The Place that Bad Urban Policy Ideas Come to Die

Illustrates aspects of policy evaluation that contribute to Portland's competitiveness in adoption of bad urban policy ideas.

Transcript

1. Why Portland is becoming MK Bretsch 2015 The Place that Bad Urban Policy Ideas Come to Die Characteristic Idea Type A. Idea Type B. Difficulty Hard Easy Knowledge Base We don’t know how to do it. We know how to do it. Effectiveness Works. Doesn’t work. Cost Cheaper in the long run. More expensive in the long run. Timeline Takes longer. Faster. Constituency Absent, angry, sober, busy figuring out how to do new things that work. Considering moving to Detroit or Baltimore. Available, convivial, enjoys drinking and talking about things that look good from a distance. Considering moving to Brooklyn or Silver Lake. Business Associations Threatens not to write checks if we try it. Says they have potential candidate who will do B. No catchy title they can sell to members. Says they will write checks if we try B. again, but harder this time, and with a catchy program title they can sell to members. Consultants Willing to accept checks to advise doing B. while pretending to do A. Willing to take checks to say you can make it look good from a distance. Homeless Problem Create 5000 emergency supported placements and 20,000 supported low income units. (“Housing First”) Sweeps, or son of son of sit/lie (“Intense Street Engagement”) Portland Building Problem Tear down and build new, smart, green building that will pay for itself but look green and fuzzy from a distance and take longer. Rehab, again (and again, and again). Will look great from a distance and be done faster.