VOH: Florida Market

Download the lastest issue of Voice of the Hill. They've got a piece on the Florida Market and the New Town proposal. My comments:
-if you read this blog regularly, you already know my stance on the development. I think this is a bad plan that would likely destroy a neighborhood asset. In my opinion, this plan seeks to put valuable resources (and your tax money) in the pocket of a powerful few while taking away from the not so affluent who shop at the market (and have for years), the small family owned businesses (some of families have been there for decades, while others are more recent immigrants who have set up shop), and the surrounding residents, and of course, we lose a lot of history if the market goes. This plan does not adequately address those issues. As originally drafted, it planned for a land grab pure and simple. I don't see the market as blighted. Go there any weekday and you'll see how busy it is. Smelling like meat or fish in certain areas does not constitute blight. Crime is declining in the area, not increasing.
-Thanks to Sharon Ambrose for objecting to the eminent domain language.
-If you haven't been to the market, GO! We're probably done with the market tour for the year, but we'll resume in spring. There's a lot to see and experience, and we'd be damn stupid if we sold it for for such a half-baked exploitive plan.