Hooray for transit oriented development!
The city of Charlotte’s official plan for development around the Scaleybark light rail station involves giving Bank of America $1 million and loaning BofA an additional $3.8 million. And it is not much of a loan, at a sweetheart, below-inflation rate of 2 percent. Essentially the city is giving one of the largest banks in the world $5 million to build stuff around one of the city’s prized and vital — supposedly — light rail stations.
Some $500 million dollars for the 9.6 mile South Blvd. line later and the city still must subsidize development around the stations, something else that Charlotte residents were told by transit boosters, way back when, would never happen. And get this, there was no competition for the project, further exploding the myth that light rail transit “drives development.” Hint, hint poor misguided Southeast corridor folks.
The city seems to think it is getting a great deal by bribing — there is no other word — BofA to build “affordable housing” on the 17 acre site. This again points up the fact that the primary purpose of the choo-choo building is to remake Charlotte as a denser, more urban city. Why? Because density is good and sprawl is bad.
Better still, should the Charlotte city council approve this mess on Monday, the city would be officially in business with BofA. That would be the same BofA that is in business selling credit cards to people without proper ID — provided those people come from the proper background, as determined by BofA. Maybe BofA can also manage and market the affordable housing it builds at Scaleybark and South Blvd.
Government-subsidized affordable housing, marketed to illegal aliens. Sounds like a win-win. As long as you are not a taxpayer.
