No Sh*t Sergey!
Web freedom faces greatest threat ever, warns Google’s Sergey Brin
A similar lesson can be learned by examining how two cities, Joplin, MO and Tuscaloosa, AL are recovering from similar natural disasters (tornado).
In Joplin, eight of 10 affected businesses have reopened, according to the city’s Chamber of Commerce, while less than half in Tuscaloosa have even applied for building permits, according to city data we reviewed. Walgreens revived its Joplin store in what it calls a “record-setting” three months. In Tuscaloosa, a destroyed CVS still festers, undemolished. Large swaths of Tuscaloosa’s main commercial thoroughfares remain vacant lots, and several destroyed businesses have decided to reopen elsewhere, in neighboring Northport.
The reason for Joplin’s successes and Tuscaloosa’s shortcomings? In Tuscaloosa, officials sought to remake the urban landscape top-down, imposing a redevelopment plan on businesses. Joplin took a bottom-up approach, allowing businesses to take the lead in recovery.
Boulder citizens, city council and Erika Stutzman meet Tuscaloosa, AL. Can there be any doubt, any doubt at all, that this (Tuscaloosa) is the path the Boulder elites would choose?
Sounds like the citizen’s of Tuscaloosa could learn a little from the subtitle of this blog…
“So why do intelligent people consistently make such a hash of things? Because they are smart enough to talk themselves into anything. Ordinary mortals don’t engage in fancy mental gymnastics to reach conclusions that defy common sense. But intellectuals are particularly prone to this.”
Of course, there can be little doubt in the minds of Boulder elites that:
- They are intellectually superior to their counterparts in Tuscaloosa
- Because of reason #1, they can do it right.
Where’s the great god of porcelain, I feel it calling.
