Quote:
Originally Posted by Blitzen
This is why I think the biggest development tool for New Orleans would be to eliminate the reasons people move to suburbs (stop the annoying car taxes, inventory taxes, adjust the property tax and sanitation/water to be the same as Jefferson Parish, streamline the permitting process, and make the city more job friendly). Then, developments like the St. Roch Market will sprout up by themselves with no taxpayer help.
|
That's not a perfect solution. New Orleans and other cities are inherently more expensive places to operate than suburbs. For example: all those ugly drainage canals that chop Metairie up into pieces exist in New Orleans too, but they are buried in expensive underground culverts so that the streetgrid can continue right over the top.
If you're doing it right, the city also generates more wealth than the suburbs, since it attracts creative people and provides the right conditions for innovation to take place. Very few advances in human development occurred outside of cities. This additional wealth makes up for the greater utilization.
Plus, the higher population density means you can achieve a greater economy of scale and spread the cost of all the expensive infrastructure over more people. But depopulated New Orleans isn't really any denser than Metairie - it just has a full network of sidewalks and beautiful vegetation. That means the city can't afford to lose any more revenue. The Katrina largesse is running out, fast - we can't expect the Feds to pay our tab forever.
What I would focus on, rather than lowering taxes, is removing regulatory barriers. For example: abolishing the liquor license. Virtually every restaurant in the city thinks they need to sell alcohol to be successful. So why make them jump through hoops to get a license? Zoning changes should also be easier... you could send all zoning changes to an appointed Zoning Commission, whose word would be final. Take the decision-making out of the hands of elected officials.