Justifying ABQ Sprawl (Albuquerque, House: houses, tax, live)

[rybert]

Cocoposts: Justifying Albuquerque Sprawl

"Now that's a real job.
Using tax increment financing to build the major infrastructure required for raw land development formalizes a massive sprawl subsidy that has been going on for years. This is especially desirable to developers because it reduces or eliminates the unpredictable vagaries of the back room deals otherwise necessary to wrest funding from the government for new roads,water lines and storm drains that make sprawl possible."

[bradly]

Might as well be houses.. what is that land ever going to be used for?... Grow Albuquerque, Grow..were not a little town anymore.

[rybert]

I'm interviewing for your job Bradly. (is he joking... I don't know)

[bradly]

Originally Posted by rybert

I'm interviewing for your job Bradly. (is he joking... I don't know)

I don't get it..?
I'm not joking about the Houses part, its true.. what would be done with the land?..

[rybert]

I want to replace you with someone more balanced in the Planning Department... I'm kidding of course, because it takes all kinds.

[bradly]

Originally Posted by rybert

I want to replace you with someone more balanced in the Planning Department... I'm kidding of course, because it takes all kinds.

Dude, the land sits there,.. were a growing city, its always been that way, and sometimes cities need to use the available land that will never be used..homes are in demand here, lists are outrageous like you would never belive.. it is obvious we need to cut this sarcity, every Planner you talk with in this area is for growth, thats what keeps us with a job of course.. Then again i wouldnt mind seeing a race car track out there, or an arena for pro sports, but it wont happen.. not here.

[yukon]

Houses aren't the problem. It's the lack of control and planning that's the issue. If you're going to build houses, you need to plan the infrastructure in advance - sewer & electrical, roads, density, ratio of residential to commercial, etc. Better planning some years back might have resulted in a 5th bridge across the river.

[Shmikker]

Originally Posted by yukon

Houses aren't the problem. It's the lack of control and planning that's the issue. If you're going to build houses, you need to plan the infrastructure in advance - sewer & electrical, roads, density, ratio of residential to commercial, etc. Better planning some years back might have resulted in a 5th bridge across the river.

i read somewhere (might have been forbs) that Albuquerque is planed extremely well, better then phoenix. I honestly dont know about the "sprawl", sprawl is an ugly word btw. i would rather there be actually houses and not ugly ass abandoned trailer homes and garbage it reminds me of el paso. anyways it would be nice however to see homes and really nice businesses out there so it doesn't look like a carpet of brown and pink draped over the valley. speaking of bridges, wouldn't it be cool if the interstate bridge over the river looked more like the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge in Boston? or the millennium bridge in Denver? kinda the gateway into ABQ showing off modern art i donno.... its kinda sad that we have THE most innovating architects in the world right here in Albuquerque where most of their inspiration comes from New Mexico, and we dont have one single really nice public or private building or ANYTHING to show it off but everyone else does. so its like spreading the wealth with out keeping any for ourselves. sadness...

[Tim Rankin]

Originally Posted by Shmikker

../..btw. i would rather there be actually houses and not ugly ass abandoned trailer homes and garbage it reminds me of el paso. ...

Wow shmikker, that is quite the provocative post. How about "well-kept trailers on large parcels of unaltered land instead of ugly ***, abandoned, cookie-cutter homes."

Anyway, you better not be criticizing El Paso or EnjoyEP's gonna bust in here and clean your clock.

p.s. Good post above, Yukon. Many parts of the country have developers pay impact fees - it slows down the development to a sustainable pace, and provides a more equitable and solid source of funding for the infrastructure projects.

[yukon]

Does the city/county charge impact fees here? I know in Florida, impact fees were a big revenue source. Okaloosa County actually had a moratorium on permits for awhile - density max had been reached and the county told developers no more permits for building until you figure out better ways for ingress/egress and reduction of traffic.