by Travis Mateer
A few days ago the Missoulian reported on the Northside pedestrian bridge that spans the train tracks, connecting Northsiders with downtown, because the damage that closed this 23 year old structure indefinitely is worse than originally thought. From the link:
The latest update on the Northside pedestrian bridge revealed the structure has suffered damage from salt that will necessitate significant improvements in the coming months.
The masonry block that makes up much of the bridge will need to be repaired, according to David Selvage, Missoula Parks services and systems superintendent.
Although a total overhaul won’t be necessary, Selvage said the masonry block makes up “a good chunk of the structure.”
While city workers were compromising the structural integrity of this bridge with salt, the consultants at ECONorthwest were busy VISIONING how to apply your tax money to create MORE opportunities to spend your tax money…in Midtown!
Did you know there are SERIOUS problems in Midtown that ONLY your tax dollars can help fix, problems like giant parking lots that inhibit the flow of MULTI-MODAL transportation? Here’s a quote from the link that I’ll add some emphasis to so you know where this is going:
Words like disconnected, disjointed, massive parking lots and no sense of place have been used to describe Missoula’s Midtown district in a planning effort that began late last year. But a new vision is beginning to take shape, one that would create a sense of place in the end.
Designers with ECONorthwest – a consultant hired by the city to create a Midtown Master Plan – are set to begin work on a final draft later this year, setting a vision for the poorly planned and car-dependent district.
Through online surveys and public engagement, they’ve already identified a number of challenges and opportunities including better use of what’s now an ocean of parking lots, a lack of connectivity, a tight retail and housing market, few transportation options, and barriers around new development.
The first point of emphasis is that this district is being defined as “car-dependent”. This is a HUGE red-flag for the long-range plan to eliminate the freedom of cars from the American experience. The second point of emphasis is the supposed tight retail market being associated with a tight housing market. This correlation is meant to explain why so many businesses are struggling to find workers, but is it JUST BECAUSE housing is tight that workers are hard for employers to find? Or might something else be going on?
Before getting to the lack of workers, I want to include a quote from a book I’ve been listening to Monica Perez riff on in her recent Deep Dives. The book is by Rosa Koire, and it’s titled Behind The Green Mask. Here’s the quote using San Francisco as the example:
The Green Mask is that you’ll have cleaner air, less pollution, more time for your families, green jobs, lower costs, and a better, more vibrantly walkable, bikeable life. The goal is to homogenize the Bay Area and the nation with ‘Smart Growth’–housing and retail developments subsidized by your property and transportation tax dollars. The idea is that when everyone is living on the tracks or on a bus line it will be more cost-effective to run that transit. There will be fewer places to go and more people to ride it. There will be less pollution because no one will have a car. Rents will be cheap because the units are small. Small units mean low energy use. You don’t have a yard so you won’t waste water on plants. It will never rain or snow no matter where you live, so everyone can ride their bike everywhere. Everyone will be happy, kids will be safe, there will be lots of time to drink coffee in the downstairs coffee shop, and there won’t be any crime because everyone is watching everyone else. All the time.
Yep, Rosa Koire’s book is a great resource, just one of many in the gentrification section of my personal library. Now, on to the “tight retail” claim and a local example I noticed yesterday on the Hip Strip.
This prime location just south of downtown Missoula has sat empty for over a year. The supposed weed shop that displaced a fantastic bead store never officially opened. Why? When I spoke with the owner months ago, he said they couldn’t find anyone to work the store. Now a FOR RENT sign has finally gone up.
What’s going on here? Maybe this piece from the Brownstone Institute is worth considering. From the link (emphasis mine):
In a November 30, 2022, speech on “Inflation and the Labor Market,” Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell blamed most of the 3.5 million estimated shortfall in the US labor force on premature retirements. He also blamed a large portion – between 280,000 and 680,000 – on “long Covid.” In a footnote, however, Powell acknowledged a far more somber factor: an estimated 400,000 unexpected deaths among working age people.
It’s easy to blame these deaths on Covid-19. The virus is of course one significant cause. But it’s not nearly the only cause, especially among young and middle-age workers. We need better government data transparency to make a full assessment. Until then, we can proceed with others who track mortality for a living – life insurance companies.
Maybe some day the reality of what’s happening can be acknowledged. Until then, it’s full steam ahead with the transformation of Midtown!
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