MAPS would provide investment in "quality of life issues," things like schools and buses and parks, the foundation-building things that are often overlooked in the course of politics-as-usual. MAPS gives a nod to each of these problems - public transportation, education, public safety, drug treatment, gang prevention. . . . You name it, MAPS has it!
But isn't that part of the problem with MAPS? In the course of rounding up cash for a big entertainment complex, MAPS would throw money at a whole slew of public concerns. But we've all heard of the limitations of "throwing money at a problem." How much good will these cash windfalls do in the long run? Can this scattershot approach to problem-solving really help improve our community?
A U.S. News report on "Cities that Work" determined that the only way to build a great city is to begin by "taking care of the basics." And the basics - the schools, the buses, the parks - must become the top priority in Birmingham. We don't need a $400 million playhouse. We need the things that MAPS merely gives a nod to.
Despite crumbling schools and crumbling bridges, bad air and lousy bus service, the MAPS crew would have us believe that building a stadium is the best thing we can do for our community!
Some other opinions:
- Clyde Bolton: Buy Birmingham a sports car
- MAPS needs work, says Post-Herald sports columnist.
- The Stadium Trap, from May 1988 Governing magazine, reprinted by RAPS.
- Bad Sports: Stadium revenues don't benefit the surrounding communities - at least, not without a fight.
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Edited by Rob Collins
