The Californiacation of Richardson

It's become a truism that California is ungovernable. Caps on property taxes that limit revenue, ballot-box initiatives that encourage spending, and the requirement of a two-thirds legislative majority to raise taxes or pass a budget all contribute to dysfunctional state government. It's also been said that California is the trendsetter, defining the fads and fashions that spread across America and the world. Put the two together and is it any real surprise that the first hints of ungovernability are beginning to appear on Richardson's horizon, too?

After the jump, a look at the next city council term.

Happy 90th Birthday!

From 2011 04 Wisconsin

For all photos, look here.

Excerpts: The Triumph of the City

Amazon

From "The Triumph of the City," by Edward Glaeser:

Excoriating the exurbs is a popular intellectual pastime, but the people who moved to the suburbs weren’t fools. The friends of cities would be wiser to learn from Sunbelt sprawl than to mindlessly denigrate its inhabitants."

After the jump, my review and more excerpts.

What's Wrong with East Texas?

After the jump, two stories out of East Texas caught my attention today.

Richardson Idol: Week Three

Tight security for Wednesday night's show

Richardson Idol is growing so much in popularity that this week two episodes aired. Tuesday night's show was jointly sponsored by the Highland Terrace Neighborhood Association and the Neighborhood Protection Alliance of Richardson. Wednesday night's show was sponsored by the Friends of Richardson. Neilsen ratings for each individual night held steady.

Eleven of thirteen contestants vying for the grand prize, a seat on the Richardson City Council, performed on our stage for our judges Tuesday night (absent: Gordon, North). Ten performed Wednesday night (absent: Gordon, North, Mitchell).

As the format requires, it is up to the audience (and by audience, I mean me) to eliminate one contestant each week until we have a council. (The recap of last week's show can be found here.)

But before we hear who will be eliminated this week, let's first hand out superlatives ... after the jump.