Improving Lincoln One Blight Designation at a Time

By: Mr. Wilson on June 8, 2006
2 comments
*Yawn* Another big chunk of Lincoln has been declared blighted. Before long we'll all be living in slums in the local government's eyes. Snarkiness aside, what does Lincoln's blight mania tell us? There are a whole bunch of possibilities, including:
  • Lincoln is aging, and blight designations in older areas are a natural way to assure those areas are not neglected;
  • Parts of Lincoln are an economic wasteland;
  • Taxes, fees, and regulatory hurdles make "natural" economic development difficult or impossible. A blight designation is the only way to clear those hurdles;
  • There is too much money to be had on Lincoln's outskirts for developers to pay attention to lower-profit areas in the city's core.
And so on. My preferred explanation for a large part of the problem is the taxes and regulatory hurdles explanation. After all, one of the major purposes of a blight designation is to remove those hurdles. It is also consistent with what we have heard from developers over the years, namely that Lincoln can be a tough place to do business. It's certainly not the only valid explanation, though. Pick your favorite and make your case in the comments.

Comments

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Mr. T
June 9, 2006 at 3:22AM

I would be very interested in knowing what sort of revenue the Sunmart on South and 17th takes in compared to the Russ’s Market on 17th and A. From an anecdotal perspective, I would think the latter is running circles around the former based on repeated visits to both over the years.

alathea
June 9, 2006 at 2:50PM

I havent been the the SunMart, but the Russ’s gets a kudos for the remodel. I used to do PT work for AC Nielsen and their store is much more open and acommodating now than it was. I think the video thing may have been a mistake, though-it didnt take them but a few weeks to put up a sign that said ‘dont leave your movie returns on the counter unattended-you are responsible for them’.

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