Buyer Beware - Sprawl's Dying Gasps

More evidence of sprawl’s decline is showing up around the country in stories like those listed below. The market is validating what we’ve been saying for a long time: “sprawl doesn’t pay.” Long after the developer has reaped the profits from turning open space into rooftops, the h… Continue

Posted on June 19th, 2008 at 10:00am — 39 Comments

There Will Be Blood, SunCal Style

For me, great movies stick in my head for weeks after I've seen them. I like to chew on them for a while in my head to fully digest the themes and underlying meaning. There Will Be Blood, starring Daniel Day Lewis, falls into that category. It's a profound saga of family and greed centered on one man's search for oil in the American west, and I've been chewing on it for a couple of months now. I recently carved new meaning from the movie w… Continue

Posted on May 28th, 2008 at 1:40pm — 7 Comments

Eat Local, Save Gas and Hug Your Local Farmer

See this "Members' Corner" post at the 1000 Friends Blog- featuring my good friend Kelly. She gives the scoop on the how to get the local food hook-up. From www.1000friends-nm.org: Members’ Corner: Kelly B. Shows Us How to Find Organic Produce Close to Home If it’s not obvious from our name, 1000 Friends… Continue

Posted on May 15th, 2008 at 8:00pm —

A Conversation with Councilor Mayer on TIDDs

I'm again disappointed that the city council doesn't see things my way. It's not fair!-- no, honestly- however predictable the vote to reform Tax Increment Development Districts on Monday, it is really unfortunate how the Council continues to proceed with TIDDs as the answer to all our woes, with so little understanding of the tool's ramifications. See the SWOP Blogger for a great accounting of recent TIDD developments. I thought I'd share an e… Continue

Posted on April 23rd, 2008 at 3:30pm — 36 Comments

Limit Tax Increment Financing in Albuquerque's Fringe Areas

Have you been hearing the confusing terms "Tax Increment Financing" and "Tax Increment Development Districts" and wondering what all the fuss is about? It's a big fuss. Tonight, Councilors Benton, Cadigan and Garduno are hoping to pass a measure that would limit how this little monster can be applied in fringe areas of the city (i.e. SUNCAL's Westland property). If passed, the change could save tens of millions of taxpayer dollars from going t… Continue

Posted on April 21st, 2008 at 3:21pm — 6 Comments