[MAXUM]

Originally Posted by Dickie B from HB

This is a post that I made last May on a similar thread:

I live in Huntington Beach, California. When I moved here in 1965, the town was a run down little surf spot with cheesy bars and surfboard shops, and not much else. The town council decided that the time had come to rescue the town from further decay. They created a tourism board whose sole purpose was to provide the vision and the know how as to how to redevelop the area to attract new business.
And it has worked out well. Working with the council and the population, bond issues were passed, and redevelopment took place. It took many years, but today Huntington Beach is an attraction for not only tourists, but people that live in the surrounding areas as well. In fact, tourists are not the prime supporters. The bulk of the spending comes from visitors from the nearby cities.
There is no casino, but there are nice shops, nice restaurants and street side cafes, and nighttime clubs. The tourism board has come up with events that happen almost on a weekly basis.

Where it once was a summer only type place, it now attracts people all year round. The key to the redevelopment was that the city took over most of the prime area (they bought out the old business properties)and built new structures that were very attractive, and leased them out to new business. Therefore, the new businesses did not have to invest huge sums of money in real estate. They also built a very large parking garage. It took time, but the formula has been very successful. Now the area is home to a Hilton hotel and a Hyatt Regency Resort among other large brands.

Something similar could happen to the Weirs, but it isn't going to happen if only small business is relied upon. The government needs to step in and give it a boost.

I know this sounds like liberal California, but Huntington Beach is in Orange County which is very conservative. It turned out to be a smart business move.

A success story like this is great to hear. Of course the town or city has to put together a vision and a master "plan" which would be the basis for guiding any future private development of a given area. However there are limitations to that because the landowners have rights too. Now if the town wants to come in and offer to buy up distressed properties at fair market value and in turn execute a master plan that's fine so long as the property owners are willing to sell out. It's an entirely different story when any municipality uses eminent domain for the purpose of displacing something they don't "like" for something they do. That's just plain wrong.