Quote:
Originally Posted by OMG!WTF!
So when you have an existing land owner operating well below highest and best use, it seems unfair to make that business pay as if it were in the same boat as high rise commercial use. Unless your goal is to get rid of independent business, this is a bad idea. It seems like a great way to create a bunch of worthless vacant lots.
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This is what's frustrating about this city. We pay lip service to character and history and all that good stuff, but then every 15 years we tear everything down and start over again. Whether it's demolishing the physical buildings themselves, or driving out legacy businesses with tax hikes.
We try to artificially create hip centres of culture. That rarely works. You have to nurture and cultivate what is already there. And you don't do that by maximizing the revenue from every square foot of property, because all that leads to is chain drug stores and every-changing rotation of Hip New Places.