yourdailylocal
Warren City Council basically told you what they think of actual economic development in the City Monday night when they ignored the concerns of Councilwoman Wendy McCain and all but greenlighted ANOTHER low-income housing development in prime City real estate.
Old people housing! Old people housing! Low-income old people housing! Right on the riverfront! That’s the ticket to revitalizing downtown Warren! The developer told us so!
Yes, this is the brilliant plan to move Warren into the 21st century 22 years into the century. This is the best our City leaders could figure out.
Take a prime piece of riverfront property and turn it into housing for old people who by the very definition of being low-income don’t have the money to support businesses in the City. And who will only continue the trend of making the city older and older.
Who wants a city that continues to grow older? What businesses want to open up if they know they don’t have a long-term clientele?
And you wonder why no one wants to live here. Or work here. Or open a business here.
When you make decisions contrary to any sort of actual City planning. When you have a council member who sits there and tells you why it isn’t in your best interest, and you ignore the advice because you toured a building in Clarion (because Clarion and Warren have anything in common) and were “very impressed” by a run-of-the-mill apartment building explains why the City of Warren is all but dead.
Leadership like this is no leadership at all.
It is time for a change. It is time for people with a vision to run the City, not people who think that low-income housing is a “benefit to the City” and adds “character” to the city.
Where have you ever been that an apartment building adds character?
This project reminds me of the ill-conceived housing projects in the big cities pushed by Democrats in the 1960s. Only now, we have Republicans in a small town who are just as clueless as the Democrats they said were clueless in the 60s. And the results are going to be the same.
