28 September 2010

Place-based Policy Quote of the Day

"It is important to note the urgency of this effort. The prosperity, equity, sustainability, and livability of neighborhoods, cities and towns, and larger regions depend on the ability of the Federal government to enable locally-driven, integrated, and place-conscious solutions guided by meaningful measures, not disparate or redundant programs which neglect their impact on regional development."

2 comments:

Bill Wolfe said...

That's just a string of buzzwords and slogans!

I expect that from certain sound bite savvy activists I know, but not from a White House policy memo!

Wolfe

Bill Wolfe said...

I just read the memo - wow.

The objective is supposed to be policy guidance to Executive branch agencies.

However, it presents a substantive vacuum, allowing each individual agency to control and fill in the policy, budget, and programmatic details.

That is the opposite of policy guidance. Guidance is supposed to guide - I'm reminded of Ted Lowi's critique about why liberals can't plan - it requires the authoritative use of authority!

Perhaps a comparison of this "place based guidance" with OMB OIRA Guidance overseen by Casss Sunstein would be instructive.