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More Urbanism from the Urbanophile please!

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Talk of what government can realistically do reminds me of the most overlooked biblical role of government: praising those who do well.

My read is that Americans ignore this because it is too patronizing; condescending. To do it right would mean that the government takes on the role of someone the citizens are supposed to please; an authority to which they owe duties and from whom they should receive praise for duties well done.

This would mean the government setting and reinforcing (by praise) a positive moral vision for life in the community. If it was me, I'd keep an eye on the description of virtuous living in Titus, and only slightly change the emphases.

It would also mean that citizens who have negative or headache type interactions with the government would also have reason to believe the government is capable of being happy with them. After all, the government is happy with Mr. and Mrs. Jones across the street. This could make a big difference for communities where crime necessitates heavy policing.

One of the biggest challenges with this in our society is that punishment and praise function best to create loyalty and affection when they are united in a person. It would take a lot of work to unite the three branches of government in a praise ceremony so as to make the praise palpable to individuals and neighborhoods.

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https://www.discoursemagazine.com/politics/2022/05/18/the-yimbyest-city-in-america/

Aaron - I stumbled on this article last night after reading your essay, and I noticed many common themes:

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Furth sees Auburn’s reforms as among the most ambitious in the country today, and a model for other communities—indeed, he notes that other officials from as far away as New Mexico are asking him about what’s happening in the city.

The 2,000 housing units that Levesque wants to add may be small in absolute numbers but are bold in relative terms; they would provide the housing stock needed to increase Auburn’s population by some 25%. To put it in perspective, it would be like New York City adding 800,000 new homes and more than 2 million new residents.

While Furth and other national experts have advised the city, Auburn’s plan is truly homegrown. The city, with its roots in the blue-collar industries of the region, isn’t setting out to attract the creative class knowledge workers that are the desiderata of many other cities. Levesque wants to make Auburn “a blue-collar utopia,” not a Manhattan in miniature.

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Aaron, could you comment more specifically on the tenure of Mitch Daniels as governor? It is hard to tell what you think here, as I see some praise yet am not sure how you would compare him to other governors in state history. I cannot think of a better or stronger governor in Indiana history. Russ Pulliam

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As a former ship engineer, I have to question maintenance of said infrastructure. It's one thing to repair what had crumbled and build new infrastructure, but unless you put mechanisms in place to keep it repaired and maintained (and improved, when needed) it will eventually just crumble again. Is there a mechanism in place to ensure funding for future maintenance, repair, and improvement? That may be impossible to know, city councils are pretty good at shuffling money away from maintenance and upkeep into pet projects.

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