E-Mail
Print
City planners must shift focus toward how revitalization can help spur growth and close the deficit. Targeted private-public investments and residential developments in low-cost, culturally distinctive areas like downtown can help do just that. While city funds will come from cost cutting, revitalization should be paid back through no-interest or low-interest loans and profit-sharing agreements.
Fresno should match unpooled funds, work with local banks to provide affordable credit and provide tax incentives and expedited regulatory review based on reformed codes. Revitalization based on shared opportunities and responsibilities benefits all Fresnans, and City Hall should support it. While Fresno must close its deficit, it must never lose the balance of its values.
Fresno can be a great city, and while it must learn to live within its means and do more with less, it must not lose sight of how it can expand its economy while making it more efficient.
Alejandro Sueldo
Fresno
