City living — not just for liberals anymore.
Political and philosophical conservatives in the United States are far more likely to live in rural areas or suburbs than in the city – and that augurs ill for the conservative movement and for America, observes Michael Hendrix, in the inaugural guest blog post in a new blog, “New Urbs.”
Cities are the centers of wealth creation and cultural influence in the modern world. By concentrating disproportionately in small towns and rural homesteads, conservatives isolate themselves from the institutions that dominate the country. “If conservatives feel like they’re on the outside looking in on culture-making now, just wait a decade or so—it’ll get worse,” Hendrix writes. “Both for our culture’s sake and our own, conservatives should learn to stop worrying and love the city.”
If Hendrix’s contribution is any indication, New Urbs is likely to make a lively contribution to the small but growing ranks of conservatives who advocate development of more compact, urbane, fiscally sustainable communities.
The blog is an initiative of The American Conservative. Explains Associate Editor Jonathan Coppage:
This is an emerging discussion on the right, and we’re excited to take a leading role in pushing it forward. Talk of conservative reform can only get so far before it accounts for the actual ways in which people live. Transit, development, zoning codes all shape our culture, and are ripe for conservative engagement. Conservatives have too often neglected cities to their own disadvantage. We aim to fix that.
Keep it coming! Continue reading
This is you. You’re toast. Unless you change the way you do things, you and the local governments across Virginia you represent are totally cooked. … Here’s what I’m going to do today. I’m going to tell you why you’re toast. And then I’m going to tell you how to dig your government out of the fiscal abyss, earning you the love and admiration of your fellow citizens.
Here’s the first reason you’re in trouble — old people. Or, more precisely, retired government old people. Virginia can’t seem to catch up to its pension obligations. The state says the Virginia Retirement System is on schedule to be fully funded by 2018-2020. But the state’s defines 80% funded as “fully funded,” which leaves a lot of wiggle room. The VRS also assumes that it can generate 7%-per-year annual returns on its $66 billion portfolio. For each 1% it falls short of that assumption, state and local government must make up the difference with $660 million. As long as the Federal Reserve Board pursues a near-zero interest rate policy, depressing investment returns everywhere, that will be exceedingly difficult. A lot of very smart people think 5% or 6% returns are more realistic. In all probability, pension obligations will continue to be a long-term burden on localities.