Robert Bailey
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Comments
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On the article Just Listed: $1.8M Newport House
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On the article City Manager Tells Superintendent There is a ‘Crisis in Confidence’
Robert Bailey
11:42 am on Friday, May 3, 2013
ReplyThis is the continuation of rampant leadership by the Council and gross management incompetence by the elected and professional staff. Heads should roll.
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On the article Newport Jazz and Folk Festivals Added $5 Million to Local Economy in 2012
Robert Bailey
9:11 am on Wednesday, April 10, 2013
ReplyBridge tolls are a cost of growth. Anyone who rode the Jamestown-Newport ferry (to 1969) recalls having to buy auto and passenger tickets. Public bridges have successfully fueled growth under many different economics conditions worldwide. But,
For Aquidneck Island that growth must (and can) be fueled by something more than seasonal entertainment. The gentleman who commented on Naval Station Newport is on to the right path insofar as the need to attract & engage talent with highly skilled employment, locally. On the bridge,
Was there any discussion by the State about tolls prior to approval and funding and construction of the new Sakonnet River bridge? It appears to be being handled the only way the State knows how--hand over hand. No coherent plan. No long term objectives. No sense of accountability.
Such mismanagement is a cancer. State residents are ill-advised to become embroiled in the distractions of political side issues (bad bread and circuses) when the State is dying from the head down economically. The $5M claim is merely the newest distraction.
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On the article Newport Jazz and Folk Festivals Added $5 Million to Local Economy in 2012
Robert Bailey
11:37 am on Monday, April 8, 2013
ReplyI enjoy these Rhode Island stories because they are loaded.
First, where did that money go--or was this like a rainstorm where the money was distributed all 'round and disappeared? Second--make a note--nearly 75% of the audience here is over 34 with discretionary income, fans of jazz or folk music from, we know Massachusetts, who enjoy a cost-effective day trip to Rhody. Third, why is the DEM doing an economic study?
The State is pushing Newport into chronic status as a 120 day economy. Capital formation, investment in year round jobs creating business are the exception. Technology, marine sciences, and mid-market business [to $15M in sales] could do very well in Newport.
I am a huge music lover, and recall when Newport was alive in the 1970s with music all around Thames and Bellevue and at the beaches. Staying with music econometrics, the problem today is leadership’s ignorance and disinterest in how money (really) works and its fascination with the remnants of political power.
Local clubs (which also draw people to live AND work here) cannot keep music going year round because there is no vibrant economy to support it. That, and a political will focused on bread and circuses--or more accurately, heavily taxed festivals and food run by non-resident companies--have created a City of summer servants. I have (disturbingly) come to believe City Hall and Federal Hill understand and endorse this completely.
Not exactly dance music for local residents.
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On the article Newport Jazz and Folk Festivals Added $5 Million to Local Economy in 2012
Robert Bailey
11:36 am on Monday, April 8, 2013
ReplyI enjoy these Rhode Island stories because they are loaded.
First, where did that money go--or was this like a rainstorm where the money was distributed all 'round and disappeared? Second--make a note--nearly 75% of the audience here is over 34 with discretionary income, fans of jazz or folk music from, we know Massachusetts, who enjoy a cost-effective day trip to Rhody. Third, why is the DEP doing an economic study?
The State is pushing Newport into chronic status as a 120 day economy. Capital formation, investment in year round jobs creating business are the exception. Technology, marine sciences, and mid-market business [to $15M in sales] could do very well in Newport.
I am a huge music lover, and recall when Newport was alive in the 1970s with music all around Thames and Bellevue and at the beaches. Staying with music econometrics, the problem today is leadership’s ignorance and disinterest in how money (really) works and its fascination with the remnants of political power.
Local clubs (which also draw people to live AND work here) cannot keep music going year round because there is no vibrant economy to support it. That, and a political will focused on bread and circuses--or more accurately, heavily taxed festivals and food run by non-resident companies--have created a City of summer servants. I have (disturbingly) come to believe City Hall and Federal Hill understand and endorse this completely.
Not exactly dance music for local residents.
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On the article No Back-In Parking for Broadway Streetscape Project
Robert Bailey
9:06 am on Thursday, December 13, 2012
ReplyBack in parking is a challenge for poor students.
A lack of accidents, as cited, is no reason NOT to improve parking systems. Yes, angled backing is a driving skill. And also, car doors shield car occupants, car trunks are more safely accessed, studies have suggested easy access improves store sales, and no longer are cyclists threatened as drivers back OUT.
The Newport City Council's submissiveness to the Manager is second only to the lax stewardship on imagining a better Newport. Never is the council, as a whole, prepared and educated about the intellectual material.
In the back-in parking example, the council, as a body, failed to attend the screening of "Urbanized" by Newport Film. It failed to challenge or embrace the recent Architectural Forum/Washington Square Roots presentation by Dan Burden, of the very successful Walkable and Liveable Communities Institute. The economic rationale for HAVING angled back in parking is available. City Hall parries with little more than a wilting incuriousness.
(Does backing in to park take time and cost a little more--yes. Were the cities that did so happier that they did--yes!)
The more we hear about concerns local drivers having issues with the bike lanes at First Beach, and now backing into spaces on Broadway, the more it appears the common good might be having these talentless drivers OFF the road, and onto their own feet.
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On the article SOUND OFF: Bike Lanes on Memorial, Safer or Short Sighted?
Robert Bailey
3:42 pm on Monday, November 19, 2012
Yo--Lawrence! Nice right hook. (And I happen to agree.<grin>)
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On the article SOUND OFF: Bike Lanes on Memorial, Safer or Short Sighted?
Robert Bailey
8:21 am on Monday, November 19, 2012
ReplyIt is interesting that so many people--including key City Councilors--are worried about slowing traffic!
If you have been hit by a car riding a bike in Newport--as I have (on Bellevue at Narragansett Avenue summer of 2011)--you like the idea of making Newport a true walking and biking city.
Parked cars make safer streets, attract more thoughtful visitors, and raise sales margins for small business. It is invigorating to see people who identify a specific outcome--and make it happen. If measures like these need to be modified to improve results, later, that is great!
Completing an idea is all too rare in Newport and it is hurting the place.
Cudos to DOT on this. It begins to atone for the 20-something America's Cup Boulevard debacle. And equally important cudos to those locally who made the bike lanes at the beach finally happen. Such support is required for safety and the progress to come.
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On the article SOUND OFF: Bike Lanes on Memorial, Safer or Short Sighted?
Robert Bailey
8:20 am on Monday, November 19, 2012
ReplyIt is interesting that so many people--including key City Councilors--are worried about slowing traffic!
If you have been hit by a car riding a bike in Newport--as I have (on Bellevue at Narragansett Avenue summer of 2011)--you like the idea of making Newport a true walking and biking city.
Parked cars make safer streets, attract more thoughtful visitors, and raise sales margins for small business. It is invigorating to see people who identify a specific outcome--and make it happen. If measures like these can modified to improve results later--great! Getting it DONE is all too rare in Newport and it is hurting the place.
Cudos to DOT on this. It begins to atone for the 20-something America's Cup Boulevard debacle. And equally important cudos to those locally who made the bike lanes at the beach finally happen. Such support is required for safety and the progress to come.
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On the article SOUND OFF: Bike Lanes on Memorial, Safer or Short Sighted?
Robert Bailey
8:17 am on Monday, November 19, 2012
ReplyIt is interesting that so many people--including key City Councilors--are worried about slowing traffic!
If you have been hit by a car riding a bike in Newport--as I have (on Bellevue at Narragansett Avenue summer of 2011)--you like the idea of making Newport a true walking and biking city.
Parked cars make safer streets, attract more thoughtful visitors, and raise sales margins for small business. Furthermore, it is invigorating to see people who identify a specific outcome and make it happen. If it can modified to improve results later--great! Getting it DONE is all too rare in Newport and it is hurting the place.
Cudos to DOT on this and to those locally who made the bike lanes at the beach finally happen and who support what needs to happen for safety and progress--next.
Robert Bailey
7:49 am on Monday, May 20, 2013
Thank you John. Your comparison is noted. And entertaining.