Economic Policy in Downtown Development Essay Example For Students

Economic Policy in Downtown Development Essay When the Heers Tower closed down in the 1960s, the downtown area of Springfield, MO. lost a major economic and entertaining element. Since then, Springfield has been planning and working to get back a lot of the status that it once had. The city government had to bring attractions and business in the form of new businesss to spur development to accommodate the 151,580 citizens that reside in the small city. Mayor Tom Carlson and City Manager Tom Finnie have been heading the projects with the help of large developing firms such as the UDA or Urban District Alliance, and hope that projects such as the redevelopment of Heers Tower, SMSUs Innovation center, and College Station will add not only attractions for the mass of people flooding into Springfield each year, but also bring in hundreds of new jobs to boost the economy and help support a growing society. Over the next couple of pages an analysis of the current and future projects, as well as the non-quantitative benefits and effects on the surrounding community will be looked at to further explain why the project is on the communitys agenda. Tom Carlson calls the development of the downtown area, the Center City. It will be a city within a city. Not to long ago though Springfield was in a slump, after the huge factories of Zenith and GE went out of business, the only other major factory was Kraft. During the 1950s, These companies employed thousands of workers and once they were out of the picture the economy started to level out. The opportunity to have the Center City, started in the 1980s when sub-divisions around Springfield and surrounding towns, such as Nixa and Ozark, started booming. Since then, developers such as John Q. Hammons and new faces like Vaughn Post have sparked projects that have created a substantial buzz across the state. The developers took the idea of a new downtown and ran with it, using tax advantages such as state and historic tax credits, property tax abatement, gap financing and loans up to $40,000 to make facade improvements. Also, a low- interest loan program, using Community Development Bl ock Grant Funds, has provided help for many business people. Since 1997, about $125 million has been invested in Center City. All of these tax breaks and policies have led to some astonishing developments in employment and economic gains. According to the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center (MERIC), Springfield accounts for just 3% of Missouris workforce, but the area has created one-fourth of all new jobs in the state between March 2002 and March 2003, while Kansas City has reported net job loss and St. Louis reported minimal gains. Noting these facts, it is no surprise that the City is fully behind the idea of developing the downtown area, for it will provide hundreds of business opportunities as well as entertainment value for the entire city. The development of the plans have been in the works for several years. Ideas, money and developers had to come together as well as the support of the community for any of the first steps to be taken. When looking at the plan from a public policy makers point of view, one has to take into account every possible angle. Dr. Deborah Stone, uses a couple o f key points to assess any spending or policy before implementing it. Those points are as follows:1.Identify objectives 2.Identify alternative courses of action for achieving objectives 3.Predict the possible consequences of each alternative 4.Evaluate the possible consequences of each alternative 5.Select the alternative that maximizes the attainment of objectivesNow assuming the City Council used these elements to determine zoning permits, tax breaks, funding and overall implementation of the Center City project, one can break the move for growth in the downtown area down by each step. 1. The objectives for Center City are obvious. The Citys government saw a need and opportunity for huge economic growth and took advantage of the eager entrepreneurs to develop and build new buildings and projects. Springfield being the third largest city in the state of Missouri, put an emphasis for greater job opportunities, non-quantitative benefits such as entertainment, overall satisfaction for all the patrons of Springfield and a more prestigious standing amongst Missourians and the nation as one of the major topics for its agenda. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Greene County area ranked 21st of 315 urban counties for job growth and No. 15 among medium- sized metro areas in the country for doing business. The Story Of An Hour Argumentative EssayThe other project that draws particular interest is the Jordan Valley Innovation Center. SMSU plans on turning the old MFA building into a state of the art research facility. This will do a number of things 1: Provide a place for current students to further their education, 2: Attract scientists to the area and provide them with state of the art facilities to conduct their research and further promote areas of science, and 3: It will attract higher paying jobs to the Springfield area; thus giving the economy a huge surge in jobs and money that will be pumped into Springfields businesss. According to Irvin Feller, Universities have the upper hand, when developing facilities, as they are entitled to grants and low interest rate loans to help with the costs of expanding. With all these projects on the line, questions arise of efficiency and projected completion dates. One major goal of public policy is efficiency, are the programs and projects m eeting deadlines? Can anything be done to improve production goals and final results? According to the Tillman Redevelopment Group, the College Station should be completed by mid-2006. The JVIC should be transformed from an old decaying MFA building to the state of the art research facility by 2007 and the $18 million dollar renovation of Heers Tower should see completion also by 2007. Questions of efficiency have been answered with the city government fully supporting the areas renovations and is asking that all of Springfield jump on board, as the final product will add psychological and economic benefits for years to come. Another aspect of policy implementation is security. With the city government fully supporting all these changes, is the economic security of the city of Springfield being looked at fully? The projects that are being completed, dont yet have all the vacancies filled, is this reason to worry about the projects? After reviewing the process of how the decisions were made, it is safe to say that yes, the security was well looked after. The city council cannot and would not gamble millions of dollars in investments, without considering all points of a thorough cost benefit analysis. Economic security was not only looked after, but the goal is to substantially improve the consumers market in Springfield. After analyzing the plans to develop the downtown area of Springfield, we can assess that it is an safe and intelligent gamble. The newly revived buildings and businesss will provide people with social and economic benefits that can clearly be seen by the plans that the city has in mind. When the policy changes finally come into play the the tax codes, zoning issues and the economic viability of every inch of the downtown area will have to be reconsidered. Overall, the cost of all the renovations will give back much more than just good business and better jobs for area residents, but with changes to local universities such as SMSU to MSU, we can expect greater advances in education for area students and a city that will be gaining credibility on a national scale. Works CitedFeller, Irwin. Universities and State Governments. New York: Preager Publishers, 1986. Rushefsky, Mark. Public Policy in the United States. New York: M.E. Sharpe, 2002. Stone, Deborah. Policy Paradox. New York: Norton, 2001. Holman, Gregory. The Downtown Turnaround, 417 Magazine, March 2005, 81. Tom Carlson and Tom Finnie, interview by Laura Scott, Assosiated Press, 03 March 2005. Chemweno, Margerat. Missouri Retail Trade. MERIC. September 2002. College Station: Proposed Development for Downtown. February 2005. Simmons, John. Urban Districts Alliance. January 2005. Sparks, Glen. Springfield, MO.:Boomtown Once Again. The Regional Economist. July 2004Springfield, MO Profile. Local Information Data Server. 2005. Strategic Summary: A 5-year plan. Springfield and Greene County Publication. 24, June 2004.