Positive Plaza Alternatives

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	Positive Plaza Alternatives The latest cry of the plaza opponents is, "It'll cut the city in half"!? Look at a map, people. The bridge/plaza complex already "cuts the city in half"! If you want to get from McMorran to Tim Horton's without crossing water, you pass under the bridge or plaza. We just don't think of it because everything's happening two stories above our heads – which is the problem. Once trucks get onto the Plaza, they've only got 400 yards and one exit before they're on their way out of the city. We're a major border crossing with millions of dollars of commerce passing over our heads, and we barely make a dime from it because we've almost no facilities for providing services. If the trucks want fuel, food, or service, they get it further down I-94 or I-69. They don't stop in Port Huron because they can't stop in Port Huron – we've nothing to offer them. Now that's likely to change because the Plaza will probably be built in Port Huron. Don't blame MDOT or the City Council for this – blame geography. At the Bridge crossing, Port Huron's eastern boundary is the Black River. Where's the Plaza to go? The Black River floodplain? The wetlands west of Water Street? The closest workable site is 2½ miles inland, and for border security reasons that won't work. So the city it is, and at ground level, again for security reasons. So what's the knee-jerk response? "It's a giant parking lot!" "We'll lose tax base!" We have a golden opportunity handed to us – one that hundreds of cities would fight for – and all people can do is look at the hole instead of the donut. A steady stream of commercial traffic, finally being brought down to ground level and stopped inside the city limits instead of just rolling on down the highway. Don't you think we could take advantage of that? If the city fathers of Frankenmuth can turn a farm town into a tourist destination on nothing more than their ethnic heritage, why can't Port Huron's resident entrepreneurs and city officials figure out how to capitalize on our location on an international border? I'm no expert on border economics, but why not call some to see what they'd suggest? Customs services? Truck/train transshipment? I don't know, but wouldn't the business that could be created would be worth more to the city than property taxes on a few blocks of an aging neighborhood and a small, half-empty commercial district? Sure, there will be problems – but are we foresighted enough to capitalize on the opportunities that accompany those problems? I appreciate the desire not to act too swiftly, but we should keep in mind that inaction has costs as well (as we in the Zone know well). Seems to me this city has a choice. We can spend the next few years fighting this plaza and probably end up with it anyway, with us relegated to the sidelines. Or we can seize the opportunity and spend the time working out a plan to become a service-oriented border crossing that leverages our geographic position. Isn't assistance with this something we could negotiate with the State and Federal governments? If we're getting handed a plaza-shaped basket of lemons, why not get some help turning it into lemonade? -------------------------------------- published in the Times Herald on March 10, 2007

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Positive Plaza Alternatives
The latest cry of the plaza opponents is, "It'll cut the city in half"!? Look at a map, people. The bridge/plaza complex already "cuts the city in half"! If you want to get from McMorran to Tim Horton's without crossing water, you pass under the bridge or plaza. We just don't think of it because everything's happening two stories above our heads – which is the problem. Once trucks get onto the Plaza, they've only got 400 yards and one exit before they're on their way out of the city. We're a major border crossing with millions of dollars of commerce passing over our heads, and we barely make a dime from it because we've almost no facilities for providing services. If the trucks want fuel, food, or service, they get it further down I-94 or I-69. They don't stop in Port Huron because they can't stop in Port Huron – we've nothing to offer them.

Now that's likely to change because the Plaza will probably be built in Port Huron. Don't blame MDOT or the City Council for this – blame geography. At the Bridge crossing, Port Huron's eastern boundary is the Black River. Where's the Plaza to go? The Black River floodplain? The wetlands west of Water Street? The closest workable site is 2½ miles inland, and for border security reasons that won't work. So the city it is, and at ground level, again for security reasons.

So what's the knee-jerk response? "It's a giant parking lot!" "We'll lose tax base!" We have a golden opportunity handed to us – one that hundreds of cities would fight for – and all people can do is look at the hole instead of the donut. A steady stream of commercial traffic, finally being brought down to ground level and stopped inside the city limits instead of just rolling on down the highway. Don't you think we could take advantage of that? If the city fathers of Frankenmuth can turn a farm town into a tourist destination on nothing more than their ethnic heritage, why can't Port Huron's resident entrepreneurs and city officials figure out how to capitalize on our location on an international border? I'm no expert on border economics, but why not call some to see what they'd suggest? Customs services? Truck/train transshipment? I don't know, but wouldn't the business that could be created would be worth more to the city than property taxes on a few blocks of an aging neighborhood and a small, half-empty commercial district? Sure, there will be problems – but are we foresighted enough to capitalize on the opportunities that accompany those problems?

I appreciate the desire not to act too swiftly, but we should keep in mind that inaction has costs as well (as we in the Zone know well). Seems to me this city has a choice. We can spend the next few years fighting this plaza and probably end up with it anyway, with us relegated to the sidelines. Or we can seize the opportunity and spend the time working out a plan to become a service-oriented border crossing that leverages our geographic position. Isn't assistance with this something we could negotiate with the State and Federal governments? If we're getting handed a plaza-shaped basket of lemons, why not get some help turning it into lemonade?

--------------------------------------
published in the Times Herald on March 10, 2007

Positive Plaza Alternatives
Which would be worse? Port Huron getting stuck with an expanded Bridge Plaza? Or Port Huron getting stuck with an expanded Bridge Plaza while reaping no benefit from it?

A serious discussion about how the Plaza Expansion Project can benefit Port Huron and the Blue Water Area.