#9, once again you're talking through your butt. I've talked to several folks who live and/or work in this area and they seem quite excited about the plan.

I confess I haven't read it yet (have you?) but I'll take their opinions - since they are directly affected - over those of a Farragutian any day.

Nine,
I have attended a couple of meetings/presentations regarding this subject so that I could better understand the effects...and I must say, that I like what I hear. The creation of a more urban-friendly design is appealing. The term "urban renewal" for me conjures up the swath of land taken to install James White Parkway, the Coliseum, etc. but by definition, the term doesn't have to be negative.
To my understanding, there are no plans or need for such to take large parcels of residential property and I am quite happy with the revitalization that is occurring in the area.

There are two primary issues that make the plan a more difficult one: over-concentration of homeless services and the I40; neither of these are needed but they are there to stay so its best to deal with it in a more holistic approach. It is my hope that the powers-that-be will also see that the current Broadway/Hall of Fame interchange needs to be more urban and less "interstate" in design.

The momentum is swinging in the favor of the near north side and I am glad that our government is getting more involved in this important area of Knoxville.

Bill

Metulj wrote, I suggest Farragut open up its doors to Knoxville's poor.

Metulj,
In my last bla, bla, bla East Vs. West.....was a venting to the above line written by you and folks with your kind of thought process. Farragut does not have a sign at the Incorporated line that reads....POOR PEOPLE DO NOT ENTER! As developers moved west, farm land became more and more expensive. Developer's are in business to make money and provide for their families...just like those folks.. THAT GET UP AND GO TO A JOB everyday! Some people make more, some make less, that's life! Builder's determine the kind of house that will be built on a piece of property based on the cost of that property and the expense of any infrastructure. It is economically unrealistic to build small homes in Farragut because of property cost. Having said that.....do not think for one minute that people who live in Farraugt don't care about the poor and don't want them for neighbors. Lots of funds are raised from this community to support organizations that provide services to those in need. We have clothes drives that send lots of barely worn items in great shape to various organizations that distribute them to needy folks. I know lots of friends and neighbors in Farragut that volunteer on a regular basis and many who spend holidays serving food to the needy instead of sitting at home in comfort with their own families. I have friends that tutor in the inner city for free to low income families. My husband and I have worked hard for what we have and live in Farragut because we liked it. For us Farragut offered more property space, it's quiet and not nearly as conjested as other areas. (Go ahead and hit me on that one, but I don't find the traffic near as bad as it is from Bearden into the City at any given time...although I will give you Turkey Creek for conjestion) You will find traffic at all areas of Knox County heavier at work & school time. Also, everybody in Farragut doesn't live in a McMansion...Metulj...when was the last time you volunteered or made a donation to an organization that provides services to low income. When was the last time you sat by a homeless man's side in a hospice and watched him die because you were all he had. When was the last time you let somebody live in an apartment that you owned for 13 years rent free. My Mom did just that!!!!! Living in Farragut and proud to say I do!!!!

Farragut does not have a sign at the Incorporated line that reads....POOR PEOPLE DO NOT ENTER!

Yes it does. It's called exclusionary zoning.

Short Stuff, the other day you said something along the lines that you lived on Jefferson and thought we were obnoxious to worry about blasting from Smart Fix when you guys had shootings, now you say you are from Farragut and proud of it? What gives? As for Kaplan, he lived in Rocky Hill for a long time and has lived in Old North for a few years. Stacey

KCDC designated a building of mine blighted. The process was fair and, frankly, the building was blighted. The Southeastern Glass Building stood vacant for 20 years and received maintenance only when a gaping hole needed plugged. The place was a wreck. Let me just say that downtown population numbers would have been some higher if the census had caught everybody home.

When we bought it, it had to be fixed. First things first, make the building weathertight, put the glass in where glass goes. You know, basic stuff.

Our finances don't merit the upper bracket and when it came down to PHASE II of the project, it came down to finances. We didn't have enough. We had had enough to finish up the outside and improve the building.

A few months later KCDC called and told me "your building is no longer blighted". Our work and renovation resulted in the removal of the blighted status, figuratively and literally. I just laughed and gave them the name of the new owners.

~~~

Now when TDOT wanted to take the same building, it was a little scarier. Three months after we bought it, I found TDOT orange survey marks that alerted me to that ED threat. Fortunately, discussions and requests to have the property placed on the National Registry of Historic Places were in the works. Some months later I got a nice letter from TDOT advising that the historic registry trumped TDOT standard operating procedure.

If there's a moral to my little story it's that you have to protect your property by doing more than sitting on it. For instance, if, as a property owner, you try to stop vandals from starting fires, then chances of a fire decrease.

So #9, am I concerned about oppression over here in my neighborhood? Not nearly as much as I am about people that create risk of harm in my neighborhood. That, I have seen. Neglect of property is a threat to both property and life. That sad story played out just recently, I believe you will recall.

Since I've put my name on this and gone on so long, I'll also say I believe that if you are a good steward of property it is extremely unlikely that your community and neighbors will allow it to be taken away by anyone.

Shucks, Scott, you seem to have spoiled all of nine's fun.

>>Where was the question about KCDC? I don't see it.

There was a time, nine, when you accused others of hiding behind semantics.

What Scott did was take your overheated rhetoric about "oppressive government" seizing peoples property and call, in a very polite way, "bullshit":

"KCDC designated a building of mine blighted. The process was fair and, frankly, the building was blighted."
"
Rather than address being called to the carpet, you did your usual and spun off on a tangent:

"Let's see how the new plan from the City to help homeowners repair their homes works."

It's unclear, but I assume you are talking about the empowerment zone dollars set aside for home repairs. There is nothing directly related to it in the KCDC redevelopment plan, which is ostensibly the subject you started out on (nor, btw, is the plan exactly "new" the city has had rehab assistance programs for both low income homeowners and rental property for some time).

Doesn't matter, really, as all you were looking for was something to deflect attention from Scott's original point: that your characterization of KCDC's redevelopment plan as little more than a land grab was inaccurate and inflammatory.

You may not know your ass from a hole in the ground, Nine, but you're quick to catch on when it's been handed to you.

In one post, #9, you say:

He gave his single experience and that is now supposed to be proof positive KCDC rules with a gentle hand?

Then in another:

Tell me how some people are not in harms way. Some of us are tired of the idea that "to make an omelet you have to break some eggs".

OK, #9, how am I supposed to say: "I've been through the experience and it's not the meat grinder you make it out to be."?

Since the last building was too big a renovation job for us to afford, we quit it. Last year, we bought one on Central that, hopefully, is more manageable. I'm not a developer. My wife has a bakery and we're trying to find her a permanent home for the business. I actually like this one better because it's closer to my home in Old North Knoxville.

Hey and it looks like we're going to be in a redevelopment area again. I believe it will improve the neighborhood as well as help us in the renovation of the building.

That's not only my opinion, it is my experience.

You only respond to questions evidently (and usually with more questions) but let me turn one of yours back on you. You state/ask: Tell me how some people are not in harms way. OK, you tell me, how are people in harm's way?

>Does it matter what program it comes from? Do you think I >care?

The point, Nine, is that such programs exist and that, in answer to your question "little people" can and do get assistance from the city.

Where, by the way, did I demand that neighbors spend a "small fortune" to fix up their homes to "my" standards?

Another shameless pro-developer rag airbrushes the awful truth behind this blatant abuse of the "little people:"

"All along Tyson behind Old Gray Cemetary, I went back there banging on doors to see what’s going on there and heard people talk about prostitution and drug dealing and found women who feel trapped in their houses,” Woodhull says. “They just want some help, and I would get the police to cruise through and it would make a difference for a week, but for more long-term changes we have to reweave the fabric of the community and bring it back.”

In my opinion, we should be spending more money on these kinds of renewal projects, with the city/county kicking in our budgeted "economic development" money to help businesses thrive in these zones instead of wasting taxpayer money on developing business parks in virgin areas, like the proposed Midway Road project.