Everything bad about Bluestone Town Center
LIke everyone else, I'm still waiting to hear what's good about it
I had put this list of commentaries together to help me keep track of them, and I’m happy to share them again. The project has been approved by a bare majority of City Council after a lukewarm recommendation from city staff, but still faces some regulatory hurdles. I’ll write about those later.
Can't Buy Me Dirt
Bluestone Town Center backers didn’t answer the objections raised, but addressed some that weren’t
July 18, 2022
Build it and somebody will come
Housing for JMU students continues to drive city school growth
September 12, 2022
Unaffordable?
A proposed "town center" doesn't have to answer the questions it raises
June 4, 2022
Maltese Falcon or Trojan Horse?
With a dollar in coin of the realm, you can buy ten dollars of developers’ promises
October 22, 2022
The Box and the Snowball
Many in city government decided in advance to vote for the worst project since the golf course
January 26, 2023
Drink their coffee, then the Kool-Aid
Backers of Bluestone in city government justified their support by fabricating criticisms of opponents
January 31, 2023
Something is the water
The one where a City Council member later asks what she voted for
February 15, 2023
362 is more than 273
Government agencies apparently didn’t want to admit how many students Bluestone Town Center would generate
February 22, 2023
Public hearing, private decision
In the end, a rookie council member met privately to decide the project’s fate
March 1, 2023
Unaffordable housing, redux
April 19, 2023
What's in a name?
The name of the Bluestone LLC is an unfortunate indicator of how sloppily the project was created
May 5, 2023
Dixie Chickens Estates
The song’s not new just because you haven’t heard it before
May 23, 2023