The crime issue on this thread is of course of paramount importance.
This post is spot on. If you want a vibrant city where commerce thrives, you not only have to control crime but you also have to do everything else right too. So everyone is right. The problem is crime, city permit process, schools, fire, trash, street lights, equality of opportunity, good roads, access to social safety net, health care, ordinance enforcement, decent insurance prices, good coffee shops and groceries, quality liquor stores, fair elections, inclusion and diversity, freedom to fail, culture of acceptance, good universities, fresh produce, and cheap dive bars, excellent pierogis, falafel, and pizza, nice public stadiums, parks, arenas, and opera houses, a vibrant alternative theatre scene, liberal policies towards gay unions, ... and well you get the idea.
Everything must be done right. Nothing left untouched. All things addressed -- none have to be perfect.
City permitting is indeed inconsistent. That's the problem when you have a combination of a decaying administrative bureaucracy combined with do-gooders who must pass laws to control everything. For the short-term, we'd be better off lightening up their duties and focusing on core issues. Don't sweat everything. But be good enough at everything
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