On the subject of “vaunted government planning,” the Rhino’s John Hammer weighs in on the problems Greensboro’s planned Outer Loop is causing residents of the Quail Oaks neighborhood, getting in a dig at the N&R in the process:
The outer loop, or Painter Boulevard, is causing problems all around Greensboro. Where is all this vaunted government planning we hear so much about? According to the present theory, if we would give government more control over private property rights, then everything would be better. But look at the mess the local, federal and state governments have made of the loop. The government puts the loop on a map in some office somewhere and then expects every single person who might be buying a home in the area to find a copy of that map.
….It is amazing. Newspapers used to be the government watchdog, but the mainstream media has become the government apologist. The editors of the local daily seem to believe their job is to justify the government’s mistakes to the people, and in some cases cover up those mistakes, or at least blame them on the evil small business owner who is just trying to make a living.
Some of the upset residents who met the Quail Oaks developer made that exact point. And N&R reporter Taft Wireback didn’t let government off the hook in this story on Quail Oaks, but he focused mainly on bureaucrats while past and present City Council member who also served on the Mentropolitan Planning Organization are still MIA.
