Developers Pouring Cash Into Va. Campaigns

New York Times photo.

I meant to mention this article from yesterday's Post. This isn't a surprise, it's all about the Growth Machine. As the United States deindustrializes, in most communities development, housing and commercial building construction (and in big cities, parking lots) are the dominant local industries.

From "Developers Pouring Cash Into Va. Campaigns":

Virginia's developers, home builders and real estate agents have more than doubled their campaign contributions from four years ago, a sign that their businesses are flying high and that tensions over growth and sprawl are rising. Flush with money from a booming housing market, the real estate and construction industries have become the most generous group of campaign donors for Republican gubernatorial candidate Jerry W. Kilgore, Democrat Timothy M. Kaine and independent H. Russell Potts Jr.

While I talk about there being a difference between parties, it's usually a matter of degree. All politicians are pretty much committed to the "growth machine" and the promotion of land use and economic development initiatives of various sorts. Where the difference is in how "the use value of place" gets mediated vis-a-vis "the exchange value of place" meaning do citizens get something-anything vs. capitulating fully to development interests.