The Algorithm Is Kicking Strong Today
The Questions
- How do local improvements tie into who we choose for House and Senate?
- How can we make sure we receive what we need locally in the next budget, come 2028?
- If you only had to tell ONE person what you need in order to see it happen, what would you say?
I attended the Madison County Comprehensive Plan Community Input session in Richmond last night. I contributed (and posted) my input online and added some post its… and then I sat in the corner to chat with the quiet observers who confidently lead the county every day.
I found out that in order to clean up some eyesores within our county, particularly certain streams near housing areas, the cities/county needs approval from Kentucky Waterways to clear the overgrown trees that are holding extensive amounts of trash among the roots and leaves.
I’m on it!
We also talked about what they had to go through recently to clear the 10-beavers-strong dam along Goggins – in an area desperate and immediately targeted for roadway improvements from end to end.
NOTE: Community suggestions were made last night to increase foot traffic and destinations along Goggins.
Notably, 26 HB900 ensured that funding for the Goggins area is in place.
Which Brings Me to Another Concern
Which brings me to concerns about why a separate state-funding of $3,000,000 is allocated in 26 HB900 for Goodwill Industries in Lexington to expand to another location.
Why do they rely on the state to supplement their business model, and what are we citizens of the state receiving back from them? More opportunities to buy $10 blue jeans that used to be $5?
Don’t get me wrong, I love my discount blue jeans like I love a bright blue sky but give me a break!
Why that when $3M could provide displaced individuals in Fayette AND Madison with long-term housing & sustainability resources over the next two years instead?
With community solidarity,
Jess
Email feedback to: mcintoshky34@gmail.com
(reposted from my Facebook – all words above are my own)
What the Algorithm Delivered to Me on Facebook
THE FOLLOWING IS WHAT THE ALGORITHM DELIVERED TO ME ON FB. It should link to the creditor source – and is clearly AI generated by them (grr! but I digress…). Blog photo is also from this same Facebook page’s post.
Revitalize, or Die.
A couple of weeks back on a community visit, someone asked me:
“Should cities adopt policies to grow population, jobs, and investment?”
Emphatically, no.
Growth for growth’s sake is a failed policy. Not all growth is good.
If I told you that you’d be better off if you gained weight, you’d have questions. Because you could gain weight by eating garbage and sitting on the couch, or you could gain it by strength training and eating well.
Same weight gain. Completely different outcomes. Cities are no different.
Paving new roads doesn’t make your community better. Adding more national chains doesn’t make it better. Building another vinyl subdivision on the edge of town doesn’t make it better.
Those are growth strategies, not improvement strategies.
And honestly, who does sprawl expansion actually benefit? National chains and national builders. Not residents.
I’ve never seen a cheap ugly building make anyone’s life better. I’ve never seen a fast-food joint make a neighborhood stronger. And I’ve never seen sprawl development make a community more self-reliant, sustainable, or resilient.
Cities Should Get Better, Not Just Bigger
Cities should want to get better, not just bigger. Bigger does nothing for residents. Better always does.
Every decision a city makes should be filtered through one question:
Will this make our community prettier, stronger, more self-reliant?
Because your town is the sum total of its decisions. Every time you choose growth over quality, your place gets a little worse and your lives get a little sadder.
Abandon growth policies. Adopt improvement policies.
Your town should get better, not bigger.