the high standards of livability

the indianapolis star, tired of giving mayor ballard a pass these past 14 months, has been begging him to articulate some sort of vision in this morning's state of the city address. after all, the mayor allegedly passed on the opportunity to meet president obama just so he could practice the speech.

i imagine they'll find the speech as underwhelming as i did.

so what's the mayor's vision for indianapolis? he wants to make us a "safe, livable city". hoo boy, don't throw out your back aiming so high! making the city livable is an awfully high standard to aspire to! (in contrast, former mayor peterson merely hoped to make indianapolis "world-class".)

now, i agree with the mayor's plans to add sidewalks and bike lanes. the city is sorely lacking in both (though the sidewalks would be more useful if we had a decent public transit system). but when sidewalks are the most exciting part of your plan, there's something wrong with your plan.

and of course, it wouldn't be a ballard speech if it didn't include at least a few minutes of griping about prior administrations. judging from his speech, you'd think bart peterson was the sole reason for the city's economic woes—not the nationwide recession or property tax caps that will only continue to slash the city's budget in the coming years.

if you were hoping for something resembling vision from the mayor, it's time to abandon that hope, because he ain't got it. ¶