Municipal economic development

Photo of National Harbor model by Preston Keres, Washington Post.

Today's Post has an interesting article about PG County Executive Jack Johnson (the Post did not endorse him in the recent election) and "controversy" over his handling of the National Harbor development just south of DC. See "Pr. George's Harbor Deal Deepens Rift: Johnson Terms Ceded Too Much, Curry Says." This development is already causing serious competition with DC in terms of hotel-related conference business, since there will be a conference facility on site.

I happened to read the Gazette, and they have a piece about Jack Evans' idiotic statement about trying to get the Washington Redskins football team back in DC, because it takes a long time to drive to the stadium from Georgetown. Umm, I think we need to base municipal economic development policies on more important criteria than how long it takes rich people to get to and from sports events. See "Redskins have been boon to county," and this from Sam Smith's City Desk:

Football stadium: . . . Jack Evans, in his regular column in the November 1 issue of The Georgetowner, complained of inconvenience going to and from FedEx Field and suggested bringing the Washington Redskins back to the District by tearing down the current RFK Stadium in two years and building a new stadium on the RFK site. Evans concluded the column by saying: "I have a suggestion. In two years, we will be finished with RFK Stadium. We could demolish this facility and lease the land for $1 per year to Dan Snyder. He could sell the land where Fed Ex Field is located, take the proceeds and build a new stadium with a retractable roof . . . on the RFK site". . .

Football stadia contribute very little to local economic development, especially because the facilities are rarely used, the team controls most of the revenues associated with the event, and many people tailgate rather than spend money in area stores and restaurants.

The official response to the criticism in the Post article compared the impact of the Redskins being in Prince George's County to the National Harbor development:

Jim Keary, a spokesman for Johnson, said the county estimates that it will bring in $31 million annually from the hotel and property taxes from the National Harbor. It collects about $5 million a year from the stadium, he said.

Why don't we think similarly about RFK? Wouldn't it make sense to maximize the benefit from the land and the location, rather than have it sit empty about 345 days/year?
Flickr photo of FedEx Stadium by DottieboBottie.

Now if he'd volunteer somehow to put this in Georgetown, maybe I'd feel differently.

Index Keywords: urban-revitalization; stadiums-arenas