on how to get things moving forward. The central planning and five-year plan seems a little lame.
Doesn’t a FEMA trailer get old after a while?
“Perhaps President Reagan was correct.”
Perhaps?????
Did he not say that 30 years ago? Has he not been proven correct for 30 years????
Glad you brought that up. Reagan actually wrote a lot of his speeches and was smart! The MSM was so dismissive and I bought that crap hook, line and sinker. I can’t believe I never questioned the newspapers and those idiot pundits. Oh well, live and learn. I will not fall for it again, thank God for the blogs and Fox
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Without a complicit mainstream media would the current regime be enjoying as much success in their assault on the constitution as they have been??