Clay and the Dix folks are illustrating a problem with economic imagination; namely, most folks have none. It’s related to the thinking behind the broken-windows fallacy. Everyone can see the money being spent to fix broken windows; it takes thought to realize that were it not for the destruction of property (i.e., a real loss of wealth), that money would be spent elsewhere creating more wealth, not replacing lost wealth.
Here’s how that relates to the Dix property. No one knows what uses for the community that property could go toward if it were sold and developed. Maybe a wonderful group of shops could be installed. Maybe new houses. Maybe a golf community. Maybe a center for the arts. Maybe some combination or something entirely different. Who knows? I don’t, and neither does anyone else.
Supporting keeping Dix as it is is mainly a ratification that it’s a pretty piece of land. But that support is meaningless without a knowledge of the full menu of choices.
