The Virus Called ‘Other People’s Money’

"The trouble with Socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money."

-- Margaret Thatcher

City officials made it clear the $60 million project won't plunge Knoxville into debt.

Most of the money for the bridge would come from state and federal grants....

The first quote came to mind upon reading the second quote. The second quote is from a news article that popped up in my news feed. The story is about a pedestrian bridge to span the Tennessee River mid campus of the University of Tennessee and connecting to the south shore, currently a fairly decrepit area in the shadows of a Civil War fortification on the hill above. I toured that fortification last Fall as part of a day-long tour of several spots in the area of significance during the Confederate's Knoxville Campaign-- November, 1863 -- and saw first hand the decrepitude that developers so much desire to transform and turn into prime real estate if a pedestrian bridge can be erected there.

Again, from the article --

The South Waterfront Pedestrian Bridge could be one step closer to becoming reality now that Mayor Indya Kincannon has applied for $25 million in federal funds to take it to the finish line.

It's the city's second go-round at applying for federal funds through the [Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity]RAISE grant, but officials are confident a new and less expensive design will sway the feds this time.

***

The 2006 South Waterfront Vision Plan aimed to address historic isolation and underinvestment in communities in South Knoxville. The bridge is a central part of that, connecting South Knoxville to the University of Tennessee's main campus and Fort Sanders.

It would provide equitable access and affordable transportation options to and from South Knoxville. Currently, the only alternative to driving to the area is walking or biking on existing highways and bridges, which have traffic counts of over 32,500 vehicles per day, according to the RAISE application.

The pedestrian bridge would span the river from Clancy Avenue on the south side to the pedestrian concourse on the north, between Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center and Pratt Pavilion.

"(The bridge) is an opportunity to redevelop historically industrial property while providing sustainable and economic development linkage between the South Waterfront, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (UT), downtown Knoxville, and the expanding greenway system," the city's website says. [emphasis added]

Too bad Tennessee is not a "battleground state" for the 2024 election. If so, the funding would have been here yesterday and probably for the full amount. But note the italicized and bolded wording regurgitated in a news article from the project's website. "Underinvestment" means we haven't had enough tax-funded projects there. "Equitable" and "affordable" signals low income targeting for taxpayer funds. "Sustainable" and "greenway" is the signal to the climatistas that it is good for the planet.

Don't get me wrong. I like development and this is probably a good project to be paid for by someone. Likely it is the developers who should pay and be reimbursed by the income they will derive from the properties built and occupied. (Assuredly the City is counting on an increase in property value and property taxes to pay off their obligation in the proposed "investment" in the current financing structure.) The existing warehouses and small houses will be wiped away without a doubt. No one with a residence there today, including those who have suffered with inequitable access to affordable transportation, will remain absent some requirement that an "affordable housing" project be built at the edge of the new development. At the edge, no doubt, and not the center.

The beauty of local development underwritten significantly by state and federal tax money is that the locals, including developers and/or their customers, don't have to pay for it -- it's "other people's money".