BCT Editorial – 10/3/06

This page was last updated on October 3, 2006.

Growth factor; Editorial; Beaver County Times; October 3, 2006.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“Sometimes it takes an outsider to see things that we can’t.

“Such is the case of Chuck Henschel, president of Illinois-based Henschel Transportation Consulting. He last visited the area in 2002 as a member of an Urban Land Institute Panel that was looking for ways to jump-start development near Pittsburgh International. He returned last week to a meeting to review the region’s progress.

“He cited the soon-to-be-opened Findlay Connector as a major step forward for the region’s development.”

[RWC] Without passing judgment on whether this assessment will turn out to be true, don’t we always hear something like this for government funded or subsidized “economic development” projects? Here are some examples: The Mid-field Terminal at Pittsburgh International, Heinz Field, PNC Park, David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Lazarus department store, Lord & Taylor department store, and Toll Route 60. To date, none of these projects has lived up to projections and the two department stores went belly up within five years. For most of the remaining projects, we’re told we need to make more “investments.”

“He also praised the formation of the Tri-County Airport Partnership, which brings Allegheny, Beaver and Washington counties together to boost airport-area growth.

“This newfound cooperation can be seen in the effort by Allegheny and Beaver counties to land a US Airways operations control center. To the officials involved, it doesn’t matter which county gets the center. What matters most is that the center stays here and expands.”

[RWC] There’s no question cooperation of local governments is a smart idea, until it resorts to using tax dollars to bribe businesses to locate here.

“That cooperative approach doesn’t sit well with those who still live in the parochial past. But what they fail to understand is that growth generates growth and that eventually it becomes self-sustaining and self-generating.

“What’s good for one county is good for all. The sooner we understand that, the better it will be for the future.”

[RWC] Unless you believe all counties are the same, how do you conclude, “What’s good for one county is good for all?” Is the Times telling us what makes sense for a rural county automatically makes sense for urban counties?